From the Operators
Julie Zhuo of Facebook advises product leaders to share early & often and find common ground when an executive swoops in to request a product change in “Addressing executive swoop-ins”
Lydia Taylor of Vidsy uses her story of moving from a large agency with 700 employees in her office to a 10 person startup to suggest “6 things to know before you join a startup….”
George Brooks of Crema develops a simple litmus test that can help determine the physical and metaphorical health of a founder in “The two questions I ask every entrepreneur”
Jason Tan of Sift Science provides three things we would have done differently during his journey as CEO “In Hindsight…”
From the Investors
Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures evolves the 40% rule to develop his opinion of an appropriate burn rate for growing, post-revenue companies in “Some Thoughts On Burn Rates”
Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures collects public and survey data from SaaS companies to design a spreadsheet that helps answer the question “How Much Should A SaaS Startup Invest In Sales & Marketing?”
Elaine Stead of BlueSky has a personal anecdote that demonstrates "the marathon" is often easier to complete when someone has said (and means) the words “you’re doing a good job” in “The Importance of Praise”
Mark MacLeod of SurePath Capital Partners cites recent SaaS acquisitions by private equity firms along with five points that demonstrate the upside of a PE acquisition in “Why you should consider a buyout”
