My first company @twitch sold for a billion dollars.
My second one lost $75 million in 36 months.
People love talking about success, but today I'm going to talk about failure.
It's time to be honest about Atrium:
My second one lost $75 million in 36 months.
People love talking about success, but today I'm going to talk about failure.
It's time to be honest about Atrium:
During my time as Partner at @ycombinator, my ambition to build something big only grew.
I took the plunge and decided to follow the 'age-old' wisdom of fixing my own problem and building a startup around the solution.
(cont.)
I took the plunge and decided to follow the 'age-old' wisdom of fixing my own problem and building a startup around the solution.
(cont.)
I hated doing legal work for my startups and never really understood what I was paying for.
The entire experience was too complicated and opaque. I started Atrium to make this easier for founders.
(cont.)
The entire experience was too complicated and opaque. I started Atrium to make this easier for founders.
(cont.)
I built up a team of five founders with different backgrounds.
With my name at the helm, everyone was running to us with funding offers.
We raised a $10m series A with an idea - a 10-slide pitch deck.
With my name at the helm, everyone was running to us with funding offers.
We raised a $10m series A with an idea - a 10-slide pitch deck.
Sometimes a new idea is not enough
Despite having a great team, great investors, and early customers, our rosy start soon began to wither.
Many things contributed to the eventual downfall of Atrium.
Here is what I learned from my failures:
Despite having a great team, great investors, and early customers, our rosy start soon began to wither.
Many things contributed to the eventual downfall of Atrium.
Here is what I learned from my failures:
Build something you believe in and love, not for your ego
As with most founders after a big sell, my ego kept nagging me to think 'bigger'.
My dreams were full of insanely large numbers. A ten-billion-dollar company. A hundred-billion-dollar company.
As with most founders after a big sell, my ego kept nagging me to think 'bigger'.
My dreams were full of insanely large numbers. A ten-billion-dollar company. A hundred-billion-dollar company.
We weren't clear about our mission early on
It is very hard to write the mission after the fact. You should start with a clear reason to exist and filter early hires for believers.
Without clearly defined goals between co-founders, huge frictional costs can arise.
It is very hard to write the mission after the fact. You should start with a clear reason to exist and filter early hires for believers.
Without clearly defined goals between co-founders, huge frictional costs can arise.
We hired too fast
Hiring too quickly - especially before PMF can be a fatal mistake.
At Atrium, we hired too many people too fast and we failed to set a cohesive culture early. This is incredibly hard to change later on.
Hiring too quickly - especially before PMF can be a fatal mistake.
At Atrium, we hired too many people too fast and we failed to set a cohesive culture early. This is incredibly hard to change later on.
Prioritizing growth over product
We raised a $10m series A with just an idea. We focused on growth over everything else. While we successfully grew our customer base, we couldn't retain them.
We simply hadn't spent enough time to figure out our product.
We raised a $10m series A with just an idea. We focused on growth over everything else. While we successfully grew our customer base, we couldn't retain them.
We simply hadn't spent enough time to figure out our product.
We didn't define our 'who' early on
It wasn’t clear who Atrium served; the lawyers or the clients who were buying our legal services. Without making the distinction, we fell into the pit of trying to be everything to everyone.
It wasn’t clear who Atrium served; the lawyers or the clients who were buying our legal services. Without making the distinction, we fell into the pit of trying to be everything to everyone.
In contrast, early on in Twitch, we decided that we would serve only streamers and iterated till we could serve them in the best possible way.
Win or die leadership
My colleagues needed to be supported and set up for success. My “win or die” strategy didn’t work and worse, strained relationships.
I lost several friends this way.
A more empathetic approach would have at least been a morale boost for the team.
My colleagues needed to be supported and set up for success. My “win or die” strategy didn’t work and worse, strained relationships.
I lost several friends this way.
A more empathetic approach would have at least been a morale boost for the team.
Not looking inwards and asking big questions
Not figuring out my intrinsic motivation made it impossible to stay resilient in tough situations. My big question was, do I really want to be the CEO and build products? I also had no passion or real interest in legal tech.
Not figuring out my intrinsic motivation made it impossible to stay resilient in tough situations. My big question was, do I really want to be the CEO and build products? I also had no passion or real interest in legal tech.
(cont.)
After Atrium, I realized that building product and being a CEO was not my primary goal.
I love interesting people, stories, and ideas - all of this has led me to content creation.
I am a much more actualized now and pursuing something that I find fulfilling.
After Atrium, I realized that building product and being a CEO was not my primary goal.
I love interesting people, stories, and ideas - all of this has led me to content creation.
I am a much more actualized now and pursuing something that I find fulfilling.
My failures do not define me
It sucks having to shut down a company. I was not the only one affected, and I let a lot of people down.
Dealing with it moving on to discover what’s important is what really matters.
(Cont.)
It sucks having to shut down a company. I was not the only one affected, and I let a lot of people down.
Dealing with it moving on to discover what’s important is what really matters.
(Cont.)
Faith in myself that I will emerge a better and stronger person led to personal discoveries that exceeded my wildest expectations
Be proud of your failures - wear them like a badge.
Reply to this thread and share what you've learned from your own shortcomings, would love to read them.
Reply to this thread and share what you've learned from your own shortcomings, would love to read them.
Read the full article + more content like this over at my weekly newsletter, The Quest Digest. Subscribe to download my thoughts and learnings in startup, business, and tech, to wellbeing and everything in between.
thequestpod.substack.com/p/the-story-of…
thequestpod.substack.com/p/the-story-of…
I made a video on this topic, check it out here:
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
