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Zero to $1B: Lessons Scaling a Startup

85 points by elsewhen 8y ago

dannylandau 8y ago
Some good advice. The letter from Dean of Stanford Business School is classic.
- bertil 8y ago
  I found it surprisingly petty for him to quote it in that way: I won’t defend an MBA (never did, never will) but furthering your education can’t be compared head-on to a business opportunity. The “now of never” is obviously a flipped argument (for the start-up, not the MBA that will be available every year) but you can’t fault the Dean for trying.
andyidsinga 8y ago
I thought Lesson #8 is pretty critical to anyone who either wants to lead or ends up in a lead position. specifically: > Some founders take pride in working long hours. That’s dumb. You should take pride in having huge leverage (which often requires long hours). When I would work 100 hour weeks, instead of feeling self-satisfied, I knew I either 1) wasn’t delegating enough or 2) didn’t have the right leaders around me to delegate to. By working longer hours you can get 20% or even 40% more done, but with effective delegation you can get 10x or 100x more done. I remember talking to a coworker years ago, who was also a long time software developer. I asked him something along the lines of what his near term goals were. I was surprised by his answer because I thought his answer would be about learning some new tech, getting a part of his project done etc. His answer was along the lines of "I want learn to lead better and hire good people to work for me so that we can get 10x more done" ..that really changed the way I think about leadership and hiring.
- michaeldorian 8y ago
  This switch from working harder and getting more tasks done versus working harder to figure out how to scale in both your professional and personal life is hard transition. As someone going through the process, I do agree this is the most critical thing. Easier said than done.
methodover 8y ago
> So, yes, I came out of the closet every morning This is an unfortunate and juvenile joke in an otherwise great post.
- burgerboy 8y ago
  You are weak
- bertil 8y ago
  I took it as a sign of his immaturity then. Few authors who write about a decade-long process manage to use the perspective, let alone the voice of the narrator at the time. It’s rare in fiction and rarer in non-fiction.
curyous 8y ago
Is the business profitable yet? I didn't see any mention of it actually making any money, let alone being sustainable. Is this just a 10 year long con?
jpeg_hero 8y ago
I guess one of the lessons wasn’t: GMV (Gross Marketplace Value) ≠ Revenue
pedalpete 8y ago
I find it surprising that they were looking for $5M raise with MRR of less than $50K. Other sources suggest VCs are looking for a significantly higher MRR for series A https://visible.vc/blog/much-revenue-startup-need-raise-series-round/ https://visible.vc/blog/much-revenue-startup-need-raise-seri... Anybody have thoughts on that?

85 points by elsewhen 8y ago

dannylandau 8y ago

Some good advice. The letter from Dean of Stanford Business School is classic.

bertil 8y ago
I found it surprisingly petty for him to quote it in that way: I won’t defend an MBA (never did, never will) but furthering your education can’t be compared head-on to a business opportunity. The “now of never” is obviously a flipped argument (for the start-up, not the MBA that will be available every year) but you can’t fault the Dean for trying.

andyidsinga 8y ago

I thought Lesson #8 is pretty critical to anyone who either wants to lead or ends up in a lead position. specifically: > Some founders take pride in working long hours. That’s dumb. You should take pride in having huge leverage (which often requires long hours). When I would work 100 hour weeks, instead of feeling self-satisfied, I knew I either 1) wasn’t delegating enough or 2) didn’t have the right leaders around me to delegate to. By working longer hours you can get 20% or even 40% more done, but with effective delegation you can get 10x or 100x more done. I remember talking to a coworker years ago, who was also a long time software developer. I asked him something along the lines of what his near term goals were. I was surprised by his answer because I thought his answer would be about learning some new tech, getting a part of his project done etc. His answer was along the lines of "I want learn to lead better and hire good people to work for me so that we can get 10x more done" ..that really changed the way I think about leadership and hiring.

michaeldorian 8y ago
This switch from working harder and getting more tasks done versus working harder to figure out how to scale in both your professional and personal life is hard transition. As someone going through the process, I do agree this is the most critical thing. Easier said than done.

methodover 8y ago

> So, yes, I came out of the closet every morning This is an unfortunate and juvenile joke in an otherwise great post.

burgerboy 8y ago
You are weak
bertil 8y ago
I took it as a sign of his immaturity then. Few authors who write about a decade-long process manage to use the perspective, let alone the voice of the narrator at the time. It’s rare in fiction and rarer in non-fiction.

curyous 8y ago

Is the business profitable yet? I didn't see any mention of it actually making any money, let alone being sustainable. Is this just a 10 year long con?

jpeg_hero 8y ago

I guess one of the lessons wasn’t: GMV (Gross Marketplace Value) ≠ Revenue

pedalpete 8y ago

I find it surprising that they were looking for $5M raise with MRR of less than $50K. Other sources suggest VCs are looking for a significantly higher MRR for series A https://visible.vc/blog/much-revenue-startup-need-raise-series-round/ https://visible.vc/blog/much-revenue-startup-need-raise-seri... Anybody have thoughts on that?