How can AI startups raise capital at sky-high valuations while losing money?
Because investors are betting on future dominance, not current P&L.
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Amazon ran e-commerce on razor-thin margins for a decade.
By 2006, net margin was < 2%.
But that's how they established dominance.
You can't compete with a company that keeps prices as low as feasible.
Once you own the market, you can optimize for margins.
Sep 25 • 13 tweets • 4 min read
Gamma crossed $50M ARR with 28 employees and more cash in the bank than we had raised ($23M)
In hindsight: We got here because we ignored common VC advice.
Examples of glaringly bad advice that you should ignore to save you $10M+ and years of time, like we did for Gamma:
Advice that sounds okay on the surface but might cost you your company:
1. “Raise as much as you can, hire quickly, and worry about profitability later”
My advice: raise little, stay lean, fund with profits.
If you do raise, be thoughtful and choose the right partners.
Sep 12 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
"Your success in life will be largely determined by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas. In that order."
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Buffett spent $100 on a Dale Carnegie communication course.
That certificate hangs on his wall.
Not his Columbia degree.
Warren always speaks about how economically sensitive a decision it is to learn how to communicate properly.
Jun 20, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Today we shipped a feature we said we'd never build.
Powerpoint export.
After all, why would the team building the "anti-powerpoint" spend any time on this?
Here's a quick 🧵 on our thought process.
Startups exist to solve customer problems.
Often the best way to do this is by introducing new tech.
But it's easy to get fixated on the tech itself, creating a walled garden, while losing sight of the actual problem you're solving.
Jan 3, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
After interviewing people for 10+ years,
I can tell you most people struggle to answer:
"Tell me about yourself.”
Use these 7 tips to stand out and land the job:
#1. Keep it relevant.
The interviewer is looking for information that is relevant to the job and the company.
Focus on your professional experiences and skills that apply to the conversation.
Too many people miss the point here and talk about their personal lives.
Dec 29, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
If you don't do these 10 things, you shouldn't expect a job promotion:
#1: Be a kind and decent human being.
Simply not being a jerk can go a long way.
If people want to be around you, they’ll cheer you on as you go for promotions.
Your boss will see this support from your peers and the choice to promote you will be a no-brainer.
Dec 27, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
In the last 10 years I've:
- Helped manage a successful acquisition
- Scaled a business from $10-100m ARR
- Fundraised >$100m
It was an absolute grind 🥵
These are the lessons I've learned along the way:
#1: Know your core values.
When you are first getting started, this is the best thing you can do.
Decide which principles you'll never give way on.
For me:
- Integrity
- Transparency
Be the first one to call BS if things aren't staying true to your values.
Dec 22, 2022 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
10 significant lies you're told about the world of startups:
Lie #1: Startups are great opportunities for anyone.
This is first because it’s the biggest lie.
Startups require serious hard work, dedication, and a willingness to take risks.
Because of uncertainty around many areas, most people are better off in a traditional 9-5.
Dec 20, 2022 • 13 tweets • 7 min read
10 amazing Chrome extensions that cost you $0, but will save hundreds of hours of your life:
#1: StayFocused
Have you ever sat down to do something important but an hour goes by and you're scrolling Reddit?
I’ve cracked the code on nailing any job interview.
Throw all other advice out the window, these 7 tips are all you need:
1. Show passion.
Enthusiasm and interest in the position/company matter more than you think.
This tells a lot about you:
•Are you proactive?
•What motivates you?
•Why did this role attract you?
• Are you interested in the mission or the money?
Dec 8, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Over 40,000 people have been laid off this month, just in time for the holidays.
Use this to become layoff-proof:
1. Learn More Skills
Layoffs remove the least valuable employees.
The goal for you is to be in the top 30% for your team. Average or below isn't good enough. You're at risk.
Focus on skills that directly translate to increasing revenue or decreasing expenses.
Dec 3, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Hiring the wrong person can be the most expensive mistake you ever make.
Watch closely for these 7 red flags in the hiring process:
🚩🚩🚩
1. Bad Vibe
You're smarter than you think.
We're very good at sensing when something is wrong. If anything feels off, there's a reason. You may not even know why in the moment.
Always trust your gut.
Dec 1, 2022 • 14 tweets • 5 min read
How to design a winning investor pitchdeck (lessons from a seasoned founder):
Guy Kawasaki has rejected thousands of pitch decks & presentations
In 2014, he jumped at the opportunity to invest in @canva (now worth $40 BILLION)
This is his exact pitch deck template
Nov 29, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Want to crush your next job interview?
These are the 5 skills every company secretly wishes you had:
1. Passion & Curiosity
The holy grail is a passionate employee that never settles.
Someone passionate about the company's mission encourages the best of everyone. There's always a way to make things better, faster, or cheaper. That's rewarded heavily $$.
No one can teach this.
Nov 23, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
I've seen 10,000+ resumes in my career, and 99% of them suck.
Here are 5 tips that will instantly transform your resume:
I wish I could say every resume is treated equally.
Applicants spam the same resume to hundreds of openings.
This results in a boring, bland, templated result that looks something like this:
Nov 22, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Presenting well is a superpower.
But most people suck at it because no one ever taught them how to do it.
Here are 7 actionable steps to level up your presentations:
#1: Start with a bang.
Opening with a long intro means your audience switches off.
Prove your credibility by delivering great content.
Not with a long explanation about who you are.
Start in a way that catches your audience's attention.
Nov 17, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Most people suck at presentations.
Here’s everything you need to crush your next presentation:
A great presentation consists of:
• Curated Visuals
• A Confident Speaker
• Exceptional Storytelling
Let’s look at how you can improve in each of these 3 critical areas.
Nov 15, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
Failing to attract talent to your team can destroy your company.
Over the past 2 years, I have become a Founder and grown my team.
What most people don’t know?
These 5 techniques can build a legendary team every time:
#1: Work with talent to attract more talent.
This is the formula I use over and over again:
“One talented person + another talented person = a magnet for talent”
It just takes that first step to put you on the path of building a talented team.
Your first hires are critical.
Nov 11, 2022 • 16 tweets • 6 min read
The world's most valuable skill:
Communicating effectively online.
But terrible slide decks stop people from doing this well.
Here's a simple framework from Prof Richard Mayer to 10x your slides:
#1: Use words AND pictures together.
The Multimedia Principle.
Words and pictures together are better than words alone.
Now your audience builds visual AND verbal models.
Better models = better information transfer.
Think: could an image enhance the message?
Nov 10, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
At 23 years old I was anxious, isolated, + drained:
• I disliked my field of study (Mechanical Engineering)
• I wasn't going to make it as an engineer
• I felt I was setting myself up for failure
But it ended up being the best thing that ever happened.
My career story:
After getting my Masters in Engineering, I didn’t even attempt to pursue jobs in that field.
If anything, that degree showed me exactly what I DIDN’T want to do with my life.
