10 years of my life was building software companies.

My last one sold for $100M.

I doubt I’ll ever return to pure-play software.

So here are my cheat codes: Don’t build “the company”

Day 1: Do NOT go out and hire a bunch of people, spend money on logo/brand, purchase ads, or get long-term office space.

Your only goal is to be scrappy getting users, ship product, and find early signs of product market fit.

Figure in-housed all PR.

The last 10 years, I've done the $20k/mo engagement and was never satisfied.

→ In March, Figure emerged from stealth: 4 press articles.

→ Last week, Series A: 8 press articles.

Some notes: The Figure process was led internally by Lee Randaccio - she crushed it:

→ Mapping all relevant journalists (targeted 50)

→ Aligning on Press Release + Assets

→ Interviews / Embargo's / PR Newswire

Today a founder asked me:

→ “What’s your #1 lesson from scaling your last 3 companies?”

My response:

→ “CEO’s need to run product organizations.”

Here’s what that means: Product Organizations are designed from the ground-up to ship useful product.

→ Team headcount is small & lean

→ The team efficiency is high = driving up speed

→ Company has a culture of internal demo’s

The next wave of AI is in your browser.

Chrome extensions will combine...

→ Existing usage of Chrome
→ New usage of AI

Here are 11 high-impact AI extensions: Eesel (@eeselapp)

Automatically organize your Google Docs, Notion pages, and other work documents in your next tab.

Building a startup is insanely hard.

You have to:

→ Come up with ideas
→ Set up an MVP
→ Organize a team
→ Drive your vision
→ Build a great product
→ Sell, sell, sell

It's easy to get overwhelmed.

Here are 6 startup resources to make it easier: Coming Up with Startup Ideas

"How to Come Up With Startup Ideas" by @paulg
paulgraham.com/startupideas.h…

Your opportunity is only as good as your network.

10 tips to build powerful connections: Increase your meeting surface area

Networking is a numbers game.

You won't bat .1000 choosing the right people to help you on your journey.

But if you meet as many people as you can, you'll definitely reach the right ones in time.

12 mistakes to avoid in your career (and speed up your time to success): Hiring Friends

Sometimes it works out.

But 95% of the time, it doesn't.

Don't put undue pressure on yourself by tying your success to an emotional relationship.

You'll both be much happier keeping business separate.

Y Combinator accepted 282 startups in the latest batch.

At least 30% of them are AI companies.

Here are 20 to keep an eye on: Company: Linum

What they do: Midjourney for Video. They let anyone turn an idea into a movie.

linum.ai

I took Vettery from an idea to 9-figure exit in 5 years.

7 lessons learned from scaling a startup to $100M: Build an Org to Ship Product

Start by visualizing your ideal 5-year org chart.

The goal is to support rapid product development.

I've found high success at recruiting through cold emails.

Hire the best people slowly, and don't accept mediocre.

ChatGPT is good.

But AutoGPT is the future.

7 threads to teach you AutoGPT 101: From: @matt_gray_

Learn the basics of what AutoGPT is and how to start using it.

https://twitter.com/matt_gray_/status/1648658990841180162

Commercial-Focused Founders:

→ Visit the Customer
→ Set the Product Requirements
→ Design the Product
→ Did the customer like it?

Academic-Focused Founders:

→ I built this technology
→ Where can we use it?
→ Let's try using it for [x] Every industry has these two players.

Investors can’t tell the difference.

In fact, the “MIT Spinout” gives a lot of credibly and also has flashy tech built day one. They have the upper hand

The commercial group is boots on the ground with the customer - nothing built day one.

18 high-impact startup resources (all free): What: Founder Resources

Why: 500+ curated resources for startup founders

Where:
founderresources.io

Cheat codes I know at 37 I wish I knew at 20: 1. Big ideas are magnets for talented people

2. Determine your direction, then take massive action

3. Listening deeply is more valuable than talking loudly

Me at Grocery Store Self-Checkout:

→ press “Skip Bagging”

→ press “Pay”

→ robot: “How many Bags did you use?” 🤯

Summary: Most product suck.

Here’s why: it’s really really hard to build great product. The system even gives me UI to show “Item not bagged”

I built a $100M software company called Vettery.

This wouldn't have been possible without a culture of speed & efficiency.

7 hard-earned productivity insights: Build a culture of demo's

Build an internal culture of product demos.

→ 2x/month have internal demo milestones

→ Celebrate these wins with the company

This will help focus the organization to execute quickly against the product/service.

If you want to be a better communicator, open this: Manage the poles

Navigate tensions by embracing opposing views.

• Identify conflicting perspectives
• Encourage open dialogue and debate
• Seek mutually beneficial solutions

I’ve spent the last 5 years working to increase team performance.

19 insights for managing a peak-performance team: Establish clear goals with each team member, aligned with the company's mission.

8 founder skills I wish I knew 20 years ago: Rapid Hypothesis Testing

You need to quickly develop, test, and validate ideas.

The goal is to iterate meaningfully on your product or service.

A top founder embraces a data-driven approach and executed rapidly.

Keep what works, scrap the rest.

Notes from 10 years of raising capital: Context:

The probability of success for a high growth company is predicated on your ability to raise capital.

I’ve raised over $1 billion in my career as a technology entrepreneur.

Here are some lessons learned…

12 pitch decks that raised $17.8 Billion: Archer Aviation raised $1.1B at $2.7B valuation.

Here is the deck:
tinyurl.com/3haty5yy

In my last 20 years building companies, I've failed a lot and also learned a lot.

13 hard-earned truths I've found about entrepreneurship: Context:

I've been building companies for 20 years.

From small little projects, to taking my last company public at $2.7B.

These are simply truths I've found.

Take what is relevant for you.