StarZero All shows Try the podcast clipper →

Nov 3, 2017 · 25m · 20vc

20VC: What Is Core To The Best Investor - Founder Relationships, The Biggest Risk For Founders In The Early Days & Why EQ Is The Most Important Trait For Managers with Jack Altman, Founder & CEO @ Lattice

Jack Altman · 16m spoken Harry Stebbings · 8m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of The 20 Minute VC, host Harry Stebbings interviews Jack Altman, founder and CEO of Lattice, to discuss navigating early startup pivots, recognizing true product-market fit, practical management frameworks anchored in Emotional Intelligence, and building productive investor relationships.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Harry holds 33.3% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Harry as informed peer 2.7 Guest teaching 3.6 Guest disagreement 1.1 Harry pushing back 0.7
05100:0010:0020:002:28–5:09 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Jack Altman's Background and the Pivot to Lattice Harry opens with friendly, standard interview questions and offers a clear structure for the conversation. Jack explains the origin story of Lattice and how they pivoted from standard goal-tracking to performance reviews after realizing standalone goal software lacked required company engagement.5:10–9:17 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Assembling and Recruiting the Early Team Harry prompts Jack to elaborate on early team building and recruitment tactics. Jack breaks down the core team composition needed prior to achieving product-market fit and notes the importance of VC signals for candidate recruitment.9:25–11:59 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Management Frameworks, Feedback, and Managerial EQ Harry asks about frameworks for management and feedback, showing explicit alignment on managerial EQ. Jack educates on Kim Scott's Radical Candor framework, emphasizing that direct feedback must be rooted in trust and compassion.11:59–14:34 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Recognizing Product-Market Fit and Balancing Vision Harry asks a nuanced question about balancing product vision with stubbornness when things are not working. Jack contrasts polite customer interest with true urgent product-market fit demand, emphasizing that vision should remain constant while execution stays flexible.14:44–16:53 · Harry as informed peer 2/10 Managing Competition and Defining Customer Strategy Harry prompts Jack on competitor tracking and customer strategy selection. Jack uses a marathon running analogy to explain why founders must focus on customers rather than competitors, framing key strategic trade-offs for early startups.16:55–21:26 · Harry as informed peer 4/10 Investor Relationships and Venture Capital Dynamics Harry digs deeper into VC mechanics, asking how investors should challenge founders and specifically raising signaling risk. Jack explains the benefits and hidden trade-offs of taking large venture funds into seed rounds.21:32–24:01 · Harry as informed peer 3/10 Quickfire Round: Books, Mentors, and Tech Advice Harry guides a fast-paced quickfire round. Jack takes a contrarian stand against common founder advice regarding high valuation and excess capital, siding with VC perspectives on early-stage discipline.2:28–5:09 · Guest teaching 3/10 Jack Altman's Background and the Pivot to Lattice Harry opens with friendly, standard interview questions and offers a clear structure for the conversation. Jack explains the origin story of Lattice and how they pivoted from standard goal-tracking to performance reviews after realizing standalone goal software lacked required company engagement.5:10–9:17 · Guest teaching 3/10 Assembling and Recruiting the Early Team Harry prompts Jack to elaborate on early team building and recruitment tactics. Jack breaks down the core team composition needed prior to achieving product-market fit and notes the importance of VC signals for candidate recruitment.9:25–11:59 · Guest teaching 4/10 Management Frameworks, Feedback, and Managerial EQ Harry asks about frameworks for management and feedback, showing explicit alignment on managerial EQ. Jack educates on Kim Scott's Radical Candor framework, emphasizing that direct feedback must be rooted in trust and compassion.11:59–14:34 · Guest teaching 4/10 Recognizing Product-Market Fit and Balancing Vision Harry asks a nuanced question about balancing product vision with stubbornness when things are not working. Jack contrasts polite customer interest with true urgent product-market fit demand, emphasizing that vision should remain constant while execution stays flexible.14:44–16:53 · Guest teaching 4/10 Managing Competition and Defining Customer Strategy Harry prompts Jack on competitor tracking and customer strategy selection. Jack uses a marathon running analogy to explain why founders must focus on customers rather than competitors, framing key strategic trade-offs for early startups.16:55–21:26 · Guest teaching 4/10 Investor Relationships and Venture Capital Dynamics Harry digs deeper into VC mechanics, asking how investors should challenge founders and specifically raising signaling risk. Jack explains the benefits and hidden