Recently a company I’m advising asked me about cofounder equity sharing, possibly the most sensitive and potentially awkward discussion to be had among the founders. Thought I’d share my answer to them here as well. Continue reading Cofounder Equity Sharing
Startup cheat sheet:1/ Pick an industry vertical2/ Find a cofounder from that vertical. A forward-thinking veteran you can spend the next 10 years with (meanwhile you should also research the vertical like a mandman too)3/ Disrupt the vertical with GenAI or cleantech or (insert a fundamental macro change) Sounds obvious, right? But there’s more to … Continue reading Startup Cheat Sheet
From today’s conversation with someone: I: “If you can go back to the 20 year old version of yourself, what tip would you give him?” Person X: (after a pause) “I’ll teach him about the importance of sticking to one thing for a long time. There’s enormous power in doing one thing until you reap … Continue reading Stick with It
A successful VC I know recently remarked: “Growing up, our family was so poor that all I wanted was having a central A/C system one day. Central AC has been my bottom line; everything I got on top of that has been a bonus to me.” Of course, he’s got a lot more than a … Continue reading Lower Expectations
Have you recently met someone who’s impacting your life positively? Someone you met recently that you really like? Now, did you take time to remember who made the intro, go back the “intro chain” and thank him or her? Most of us do a pretty decent job at thanking the original person who made the … Continue reading Remember the Intro
Legend says that when Vikings first landed on enemy territory, the first thing they did was burn their boats so the only way to go back home was to win the battle. This move is completely irrational and illogical. Why not think about “just in case” scenarios? Why waste time and resource on this non-combat … Continue reading Burning the Boat
From Berkshire report (via Yahoo Finance): “Berkshire Hathaway saw a 19.8% compounded annual gain from 1965 to 2022, compared to 9.9% for the S&P 500 Index. In terms of overall gain, Berkshire saw a 3,787,464% rise during that time period while the S&P rose 24,708%.” If someone invested $10k through Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, that … Continue reading Compounding
I caught up with my friend who’s a veteran recruiter. Our conversation led to (what else!) implications of AI for the recruiting industry. She was quite optimistic about it. She said, when LinkedIn first came out and became prevalent, many people in her field worried recruiters would lose their jobs and be replaced by LinkedIn. … Continue reading AI and the Job Market
One productivity hack that has worked well for me in the past is monthly personal workshop, aka “archive day”. The idea is simple – every month, take a day off from work to review and tidy up your work itself, so you can work better and more efficiently. It’s like working on the work itself, … Continue reading Archive Day
It pains me to watch this company A. They have 40+ employees and are losing money every month, like clockwork. They have some revenue, but the revenue isn’t growing as fast and their business has low margins. They should do something ASAP – either downsize the team significantly or sell off part of their business. … Continue reading Be more decisive