For many startups, the next 12 months will be challenging. Default Investable or Default Alive. Know which path you are on.
Scaling Product-Market Fit is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
Don’t rush scaling product-market fit. Here are two ways to avoid the common trap of wasting time and money on the wrong growth tactics.
Know Your Burn Rate – Set Up Your Assessment Framework
Stephen Blank describes a startup as an organization formed to search for a repeatable, scalable, profitable business model. They are not small versions of large corporations. A well-run startup is like a laboratory, testing hypothesis, comparing actual results against expected results, and constantly executing small pivots until a company is born. Or unit the cash […]
Gross Revenue Is A Vanity Metric
Gross Revenue charts on fundraise decks. Gross Revenue used to calculate customer lifetime value. Gross Revenue used to calculate sales team commissions! Gross Revenue is one of those numbers that can make me a little crazy. Because in many types of businesses, it’s an incredibly misleading number. It can tell a story of happiness and […]
How Would Socrates Review That Customer Acquisition Model?
There is something about being the founder of a company that leads you to believe that you’re supposed to be an expert in every discipline, from marketing to software development to creative production. One of the hardest lessons to learn is how to delegate. One of the most important paths to success is to hire […]
Only Revenue Equals Revenue
HuffPost has published a piece about the rise and fall of Mic.com. It’s worth a read to get some perspective on what it’s like to build a startup in a frantic search for a sustainable business model. There are a few good takeaways here that I might come back to in the coming weeks. But […]