Chapters (Powered by ChapterMe) - 00:00 - Coming Up 00:13 - Intro: Founders should not think like VCs 00:24 - What is thinking like a VC? 01:04 - Investing in small companies with expert networks 03:05 - How would a YC Partner think when reading applications? Early-stage Investor Priorities 04:56 - Why do founders do this? 06:41 - Thinking from first principles 08:41 - Fear based: Choosing a bad idea 10:06 - VCs give positive feedback to startups, but founders struggle 11:18 - First Customers struggle: Founders thinking like VCs encountering the real world 12:43 - Launch quickly: Avoiding zero-to-one mentality 12:56 - Scaling: Not a lot of founders engaging in zero-to-one 14:19 - Macro Vs. Micro 15:54 - What's the cure for founders? Turn off skills that don't serve startup 17:22 - Spending time with users is a cure 20:36 - Superpowers: Restrict thinking like a VC 21:42 - No Exit Strategy: Humans are trained to have the entire plan worked out 22:26 - You don't need a fool-proof plan today 23:48 - Outro
On a related note, having lots of resources and doing a lot with them is not always how you create progress for your startup. Any founder with a ton of resources can make a lot of decisions like spend a lot on an office, spend a lot on ads, etc. But just because a lot is happening at a startup does not mean progress is actually being made. What separates progress from just a lot of effort and activity? What you choose to do should either help you help your user better by helping them solve the problem you’re trying to solve for them. For example, if you’re running ads to push a vanity metric like signups but don’t look into who is signing up or why they are, you’re technically doing the right thing but not making progress.
Great insights on the pitfalls of overthinking in the startup phase. Entrepreneurs should also remember that early customer feedback is gold; it's less about impressing investors and more about creating a product that solves real user problems. Quick iterations based on user experience can differentiate between success and stagnation.
Jeff Bezos was a VP level investment banker before he started Amazon. Thinking like an investment banker is fine, you just have to understand how entrepreneurship works too. Building, getting the first customer, and scaling are 3 different tasks.
To all the founders crying in the corner after facing daily rejections... just confused where they are going wrong... Dalton and Michael - We're here for you 🤟
I like the part about unlearning. "Turn of the pollution" makes a lot of sense. I think folks are more influenced by what they hear/read than they realize.
@@SacredCASHcow micro wins you battles, macro wins the the game. But in startup, at least early stage, you have limited resources and you can't really effectively macro. Thus micro is more important. In StarCraft term is you start out with a group a marine but haven't found a mineral deposit yet
@@sephypantsu yeah I actually played starcraft III quite a bit and was a total noob who would cannon rush people into ...gold? I don't remember. How does this apply to startups? Is micro like coding ability and macro is market research? or?..
Summary/Takeaways generated by Zenfetch: Summary The video discusses the risks of founders thinking like investors when starting a company, and instead emphasizes the importance of focusing on building something users want, getting early customer feedback, and understanding your own strengths and superpowers. Key Takeaways 1. It's easy to get stuck in an 'investor mindset' and overthink what to build based on what you think VCs will like, rather than focusing on what users actually want. 2. The most important things when starting a company are simpler than many founders think - things like getting early customer feedback, understanding your own strengths, and scaling gradually. 3. Unlearning the 'investor mindset' and instead focusing on first principles, positive feedback from users, and your own unique superpowers is key to building a successful company.
I guess all points to what we founders actually have; an idea, a prototype, a product, an actual plan, or a real business. The earliest we seek fundings; the more we are giving away our future company; including the work on converting our company into an actual business. For instance; I am conscious of the fact that I don't really have a business yet. I have an idea? Absolutely! I had invested, and I even have access; but not enough to start the sales. Well; probably, I am still too early to start raising funds. On the other hand; my business could die for the lack of funds. How can you blame founders for trying everything to survive?
Y combinator is like the large hydron collider of particles but just companies and people gets collided in YCs case. I am coming to get smashed good in there guys. Wait foe me.😅
They act like micro takes a few months. It’s a way of life. Think user authentication, database back ups, schemas, queries. These things can cause some to crawl in a corner. I’ve seen it. Authors are over here laughing about it like it’s just another thing.
We sold $2m of the crappy prototype and survived a 10 year on-ramp needed to transform a $200bTAM. I dare you to pass on the $600k SAFE. I even use your form 😊.
LOLOL How can you ask for money when you not only do not have a product but not even the idea. Like come on, how many afternoons does it take to think of 20 ideas and picking the best one? It's like these people are completely oblivious to the entire concept of the very business they are trying to build. I wonder how many successful founders like that are there, probably not very many.
@@anson_kao Well, if I get to meet him I would have so much on my mind that his laughter though awkward would be least of my concerns! But i dont think i can laugh with him everytime he does! That would be silly or even mad!
