Founder Fortune Cookies

My first year building a company taught me lessons no podcast nor Twitter thread could. Hopefully some of these lessons resonate with others.

It is not for the faint of heart or mind. Many times, I'm sure, @erica has wanted me dangling upside down off a bridge.

Trust forms slowly through repeated actions and publicly demonstrating your values.

Your job as a product leader is to deliver clarity as quickly as possible. Your job as a technical leader is to unblock people as fast and as gently as possible.

Restraint is expensive. Not launching is expensive. But it keeps you from sticking your neck out too far and being known for the wrong product.

You don't need AI yet. You don't need crypto yet. You will need both soon.

Your reputation grows naturally from what you create and the energy you bring. Never from association.

You will need to show up. Every. Single. Day. You set the pace. You set the floor of expectations.

Patience and learning will save you months of wasted engineering effort.

Raise when you can. Ask for help. People in this space have been very helpful with introductions.

The windows of opportunity shut fast, but they often reopen.

Getting it right is more important than getting it fast. It will empower others to do their best work with you.

People are the only thing that matter. Let them be part of your story. Your cofounders will be no exception. They become your foundation when the tide of hype goes out. Often you will need to near-literally hold hands.

A few years ago, I encountered some internet founders who often said they would use big data to solve problems for users. But in reality, none of them actually possessed big data or truly understood what it was, and their current businesses were far from reaching the stage where big data was needed. Now, the same scenario is unfolding in the crypto and AI fields, where people are already gearing up to deploy crypto and AI even before their products have moved past the MVP stage.