trade-offs of taking large venture funds into seed rounds.21:32–24:01 · Guest teaching 3/10 Quickfire Round: Books, Mentors, and Tech Advice Harry guides a fast-paced quickfire round. Jack takes a contrarian stand against common founder advice regarding high valuation and excess capital, siding with VC perspectives on early-stage discipline.2:28–5:09 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Jack Altman's Background and the Pivot to Lattice Harry opens with friendly, standard interview questions and offers a clear structure for the conversation. Jack explains the origin story of Lattice and how they pivoted from standard goal-tracking to performance reviews after realizing standalone goal software lacked required company engagement.5:10–9:17 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Assembling and Recruiting the Early Team Harry prompts Jack to elaborate on early team building and recruitment tactics. Jack breaks down the core team composition needed prior to achieving product-market fit and notes the importance of VC signals for candidate recruitment.9:25–11:59 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Management Frameworks, Feedback, and Managerial EQ Harry asks about frameworks for management and feedback, showing explicit alignment on managerial EQ. Jack educates on Kim Scott's Radical Candor framework, emphasizing that direct feedback must be rooted in trust and compassion.11:59–14:34 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Recognizing Product-Market Fit and Balancing Vision Harry asks a nuanced question about balancing product vision with stubbornness when things are not working. Jack contrasts polite customer interest with true urgent product-market fit demand, emphasizing that vision should remain constant while execution stays flexible.14:44–16:53 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Managing Competition and Defining Customer Strategy Harry prompts Jack on competitor tracking and customer strategy selection. Jack uses a marathon running analogy to explain why founders must focus on customers rather than competitors, framing key strategic trade-offs for early startups.16:55–21:26 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Investor Relationships and Venture Capital Dynamics Harry digs deeper into VC mechanics, asking how investors should challenge founders and specifically raising signaling risk. Jack explains the benefits and hidden trade-offs of taking large venture funds into seed rounds.21:32–24:01 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Quickfire Round: Books, Mentors, and Tech Advice Harry guides a fast-paced quickfire round. Jack takes a contrarian stand against common founder advice regarding high valuation and excess capital, siding with VC perspectives on early-stage discipline.2:28–5:09 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Jack Altman's Background and the Pivot to Lattice Harry opens with friendly, standard interview questions and offers a clear structure for the conversation. Jack explains the origin story of Lattice and how they pivoted from standard goal-tracking to performance reviews after realizing standalone goal software lacked required company engagement.5:10–9:17 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Assembling and Recruiting the Early Team Harry prompts Jack to elaborate on early team building and recruitment tactics. Jack breaks down the core team composition needed prior to achieving product-market fit and notes the importance of VC signals for candidate recruitment.9:25–11:59 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Management Frameworks, Feedback, and Managerial EQ Harry asks about frameworks for management and feedback, showing explicit alignment on managerial EQ. Jack educates on Kim Scott's Radical Candor framework, emphasizing that direct feedback must be rooted in trust and compassion.11:59–14:34 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Recognizing Product-Market Fit and Balancing Vision Harry asks a nuanced question about balancing product vision with stubbornness when things are not working. Jack contrasts polite customer interest with true urgent product-market fit demand, emphasizing that vision should remain constant while execution stays flexible.14:44–16:53 · Harry pushing back 0/10 Managing Competition and Defining Customer Strategy Harry prompts Jack on competitor tracking and customer strategy selection. Jack uses a marathon running analogy to explain why founders must focus on customers rather than competitors, framing key strategic trade-offs for early startups.16:55–21:26 · Harry pushing back 3/10 Investor Relationships and Venture Capital Dynamics Harry digs deeper into VC mechanics, asking how investors should challenge founders and specifically raising signaling risk. Jack explains the benefits and hidden trade-offs of taking large venture funds into seed rounds.21:32–24:01 · Harry pushing back 1/10 Quickfire Round: Books, Mentors, and Tech Advice Harry guides a fast-paced quickfire round. Jack takes a contrarian stand against common founder advice regarding high valuation and excess capital, siding with VC perspectives on early-stage discipline.

