“When they teach you how to drive a racecar, they tell you to focus on the road when you go around a turn. They tell you that because if you focus on the wall, then you will drive straight into the wall.” – Ben Horowitz Ben Horowitz has a great point. There are a myriad of pitfalls […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/race-e1558101360941.jpg272925Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2019-05-17 12:52:202019-05-17 19:14:56Study the Wall Before You Focus on the Road
Building a successful VC-backed company requires getting everything just right. Getting it right means hitting a bullseye where three factors intersect: Founder Competency, Market Reality, and Investor Approach. When you hit that intersection, you have a big exit and sail away to your private island. When you miss, you either hire or negotiate, depending on […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpg00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2019-05-06 00:28:132019-05-07 00:41:19The VC-backed Bullseye, and What Happens When You Miss
“Sounds like a feature, not a product.” Anyone who has been on the VC trail a few times has probably heard these words. It’s one of the most common reasons for VCs to pass on your business. It makes sense. Features don’t get to VC scale, and they can easily get knocked-off by large platforms. […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpg00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2019-04-15 12:01:062019-04-15 12:28:09Yes, You Can Make Your Feature a Successful Business
Startup failures send perfectly good tech to the scrap heap. That’s nothing new. What is new is that more and better tech is getting abandoned earlier. It’s an inefficiency created by our convergence around a common playbook. It starts with taking the path down a very narrow funnel The standard startup playbook goes something like […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpg00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2018-12-19 15:27:512019-01-04 15:46:04The Destruction of Perfectly Good Tech
I was looking through a list of around 40 companies that had gone through a certain startup accelerator’s program. Of the 40, I knew of two exits (one small, one large) and one viable continuing operation. 90% of the companies were either gone, or on life support. Using VC math, one might argue the one […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpg00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2018-11-18 15:26:152019-01-04 15:46:542019 is the Year of Sustainable Entrepreneurship
I grade myself a solid ‘B’ at sales. I can get the job done, but not nearly with the aplomb of many others I know. Still, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made as a CEO was hiring an ‘A’ seller too early. In doing so, I extracted myself from talking with prospects, at […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpg00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/logo_1-e1578591258457.jpgPaolo DiVincenzo2018-11-09 15:20:412019-01-04 15:45:18A Startup CEO’s Job is to Master the Narrative
Study the Wall Before You Focus on the Road
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzo“When they teach you how to drive a racecar, they tell you to focus on the road when you go around a turn. They tell you that because if you focus on the wall, then you will drive straight into the wall.” – Ben Horowitz Ben Horowitz has a great point. There are a myriad of pitfalls […]
The VC-backed Bullseye, and What Happens When You Miss
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzoBuilding a successful VC-backed company requires getting everything just right. Getting it right means hitting a bullseye where three factors intersect: Founder Competency, Market Reality, and Investor Approach. When you hit that intersection, you have a big exit and sail away to your private island. When you miss, you either hire or negotiate, depending on […]
Yes, You Can Make Your Feature a Successful Business
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzo“Sounds like a feature, not a product.” Anyone who has been on the VC trail a few times has probably heard these words. It’s one of the most common reasons for VCs to pass on your business. It makes sense. Features don’t get to VC scale, and they can easily get knocked-off by large platforms. […]
The Destruction of Perfectly Good Tech
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzoStartup failures send perfectly good tech to the scrap heap. That’s nothing new. What is new is that more and better tech is getting abandoned earlier. It’s an inefficiency created by our convergence around a common playbook. It starts with taking the path down a very narrow funnel The standard startup playbook goes something like […]
2019 is the Year of Sustainable Entrepreneurship
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzoI was looking through a list of around 40 companies that had gone through a certain startup accelerator’s program. Of the 40, I knew of two exits (one small, one large) and one viable continuing operation. 90% of the companies were either gone, or on life support. Using VC math, one might argue the one […]
A Startup CEO’s Job is to Master the Narrative
/in General /by Paolo DiVincenzoI grade myself a solid ‘B’ at sales. I can get the job done, but not nearly with the aplomb of many others I know. Still, one of the biggest mistakes I ever made as a CEO was hiring an ‘A’ seller too early. In doing so, I extracted myself from talking with prospects, at […]