Dear Founder #5: Managing growth pains – 8 alignment tools to manage complexity
- By ssyc1
- February 24, 2020
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Anyone who has worked at large organisations will know what organizational inertia feels like. There was once this much-read corporate tome titled “Can elephants dance?” (written by the then CEO … Continue Reading
Dear Founder #4: not all revenues are created equal
- By ssyc1
- June 5, 2019
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[A note from 5 Oct 2019: “gross margins” and “sustainable revenues” has become talk of tech town this past week, and a big-name Silicon Valley VC has made a similar … Continue Reading
The Power of the Power Law, “super-stars”, and moving the returns curve “to the right”!
- By ssyc1
- February 21, 2019
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I finally get to jot down some of my thoughts here about the “power law”, and more specifically the “power of the power law” …. I. The phenomenon of superstars OK, … Continue Reading
Nuts and bolts #3: your financial model and your understanding of your business, your market and your customers, and your value drivers
- By ssyc1
- February 11, 2019
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Dear founder. This is a letter to all you founders who are preparing a financial model for your Series A or even Series B round. First, may I congratulate for … Continue Reading
Great founding teams – a revisit
- By ssyc1
- December 24, 2018
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[An earlier version of this post was titled “Builders of the world, design and surf once in a while!”] As 2018 draws to a close, we reflect on how we … Continue Reading
Nuts and bolts #2: 9 delightful things about product-market fit
- By ssyc1
- September 24, 2018
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A lot of ink has been spilled on “product market fit” but we are still very often answering Qs about this and so we are going to jot down a … Continue Reading
Being long on innovation – part 2: Thriving under the shadows of giants
- By ssyc1
- September 14, 2018
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[Addition on 24 Oct: adding a link to an a16z blog-post published not long after on the same topic highlighted in point 5 below, that selling in the early stages … Continue Reading
Dear Founder #3: building strong and weather-proof companies
- By ssyc1
- January 15, 2018
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We invest to support companies building for the long term and so we are very interested in founders who want to build long-lasting and strong companies irrespective of the state … Continue Reading
The art and science of venture investing – #2: the search for great companies and great opportunities
- By ssyc1
- August 31, 2017
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Why is it so hard to find great opportunities? Why are big success stories and sustained growth still so rare? What is the “formula” for improving our chance of backing … Continue Reading
The art and science of venture investing – #1: dealing with “hotness” and “coldness”, luck vs skill, intellectual honesty, and others
- By ssyc1
- August 29, 2017
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I’m recently back from a large tech conference where some participants were discussing the question whether AR, VR and AI is “too hot”? Should I pay any attention to what … Continue Reading