Startup advisor and early-stage investor. My vision: to make every startup I work with a sustainable billion-dollar business.
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…
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
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…
This morning I had a great call with a founder. Let's call him Mark. He told me about his Robot Startup which I am extremely excited about working with in the future. Autonomous Robots delivering consumer products. Massive potential. His current challenge - sales. Mark explained more about how he is building the sales team: … Continue reading How to build the wrong team.
Yesterday I had a great call with a young founder. It took about 10 minutes for me to understand his challenge and how I can help him (please prepare ahead of time), but when I did, it was quite easy. He wanted to know how to scale. The business plan was great, I loved his … Continue reading Focus on the Core
"I know exactly what my customers want” is a red-flag statement I hear from founders. Normally this is when I surprise them by slamming my hand on the table to get their undivided attention. BAMMM! “No, you actually have no idea what your customer wants”, is my reply. While this is a clear overstatement, I … Continue reading You have no idea what your customers want…
I was at a client meeting the other day. Everyone had narrow eyes and that look of intensity. There was a task force which needed to immediately be created to solve a massive problem. At one moment I took a step back and realized that all this negative energy was becoming an even bigger problem… … Continue reading Embrace the Struggle
Take a step back. Breath. Remove yourself from the situation. Just look, watch, observe and try to get an understanding of the big picture. Not that one problem or customer or strategy, but the whole thing. If it doesn’t work, then you have to go back further until everything makes sense. This is advice which … Continue reading The 36.000ft view, and why everything makes sense from up there…
A friend of mine once told me that he needed to "stay in his lane" many years ago. In the meantime I have heard that saying quite a lot. And I think it's terrible! Staying in your own lane might keep your manager happy but are you really going to grow long-term if you keep … Continue reading Get out of your lane!
