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/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.png00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.pngPaolo DiVincenzo2018-12-19 15:27:512021-09-29 17:38:53The 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/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.png00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.pngPaolo DiVincenzo2018-11-18 15:26:152021-09-29 17:39:022019 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/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.png00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.pngPaolo DiVincenzo2018-11-09 15:20:412021-09-29 17:39:12A Startup CEO’s Job is to Master the Narrative
I spent the go-go days of the late 90’s in a rare Internet startup for the era. Due to groundwork laid before I arrived, we were profitable. We declined most of the VC we were offered, watched our overhead, and grew methodically. We were misfits of the so-called “new economy,” and we sold for 30x […]
When asked about “traction,” entrepreneurs assume it’s in reference to revenue. Revenue seems to have eclipsed other metrics as an overall indicator of how well the business is doing. I think the rise of revenue has something to do with blowback from the late 90s, when we suspended traditional financial indicators for our so-called new […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.png00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.pngPaolo DiVincenzo2018-10-16 14:22:592021-09-29 17:40:086 Metrics that are More Important to Your Startup than Revenue
Venture capital can create opportunities that would be nearly impossible without it. But it also takes options off the table. It is important to consider whether objectives are aligned before assuming you need or want VC. There is a very important difference between VCs and entrepreneurs that is the root of potential misalignment. VCs are […]
https://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.png00Paolo DiVincenzohttps://basisstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BasisState_Logo_SM.pngPaolo DiVincenzo2018-10-01 14:18:012021-09-29 17:40:16Before You Adopt the VC Playbook, Make Sure You’re Playing the Same Game
The Destruction of Perfectly Good Tech
/in Opinion /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 Opinion /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 Opinion /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 […]
4 Startup Tenets that Won’t Survive a Downturn
/in Opinion /by Paolo DiVincenzoI spent the go-go days of the late 90’s in a rare Internet startup for the era. Due to groundwork laid before I arrived, we were profitable. We declined most of the VC we were offered, watched our overhead, and grew methodically. We were misfits of the so-called “new economy,” and we sold for 30x […]
6 Metrics that are More Important to Your Startup than Revenue
/in Opinion /by Paolo DiVincenzoWhen asked about “traction,” entrepreneurs assume it’s in reference to revenue. Revenue seems to have eclipsed other metrics as an overall indicator of how well the business is doing. I think the rise of revenue has something to do with blowback from the late 90s, when we suspended traditional financial indicators for our so-called new […]
Before You Adopt the VC Playbook, Make Sure You’re Playing the Same Game
/in Opinion /by Paolo DiVincenzoVenture capital can create opportunities that would be nearly impossible without it. But it also takes options off the table. It is important to consider whether objectives are aligned before assuming you need or want VC. There is a very important difference between VCs and entrepreneurs that is the root of potential misalignment. VCs are […]