Why do some startups, despite raising over $100 million and achieving unicorn status, end up with little to show for it? The startup press and many founders are obsessed with valuation. But that can be a trap. During a liquidation event, the most important factor is how the cash is
Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, stated that the key to building great companies is getting the right people on the bus. This is a critical concept for successful founders. You need the right people on your bus to find and scale product-market fit. The wrong people slow
SAFEs are fast and inexpensive to use. That’s a feature and a bug. Too many founders overuse SAFEs and end up in a dilution trap. * Carta recently released its Q1 2024 State of Pre-seed report. It's the perfect opportunity to review the current state of SAFE notes
Are your current venture investors acting strange? Did they seem more nervous and jumpy at your last board meeting? Are you concerned that you’re suddenly not all on the same page? Venture funds are under a lot of pressure right now. This has implications for your startup as you
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. As a founder, it’s easy to believe these feelings are weaknesses. They lay the foundation of imposter syndrome. But when properly channeled, fear, uncertainty, and doubt are founder superpowers. They help you find the path to profitable, scalable growth. They allow you to stay in control
You’re trying to boil the ocean. You had a simple idea for a startup. One problem to solve. A solution to a common pain point that would attract customers and keep them coming back. You were targeting a small market at first. But that’s ok. You had a
2023 is in the books. Your 2024 budget is sitting in front of you. The start of a new year is the perfect time to reassess whether your startup is still on the venture path. Here is a simple question: Is your revenue growth strong enough to attract a round
The Scooter company Bird filed for bankruptcy yesterday. Another high-flying unicorn falls to earth. This is an important reminder that you can’t believe the hype in the startup press. Let me show you what I mean. Take a look at the photo above. Wait! Don’t scroll down to
Welcome to part four of our series on down rounds and recaps: * Part 1: A Guide to Down Rounds and Recaps * Part 2: Managing Your Key Stakeholders * Part 3: A Deep Dive Into Down Rounds * Part 4: Navigating the Startup Recap <- You are here Let’s get on
Welcome to part three of our series on down rounds and recaps: * Part 1: A Guide to Down Rounds and Recaps * Part 2: Managing Your Key Stakeholders * Part 3: A Deep Dive Into Down Rounds <- You are here * Part 4: Navigating the Startup Recap Let’s get into
Welcome to part two of our series on down rounds and recaps: * Part 1: A Guide to Down Rounds and Recaps * Part 2: Managing Your Key Stakeholders <- You are here * Part 3: A Deep Dive Into Down Rounds * Part 4: Navigating the Startup Recap Let’s get into
Welcome to part one of our series on down rounds and recaps: * Part 1: A Guide to Down Rounds and Recaps <- You are here * Part 2: Managing Your Key Stakeholders * Part 3: A Deep Dive Into Down Rounds * Part 4: Navigating the Startup Recap Let’s get into
Fundraising
Exploring the consequences of prioritizing short-term gains over long-term trust and transparency in the startup world, as illustrated by Substack’s recent fundraising approach. Reading time: 4 minutes In a startup’s journey, founders face many challenges and difficult decisions. While it’s easy to maintain integrity and transparency when
Startup Roadmap
Reading time: 3 minutes What business are you in? What’s the business model? What is the real TAM, and can you efficiently scale to reach it? We are in a period of accelerating change and innovation. The explosion of AI over the past six months is just the start.
Debt
The recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank will lead to fewer lending options and more onerous terms for startups. Here’s what you should do. Reading time: 5 minutes In my last post, I covered the risk of a mass extinction event for startups in the next 12 months because
Funding
For many startups, the next 12 months will be challenging. Default Investable or Default Alive. Know which path you are on. A few weeks ago, Tom Loverro of the venture fund IVP tweeted that we are on the verge of a mass extinction event for startups. Carta shared data showing
Growth
Your startup journey will be filled with dead ends, false starts, and long treks down the wrong path. When it’s time to pivot, there are two traps to avoid. When you closed your last round of funding, you had a plan for what happened next. You had a strategy
Growth
The dog on the left is a Bavarian Mountain Scent Hound. As you can see, it’s a very serious-looking dog. Hounds are notoriously difficult to train to be off-leash. When a hound dog catches a scent, it puts its head down and starts running. They lose focus on everything
Growth
In the chaos and frenzy of building a startup, there are plenty of places where you need to slow down to ensure you’re building a solid foundation to grow future value. Your search for product-market fit is where you need to speed up. A long time ago, Eric Ries
Funding
2023 is going to be another challenging year for many founders. The pullback by investors will continue, leaving the potential path to additional funding uncertain. Yes, investors have plenty of dry powder. But they are being far more careful about deploying those funds than in 2020 and 2021. If you&
Growth
Innovation comes from experimentation. Experimentation leads to failure. Embracing failure is the path to building great products and enterprise value. This past weekend, I had a rare opportunity to kick back and relax. I needed a few supplies before I settled into my couch, so I grabbed my Amazon Fire
Funding
There are four common pitfalls entrepreneurs fall into while raising venture capital. Here are a few tips on how to avoid them. Founders that raise venture capital tend to focus on optimizing around four things: * Getting to the next round of funding as quickly as possible * Increasing valuation * Maintaining their
Growth
Startups, and downhill mountain biking, are inherently risky. But you can improve your odds of success by taking a thoughtful, methodical approach to progressing throughout your journey. I love downhill mountain biking. The sport involves taking full-suspension mountain bikes on ski lifts to ride them down the mountain as fast
Funding
Calculating how much runway you have isn't as simple as you may think. Get it wrong, and your company might be running on fumes sooner than you expected. Until your startup is profitable and generating positive cash flow, there is one fundamental question you should be able to