speaking balance: gold is Harry, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Harry 88.7% · guest 11.3%0:00 · Harry 88.7% · guest 11.3%3:00 · Harry 14.2% · guest 85.8%3:00 · Harry 14.2% · guest 85.8%6:00 · Harry 11.3% · guest 88.7%6:00 · Harry 11.3% · guest 88.7%9:00 · Harry 17.6% · guest 82.4%9:00 · Harry 17.6% · guest 82.4%12:00 · Harry 22.1% · guest 77.9%12:00 · Harry 22.1% · guest 77.9%15:00 · Harry 22.2% · guest 77.8%15:00 · Harry 22.2% · guest 77.8%18:00 · Harry 23.1% · guest 76.9%18:00 · Harry 23.1% · guest 76.9%21:00 · Harry 29.5% · guest 70.5%21:00 · Harry 29.5% · guest 70.5%24:00 · Harry 99.5% · guest 0.5%24:00 · Harry 99.5% · guest 0.5%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 22:10 Jack rejects standard founder advice on valuations

Jack directly rejects advice commonly given by founders to raise as much capital as possible at maximum valuation, arguing it does a severe disservice to early-stage companies.

 Hardest push from Harry ▶ 18:14 Harry presses on investor confrontation styles

Harry pushes beyond a general answer on investor relationships to ask specifically whether strategic challenge should occur head-on in board meetings or privately offline.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:12 Jack reframes false signals versus true PMF demand

Jack educates on how founders deceive themselves with polite customer feedback like 'sounds cool', contrasting it with true demand where customers demand immediate feature deployments before Monday.

 Harry holds his own ▶ 20:01 Harry highlights signaling risk in seed rounds

Harry demonstrates keen industry knowledge by bringing up institutional signaling risk when major multistage funds join early rounds, prompting Jack to acknowledge and detail that exact downside.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicHarry as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementHarry pushing backWhy
Jack Altman's Background and the Pivot to Lattice 2310 Harry opens with friendly, standard interview questions and offers a clear structure for the conversation. Jack explains the origin story of Lattice and how they pivoted from standard goal-tracking to performance reviews after realizing standalone goal software lacked required company engagement.
Assembling and Recruiting the Early Team 2310 Harry prompts Jack to elaborate on early team building and recruitment tactics. Jack breaks down the core team composition needed prior to achieving product-market fit and notes the importance of VC signals for candidate recruitment.
Management Frameworks, Feedback, and Managerial EQ 3400 Harry asks about frameworks for management and feedback, showing explicit alignment on managerial EQ. Jack educates on Kim Scott's Radical Candor framework, emphasizing that direct feedback must be rooted in trust and compassion.
Recognizing Product-Market Fit and Balancing Vision 3411 Harry asks a nuanced question about balancing product vision with stubbornness when things are not working. Jack contrasts polite customer interest with true urgent product-market fit demand, emphasizing that vision should remain constant while execution stays flexible.
Managing Competition and Defining Customer Strategy 2410 Harry prompts Jack on competitor tracking and customer strategy selection. Jack uses a marathon running analogy to explain why founders must focus on customers rather than competitors, framing key strategic trade-offs for early startups.
Investor Relationships and Venture Capital Dynamics 4423 Harry digs deeper into VC mechanics, asking how investors should challenge founders and specifically raising signaling risk. Jack explains the benefits and hidden trade-offs of taking large venture funds into seed rounds.
Quickfire Round: Books, Mentors, and Tech Advice 3321 Harry guides a fast-paced quickfire round. Jack takes a contrarian stand against common founder advice regarding high valuation and excess capital, siding with VC perspectives on early-stage discipline.

Statements from this episode (8)

Disclosure
Lattice's Pivot to Performance Reviews Sparked Initial Traction
“And then a year after starting the company is when we released our performance reviews product, and that was a really important night and day flip for us. That became something that companies really, really cared about, and it became really important, and we s…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 4:16
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Lattice Reached Product-Market Fit With a Six-Person Team
“In our case, there was about six of us. So it was me, my co-founder, two other engineers, a marketer, and a sales rep. And the six of us were able to basically take us from not having product market fit to, you know, now in hindsight, what was the beginning of…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 6:42
Insight
Top VCs on a Cap Table Primarily Serve as Hiring Signals
“So, to start, I will say that I think it is very true that one of the most important things that great investors do for you is Is that they make other people want to join your company. And so for better or for worse, if you have miles from thrive or say benchm…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 8:42
Insight
True Product-Market Fit Manifests as Urgent Customer Demand
“What we heard once we launched a product that people really wanted was instead of sounds cool, I'll check it out. We heard people say, Hey, I need that by Monday and I need you guys to ship feature X, Y, and Z. And if you don't ship it, I'm not going to be abl…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 12:39
Insight
The Best VCs Aggressively Challenge Founders on Strategic Decisions
“One of the things that I find the very most valuable about investors is Is if they're able to truly incredibly challenge your thinking when you're making your most important strategic decisions.”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 17:35
Insight
Seed Investments From Multi-Stage VC Funds Carry Major Signaling Risk
“One thing we did do that has a trade-off is we took on some signaling risk by including large funds like Thrive, And Coastal and our seed round that can cause an issue down the line where if they don't end up supporting you, it makes it challenging for a new i…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 20:40
Insight
Raising Huge Early-Stage Rounds at Peak Valuations Harms Founders
“At the very early stage of a company, you don't need that much capital and you don't need that high of a valuation. I think it can become very tempting to raise all the money at the highest valuation when all you've got is a pitch jack. And I think in most cas…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 22:15
Opinion
Startup Employees Get the Worst Equity Terms and Need Reforms
“I would love to see ways for employee equity to continue to get friendlier. So employees are the true absolute champions in the ecosystem of VCs, founders, and employees. They have the worst type of equity between the fact that it's options, it's common, there…”
Jack Altman Nov 3, 2017 ▶ 23:14
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 1,200 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.

Try the podcast clipper Learn more