Find people who've been there

Grant on growing an AI startup“When growth stalls, doing more of the same won’t save you. Sometimes your small team needs to make one bigger bet.”

Julie on becoming a better manager“Your job as a manager is to help other people do great work. Start by understanding what’s getting in their way.”

Keith on spotting founders nobody has noticed yet“Stop looking at résumés the way Google does.”

John on Building a differentiated business“When you can’t outspend your competitor, give people a reason to choose you that money alone can’t buy.”

Madhavan on pricing for profitable growth“Don’t build a product and then ask what to charge. Find out what customers will pay for before you decide what to build.”

Soleio on designing products people love“Good design starts with knowing what matters. If your team can’t agree on the problem, polishing the interface won’t fix it.”

Stanley on finding initial traction“Your first customers don’t need a scalable solution. They need their problem solved. Do it manually until you understand what’s worth building...”

Kirsten on understanding what consumers want“Before you ask whether the market is big enough, ask what’s changing in people’s lives. The best opportunities start there...”

Ali on spotting talent before it's obvious“It's mostly about being intentional with the pattern matching you already have from a lifetime of interacting with people, rather than suspending judgment the way polite society trains us to do.”

Brian on scaling a company“The leadership style that gets you to ten employees won’t get you to a thousand. Your company can’t evolve unless you do.”

Tim on picking investors for a first raise“Start with angels and seed funds who actually write checks at the idea stage, because most VCs won't touch you until you have traction or a warm intro.”

Spenser on turning user behavior into growth“Users tell you what they want, but their behavior shows you what matters. Understand the difference before deciding what to build...”

Alfred on raising the equity split with a cofounder“The first hard conversation about equity is a preview of every harder conversation to come, so one of you has to name a number out loud and see how the other reacts.”

Kevin on two months of runway and what to do next“I spent 14 months in the desert with Circles and almost every time I thought a breakthrough was coming, it wasn't, but staying in the game turned out to be the whole game.”