Startup Advice

I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of ads trying to sell you the greatest new tactics to get more customers, make more sales, and earn a bazillion dollars while you sleep. 

The problem with most of these ads is that they’re selling you recycled tactics with new catchy names pulling you away from your goals. 

I say this because tactics without a... See more

A simple rule of thumb for what makes an idea venture-scale is having a path to $100 million a year in revenue and hitting $1 billion+ valuation , in 10 years . Essentially, can you get big, fast? This is what VCs need to invest in in order to make their fund economics work. Very few ideas can hit this scale, and it’s important that you recognize... See more

A unique idea is powerful.

But truly original ideas — if there is such a thing — often struggle to gain traction with people who don’t have any reference point for them.

I’ve come to learn through first-hand experience that monopolies often serve as the ideal competitor to take on. There are four main reasons why:

1. Monopolies have already proven the industry is viable and lucrative


2. Monopolies refuse to cannibalize their own dominance


3. Monopolies have institutionalized their inefficiencies


4. Monopolies have the most to

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-1 to 0 is when you figure out what you want to work on. It’s when you decide where to allocate the next 5-10 years of your life.

This may sound simple, but it can be overwhelming and isolating in practice. That period before SPC was not my first -1 to 0 experience. I spent the year after leaving Facebook to start Cove feeling like I was banging my... See more