stephaniel988
New member
All season founders.
There are different seasons in the startup world.
There's summer
When everything is sunny & everyone is optimistic.
In the startup world, this translates into capital flowing into startups and the general mood is optimistic.
You've big ambitions and people are willing to give you capital to go after that big dream (VCs/angels).
Then there's winter
When everyone is lazy and doesn't want to work. It's freezing outside and the mood is pessimistic.
In the startup world, this is known as funding winters. When funding "freezes" and isn't as free flowing as water in summers. There's still some droplets when the ice melts but that isn't even a fraction of the good ol' sunny days.
Now everyone thinks summer is good & winters are bad. Seems obvious from the above 2 descriptions.
But that's not entirely true. These are just 2 different seasons which require different ways to adapt and survive/thrive.
In startup summer, you can be as ambitious as you want to be. It's fine if you've a big cash burn as long as you're growing at a rapid pace and capturing market share. Investors will keep pumping money into your company.
While in startup winters, like the one we're in right now, the funding isn't as readily available. Investors are scarcely deploying but they no longer expect you to burn that capital. Instead, they want you to use that capital to find a profitable model that can scale profitability.
The focus is not on growth at all costs, but on building a self sustaining company that is profitable and scalable.
All season founders understand this.
They know how to play the market.
In winters they'll cut costs and focus solely on building a profitable product. That's all that matters to them.
The same all season founder would focus on raising excess cash in startup summer to outspend the competition. To grab the lions share in the market.
The problem is we don't see enough all season founders. Most founders started their company in or because of the hype cycle. Influenced by the constant news of millions being raised by startups everyday.
Now the season has changed.
The rules of the game have changed.
Founders who understand the market and play the game accordingly are the only ones who'll keep standing.
I run a VC podcast called VC10X where I host world's top venture capitalists. You can subscribe on YouTube or Spotify.
There are different seasons in the startup world.
There's summer
When everything is sunny & everyone is optimistic.
In the startup world, this translates into capital flowing into startups and the general mood is optimistic.
You've big ambitions and people are willing to give you capital to go after that big dream (VCs/angels).
Then there's winter
When everyone is lazy and doesn't want to work. It's freezing outside and the mood is pessimistic.
In the startup world, this is known as funding winters. When funding "freezes" and isn't as free flowing as water in summers. There's still some droplets when the ice melts but that isn't even a fraction of the good ol' sunny days.
Now everyone thinks summer is good & winters are bad. Seems obvious from the above 2 descriptions.
But that's not entirely true. These are just 2 different seasons which require different ways to adapt and survive/thrive.
In startup summer, you can be as ambitious as you want to be. It's fine if you've a big cash burn as long as you're growing at a rapid pace and capturing market share. Investors will keep pumping money into your company.
While in startup winters, like the one we're in right now, the funding isn't as readily available. Investors are scarcely deploying but they no longer expect you to burn that capital. Instead, they want you to use that capital to find a profitable model that can scale profitability.
The focus is not on growth at all costs, but on building a self sustaining company that is profitable and scalable.
All season founders understand this.
They know how to play the market.
In winters they'll cut costs and focus solely on building a profitable product. That's all that matters to them.
The same all season founder would focus on raising excess cash in startup summer to outspend the competition. To grab the lions share in the market.
The problem is we don't see enough all season founders. Most founders started their company in or because of the hype cycle. Influenced by the constant news of millions being raised by startups everyday.
Now the season has changed.
The rules of the game have changed.
Founders who understand the market and play the game accordingly are the only ones who'll keep standing.
I run a VC podcast called VC10X where I host world's top venture capitalists. You can subscribe on YouTube or Spotify.