Startup advisor and early-stage investor. My vision: to make every startup I work with a sustainable billion-dollar business.
Vision. The most important part of any startup. Not the product, not the founder, not the super-smart team, nor any Sand Hill Road VCs backing them. What a vision is not: a mission statement. (Pause for the eye roll). Sounds trivial, but this point is one I make with founders constantly. In a recent meeting … Continue reading Wandering in the dark
The past few years I‘ve gone through a significant change not only in mind-set but more importantly in the words and actions I use. Growing up in California, I have the typical optimistic and overly enthusiastic attitude about a positive future that defines us on the west coast. The major change in my life isn’t … Continue reading What if…
Hypergrowth. Massive expansion. Super scaling... I'm a bit sick of this mindset. How about stability, solid MRR, reliable customers or perhaps net profit instead? Young companies often see exponential growth as their main goal. "It's the only way to win" a young founder told me at a recent demo day I attended. "What about profitability?" … Continue reading Diesel vs. Rocket Fuel
This week I sat down for lunch with a founder named Mark who I’ve been advising for the past year. He’s a smart guy building a beautiful eBike in the Micro-mobility scene. The product is almost finished and he’s starting his first institutional round of fundraising. Here’s the problem: Mark has three verbal offers. Sounds … Continue reading Go with your gut
It was the fourth month in a row that we missed our sales target. "How could this be?" we all asked ourselves in the monthly sales meeting time and again. We had very senior sales staff and the engineers were some of the best in the business. Additionally, our clients were all prepared to buy … Continue reading Why internal communication trumps everything (even product)
Let's be very clear, it's almost impossible to reach core team perfection at the Seed and Series A stage, but you wouldn’t be reading this unless you liked almost-impossible goals… The core team in perfect alignment is a thing of beauty. Three well balanced individuals who support each other creating a gapless barrier to take … Continue reading Crafting your core team
Mental strength. One of the core elements which isn't always talked about with startups. An extension of this would be: grit, drive and passion. These traits are often spoken of simplistically. In retrospect it's easy to say "have more grit and you'll succeed", but when you're stuck in the thick of it, everything looks and … Continue reading Veggies & Mental Strength
It just so happens that this blog topic came to me in the same week as Thanksgiving. Coincidence or not, it's where my head is right now. If you asked me 12 Months ago, where I would be today, the answer would be astonishingly close. The difference is how I got here. It has been … Continue reading Thankful
Growing a company has so many daily struggles, it’s important to not only have the right structure which allows growth to be possible, but also to have the right mindset. Speaking with a mentor or someone with Startup experience is always a major help when identifying and later focusing on attributes to help keep … Continue reading Adjusting your mindset
Unfortunately, this has taken way too long to finish due to the extensive detail (thanks Ray), but here you: Principles by Ray Dalio This book is a must for anyone – founder or employee. While Ray goes to the extreme on almost all of the topics he covers, the two main ideas which I took … Continue reading A reading list which explains everything…
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