Articles
Straight answers for founders starting out
Written by the people who direct the builds: twenty-five years and seventeen-odd startups' worth of what actually happens in the first two years. No frameworks for their own sake.
A Tech Team Is More Than Developers
AI can now write much of your code. It cannot own your roadmap, test your assumptions or run your release. The rest of the team is the part nobody prices in.
Read articleThe Seven Stages of a Business, and Why You Only Need the First Three
A popular growth model, and what twenty-five years of watching founders use it badly suggests you should take from it.
Read articleThe Top Reason Startups Fail Is Not the One You Think
The usual ranking treats these as separate causes of death. In practice they are the same one, arriving in stages.
Read articleThe Five Numbers You Actually Need in Year One
Runway, burn, product-market fit, churn and traction. Everything else can wait, and most of it should.
Read articleSelling Is the First Skill, Not the Last
Almost everything about starting a business is arranged to let you avoid selling. That is the problem.
Read articleWhy VCs Aren't Looking for Good Businesses
The arithmetic behind venture returns, why fund size changes the answer, and why most founders should not raise.
Read articleYour First Ten Customers Should Be People You Already Know
The advice to avoid selling to your network is half right, and the half that is wrong costs founders their first year.
Read articleWhat a Technical Co-founder Actually Does, and Whether You Need One
Four distinct jobs get bundled into one title. You may only need one of them, and equity is the most expensive way to buy it.
Read articleFive Ways First-Time Founders Waste Their Build Budget
The overrun is rarely caused by being overcharged. It is caused by five decisions that all feel sensible at the time.
Read articleDoes Your Idea Actually Need Software?
An odd article for a software company to write. The question gets asked far too late, usually after the money has gone.
Read articleHow to Brief Someone Who Is Building Your Product
Most problems in a first build are translation problems. Half a day of writing prevents most of them.
Read articleStop pitching a deck. Start demoing a product.
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