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Are We Heading Off Of A Cliff?
From Microsoft Azure to AWS to Climate Corp: why infrastructure automation keeps going obsolete, and why infrastructure as code won't save us.
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There Has To Be A Different Way
We saved millions automating cloud infrastructure, then watched the gains regress in weeks. Why I founded Magalix to rethink DevOps with AI.
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Looking Ahead – Episode #1 With Timothy Chen
My conversation with Essence VC's Timothy Chen on cloud complexity, Kubernetes, and whether AI can take infrastructure operations to the next wave.
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Early-stage startup CEO 2020 learned lessons
Five lessons from leading a startup through 2020: hire A+ people, let the team own problems, tell one clear story, match your velocity to the market.
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Prioritize Impact and Maximize Energy
Stop optimizing your to-do list. Use the 5-WHYs to find the one milestone that matters, then build an environment that makes you work on it daily.
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Entrepreneurs, Don’t Start Without a Strategy
Strategy is getting desirable ends with available means. Why founders need one before day one, and why it doesn't conflict with moving fast.
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The Art of War and Strategy for Entrepreneurs – Situational Awareness
Using Sun Tzu's five factors to build situational awareness: how founders read macro trends and micro signals before committing to a strategy.
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8 Pitch Deck Slides Must Have In Your Startup Fundraising
The eight slides every fundraising deck needs, from opportunity to ask — drawn from my own pitches and the many NOs before the YES.
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Top 3 Critical Slides in Your Startup Pitch Deck
Traction, team, and market are the three slides that actually land funding. What belongs in each and the metrics VCs want to see.
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The Impact of Economic Cycles on Venture Funding
The impact of economic cycles on venture funding: how expansions inflate startup valuations, downturns reset them, and what investors should ask at…
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On Building Anti-Fragile Startups – Part 3 – Robust Startups
Part 3 of the antifragile series: what makes a startup robust — the right team, PMF as north star, repeatability, brand, and resources to experiment.
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4 Essential Questions To Ask Yourself Before Fundraising As A Startup
Four questions to answer before pitching VCs: why raise at all, how much you need, what you'd do without the money, and whether VC funding even fits.
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When AI Becomes the Hacker: The Emerging Threat of Weaponized Language Models
I fine-tuned Code-LLAMA 2 for a few hundred dollars until it wrote malware. What that experiment says about weaponized language models.
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The Impact of the Technology Cycle on Venture Funding
The impact of the technology cycle on venture funding: the four phases — innovation, syndication, diffusion, decline — and how mistiming them wreck…
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The Impact of the Credit Cycles on Venture Funding
The impact of the credit cycles on venture funding: how tightening ripples from LPs to VC funds to startups — less liquidity, harder fundraising.
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The Role of Market Cyclicality in Venture Capital Investments
The role of market cyclicality in venture capital investments: funding swings between greed and fear, and reading the cycle makes VCs better risk m…
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Unravel Industry, Competition & Target Users Using AI
How I use ChatGPT to compress weeks of market research into hours: building mental models of your industry, competitors, and target users.
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The TOP 3 REASONS Why VCs Aren’t Funding You
VCs aren’t funding you for one of three reasons: no market validation, pitching too early, or falling outside their thesis. Fix these first.
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6 Stages of Startup Funding Every Entrepreneur Must Know
A founder's map of the stages of startup funding, pre-seed through Series D-F: what each round funds and what investors expect before writing a check.
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Six Sources Entrepreneurs Must Consider for Their Startup Funding
Six sources of startup funding — friends and family, crowdfunding, accelerators, and more — and how to pick the source that fits your stage and goals.
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2023 Startup Funding Checklist
A practical startup funding checklist: know your target market, sharpen the pitch deck, build a warm network, and shortlist the right investors.
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Towards Building AntiFragile Startups – Part 2 – Fragile Startups
Part 2 of the antifragile series: the five failure patterns of fragile startups, from building what no one wants to slow experimentation.
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On Building Antifragile Startup – Part 1
Part 1: what an antifragile startup is, applying Taleb's fragile-robust-antifragile spectrum — why merely surviving stress isn't enough for founders.
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Unlock the Secrets of Attracting Investors: Learn What Elements You Need in Your Problem Slide
The problem slide shapes how investors see your startup's core value. What to include: user pain, quantified scenarios, and market-level trends.
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Drive Broad Conversations. Zoom on Strong Signals
In customer interviews, stay broad until you hit a strong signal — like a KPI they're measured on — then dig in. Don't drown in trivial details.
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The Art of Asking for a Customer Meeting
How to ask for discovery meetings that get a yes: frame the problem, set expectations, show the gap in your knowledge, and actually ask for help.
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Without a Clear ASK Slide, Your Pitch Deck is Useless
The Ask slide is the climax of your pitch. What VCs read into it: your goals, expectations, stage, and fit with their investment thesis and models.
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Avoid these 3 Startup Fundraising Mistakes in 2023
The fundraising mistakes I made as a founder — muddled decks, pitching the wrong investors, unrealistic asks — and how to avoid repeating them.
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Pitching Your Startup? Don’t Confuse Solution and Product Slides
Your solution slide is the strategy; your product slide is how you deliver it. Mixing the two muddies your pitch and costs investor confidence.