A very successful real estate agent in the SF bay area told me his story one day. He hustled his way into the top success in his 30’s and 40’s. He out-hustled everybody and secured best deals using sharp elbows. He became more successful than he had ever imagined when he started out. Towards the … Continue reading Be A Private Giver
On how to find a cofounder: 1/ Basically all dating/marriage analogies apply here, so go back and refresh your memory 🙂 2/ Your search would involve two buckets of people: those who are already in your rolodex (e.g. people you have worked with) and those who are not (new people). Depending on your past career … Continue reading How To Find A Cofounder
A few things you’re not supposed to say during VC pitch meetings 🙂 1/ “No rush! Take your time, review our materials, and let us know” – You should have a firm (and ideally, short) window and clearly communicate it 2/ “It’s now or never – this round will be filled very quickly” – No … Continue reading Don’t Say These During Pitch Meetings
Ideally, entrepreneurs can plan their fundraising in what I call “2+2+2 fundraising”: 2 years – Build relationships with investors. Doesn’t have to be 2 years; can be 6 months, or 4 months, whatever. The point is, it takes a long time to build a good relationship, and the best time to build a relationship with … Continue reading 2+2+2 Fundraising
A guy sees a girl. At the first sight, he immediately falls in love with her – he even thinks he might be able to build a life with her. He thinks “one day I’ll show up in front of her, and I’ll make sure she gets totally impressed.” He gets into a hard training … Continue reading Don’t Show Up At The Last Minute
No one cares about how many lateral passes you made; the only thing that matters is scores. Lateral passes = emails, slack messages, zoom callsScoring goals = closing a deal, shipping a new feature, hiring an A-list talent Lateral passes are often necessary part of the game, but they’re not the end goals in and … Continue reading What Matters Is Scores, Not Lateral Passes
A few quick things to keep in mind for those who only worked at big companies and are now joining a startup: Continue reading When You Transition From A Big Company To A Startup
One of the questions that I got most frequently when I did the last company was, “Is Tapas a tech company or a content/IP company?” (*For those who don’t know, Tapas was/is a creator platform for serialized digital comics and novels) I’m sure big companies get the same questions all the time too. Is Airbnb … Continue reading Are You a Platform Company or a Content Company?
Recently I had a chance to sit in a startup pitch event where the theme was scientists (mostly university professors) pitching about their startups built around their research. Without generalizing too much, here are my quick observations / wishes from some of those founders: Better storytelling: People forget about technology, but they remember stories. Scientist … Continue reading Research Scientists and Startup
Someone I know (who’s a Gen Z) recently remarked: “The world is literally burning, and all we got is short videos.” Many of this generation’s biggest problems, such as social divisiveness and mental health issues, can be traced back to social media as one of the main culprits. Instagram makes you feel miserable; Twitter (X) … Continue reading The New Manhattan Project