startup

“I think startups overly focus on it, and again, like, find it and use it as an excuse for why they can't close a deal. You know, if you think about HR software. It's a multi-billion dollar market. If you're starting a two million dollar ARR company, getting to…”

“It's just harder to have happen in these boring businesses if you do it right and you size them right, I think, than if you do a startup.”

“Which means you have to default in the early days of building a business to a well, and a well is where most great startup ideas start. A well sits very low on the x-axis because few people are interested in what you're making, meaning on the x-axis, you're al…”

“Generally the board is a very They're frightened of risk. They're frightened of getting sued. They're frightened of told the wrong thing. Like, a lot of times doing nothing is easier than doing something that might be very aggressive, that'd be hard, and a lot…”

“A good business launched at the right time will always beat out a great business that has launched at the wrong time.”

“Simply put, most startups and their founders don't spend their money well, often using it as a crutch for a suboptimal product or a misguided tool for growing their business too quickly and growing it the wrong way.”

“This is especially valuable for startups who may not have every feature or bell and whistle that older competitors do, but oftentimes the feeling of speed and momentum will convince customers to risk it on a new player if they believe that that player's speed …”

“There are no participation trophies in startups. That's my view on it. It doesn't matter how hard you work or what work you do. If you don't hit the goals that you've set for yourself and the business, that's what truly matters.”

“In practice, phase two usually begins when a startup has around 20 to 25 employees and ends when it reaches 400 to 500 employees.”

“The easiest and fastest way to find your early users and a large driver of early growth for about 20% of startups is to reach out to your friends and former colleagues.”

“Note, almost every startup finds the vast majority of their early growth from just one or two channels.”

“The next one is one of the best ways to stand out as a startup. The short form video is to sell people on your story versus your product.”

“I feel like one of my learnings in building has just been that like, I love building startups, but startups are oftentimes horrible customers. And like, literally by going up market, you can just charge a lot more.”

“Which is an absolute shame because it is literally the most important skill in business. I do not say that facetiously. Sales is king of the hill. Without it, your startup will not succeed.”

“I'll assert that market is the most important factor in a startup success or failure.”