There’s a moment in every founder’s journey—usually late at night, laptop open, heart pounding—when you stare at the numbers and ask: “Are we going to make it?”
"He made one decision early on: to build something that could survive."
I wish this were the rule 0 of any aspiring startup from day one. Arguably, this would change the whole investing landscape, as we'd see so many more bootstrapped products.
By the way, I believe this is the turn the startup ecosystem will have to make anyway, with worse supply-to-demand ratios in terms of funding and the expected renaissance of vibe-coded product-placeholders trying their chances on the funding lottery.
A separate thought: we've met the enemy, and they are us. VCs are to be blamed for so many default dead startups. If not for the availability of an option to get even more money whenever we reach the end of the runway, there wouldn't be such a strong expectation to follow that path.
"He made one decision early on: to build something that could survive."
I wish this were the rule 0 of any aspiring startup from day one. Arguably, this would change the whole investing landscape, as we'd see so many more bootstrapped products.
By the way, I believe this is the turn the startup ecosystem will have to make anyway, with worse supply-to-demand ratios in terms of funding and the expected renaissance of vibe-coded product-placeholders trying their chances on the funding lottery.
A separate thought: we've met the enemy, and they are us. VCs are to be blamed for so many default dead startups. If not for the availability of an option to get even more money whenever we reach the end of the runway, there wouldn't be such a strong expectation to follow that path.
Love it, Pawel. Great take!
This is absolutely invaluable - thanks Chris
Thanks, Richard! 🌟