I was at Amzn early '00s when we lost 95% of our market cap. Later at FB I negotiated a down-round in '09, and then in '12 our stock dropped 50% post-IPO. I was on the board of a public company that went bankrupt (Borders) and a start-up that went under (Hello). Some lessons:
The trouble with exponential growth is that the curve feels flat in the beginning. It isn't; it's still a wonderful exponential curve. But we can't grasp that intuitively, so we underrate exponential growth in its early stages.
Building a great product is a bit like marriage: if you commit your life to making it excellent over long periods of time, and earnestly care about understanding the other person (users), you’ll be surprised at what you can build.
The importance of getting your problem statement right
first time founders often conflate the macro problem with the micro problem
I see startups who say that their problem statements are;
- we would need six globes to cover our emissions
- under representation of... See more
Founders are taught to possess enough faith to will whatever they’re working on into existence but are rarely reminded to worship anything but themself. This creates a pressure cooker of responsibility that distorts reality to the point that they often find it hard not to confuse themselves for God — and we all know how that ends.
I know due diligence sucks
BUT
The investor who puts in the work to REALLY understand your company today
is the investor who will put in the work to REALLY support your company tomorrow.
Don't just grab the first $$ waved in front of... See more
Lesson #1: Great Products Expand Markets Taylor Swift moved to Nashville at 13 and went door-to-door to record labels. They all turned her down. Labels saw country music on the decline with young listeners, and didn't see a market for a teen country artist.
The good stuff is always lonely in the beginning. Nothing meaningful will get made if its potential makers all wimp out too soon, because they get scared by the sparse crowd, the empty room.