Dr. Daniel Cracau’s Post

It’s been one year since I was laid off from TechCrunch and it’s been one of the most important and formative years of my career. Spending more than a decade at TC gave me stability, but it also meant for a long time that I didn’t have to reflect deeply about why I did what I did for a living. When I lost my job, I suddenly had to think really hard about my career for the first time since my twenties (and despite my heavily-edited pre-pandemic profile photo, my twenties are looong gone). What I realized over the past year is this: I love using my writing and research skills to advocate for the development of Asian tech ecosystems. While many serve domestic markets that are extremely large and important in their own right, I am particularly excited about how Asian tech innovation is impacting global markets. We are seeing that with DeepSeek right now, but it also happened with Shein and Temu/PDD, TikTok and when Grab purchased Uber’s Southeast Asia business (just a few examples). Honestly, there’s part of me that feels giddy when an Asian startup circumvents expectations, no matter my personal opinions about their app. I think part of this is driven by being a second-generation Asian-American immigrant. I never really knew how to reconcile my two cultures when I was growing up. I’m fascinated by startups that can do what I couldn’t and exist in two very different places at once, finding commonalities and shared pain points across an ocean. My decade-plus at TechCrunch really shaped who I am, but leaving it (or being yeeted out) was one of the most important things that’s happened to my career.  It made me realize that talking to and writing about startups isn’t just something I do for money. It’s important to me, on a very personal level, to be able to trace and chronicle how technology is shaping communities across Asia and I’m glad my new job at Gobi Partners allows me to do that. My layoff made me fall in love with my career again and to have that happen in my 40s is a gift. (Thank you to people who have commented. I'm limiting comments for now because I do not want LinkedIn's spam problem to become my problem). 𝘗𝘳𝘦-𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 Yukai Engineering Inc’𝘴 𝘘𝘰𝘰𝘣𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵, 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘊𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴.

Hey everyone! I’m excited to share a little bit about my journey with foundr so far. A few months ago, I joined with one clear mission: to connect the brightest minds with the boldest ventures. My focus has been on helping start-ups in the AI/ML space find the talent they need to turn their big ideas into reality. It’s been incredibly inspiring working with these companies—they’re tackling real-world challenges and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with technology. At Foundr, we focus on what truly drives start-ups: Vision, Capital, and People (VCP). For me, the "People" part is where it all clicks. It’s not just about filling roles—it’s about truly understanding a company’s mission and bringing in the people who will help amplify that vision. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing a new hire make an immediate, lasting impact on a start-up’s growth. The AI space is moving fast, and I’m here to make sure the teams behind these innovations are set up to succeed. If you’re building something in this space—or just want to chat about attracting top talent—I’d love to connect. Let’s work together to bring your vision to life. Shoutout to my "dawg" Bruce Pendrey, couldn't do it without you!

WE’RE BRINGING A START-UP BACK TO LIFE!🚀 We’re SUPER excited to announce Jacob Wright as the newest addition to the Innovators Uncensored team!⚡️ So how are we bringing a Start-Up back to life? A few years ago, Jake was building Jacobs Jobs, a job platform that genuinely created new opportunities for awesome people. However, a million other things happened and it got shelved. Fast forward to today, Innovators Uncensored has built a community of thousands of Founders and Start-Up enthusiasts across the globe who are either growing their team, or looking to be part of one!📈 With our weekly newsletter, at least 2 out of the 5 most clicked links are Start-Up jobs, and we always have people asking how they can get their jobs in the newsletter 🤔 So, we’ve teamed up to build a Start-Up jobs board that enables the Innovators Uncensored community to promote their jobs, and take employment opportunities at some of the most exciting Start-Ups on the planet 🌎 If you’re a Founder looking to grow your team, drop us a message or a comment and we’ll give you early access to post your job for free! If you’re looking for a new role at an exciting Start-Up, keep your eyes peeled as we announce more 😎

In real estate, the adage is location, location, location. In entrepreneurship, it’s talent, talent, talent. Warren Buffett said he'd invest in a great business over great talent. That may be true in large businesses, but in the early stages, the opposite is true. Great talent builds great businesses, not the other way around. But talent is also about time, place, and fit. During my corporate career, I saw that you could hire high-potential people who might not have the exact experience needed for a role and still have it work out. That’s how I got my first management job. International Paper could afford to give me, with no real experience, a shot as a general manager. They had an established business with a strong team and the routines, processes, and controls in place so frankly I couldn’t screw up too badly. I've come to learn the hard way that doesn’t typically work in companies under $100-200M in revenue. Early in ZICO Rising, I gave smart, successful people from big companies a shot at senior roles. They failed. Then, I started to hire people who could do the exact job we needed at that moment and the next year, and it worked. Maybe their job would outgrow them. Maybe they would stretch into it. We’d figure that out later. My goal was to make sure we survived and thrived for the next 12-36 months. Across all of our companies, we encourage Founders to be brutal in their onboarding of new talent and their retention and promotion (or not) of existing talent. Hiring for a VP of sales for a $20M CPG brand and have a candidate that ran a billion-dollar division in big pharma? No thanks. I’d rather have someone who took a CPG brand from $10M to $50M in the exact category. Maybe they are the right person from $50-500M, maybe not, but that’s OK. Solve that later. When we bought ZICO back from Coca-Cola, we hired Tom Hicks to be CEO. He was perfect for the role: A lifer in Beverage with a deep and wide network, this ex-Ranger would run through walls 24/7 to get ZICO back into the market. He did that and now that the brand has grown 5X we’re at a different stage and need a different skill set. Tom and I both knew this and he fully supported bringing on a new CEO, Chris Gallant, who we believe is the right guy to 5X the business again in the next few years. In a rare example of self-awareness, ego-containment, and team mindset, Tom moved to VP of sales and is crushing it. Will this be the team and structure that takes us to $1B? I hope so. And they’ll get a shot, but we don’t need to answer that today. The lesson? Focus on talent, talent, talent but overlay the right time, place, and fit. – This post is Lesson 11 in my series: 𝟮𝟬 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗭𝗜𝗖𝗢. Follow along for insights from then, now, and in between.

Jacob to Innovators Uncensored, here we go! 3 Year Contract with an option to extend. Both parties very happy. Jacobs Jobs is back!! Ok not quite, but Rich and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make a football signing-related post about what we’re up to. Instead, I’ve got something even more exciting to announce.. I’m working with Richard Lee building out his website, and more importantly, a job board showcasing some of the best jobs in the start-up industries. Why another job board? Two reasons: 1. 70% of the most clicked links in the Innovators Uncensored newsletter are for the opportunities at start-ups. I.e, there’s demand for it. 2. Rich and I both want to see the best people explore options different to the norm, and start-ups are exactly that. They’re scrappy, fast-paced, high reward and pushes innovation. By creating this we’re hoping to help the eco-system thrive and build a community of founders and candidates all pushing for bigger things in life, all through transparency around roles and expectations in an easy-to-use platform. So, Rich and I are officially co-founders of IU Jobs - we’ve come a long way since we met 4 years ago at Trashed Tech’s accelerator, especially as I initially called him Lee only to find out later his name was actually Rich. Thankfully he’s got over that now and he’s become a very good friend, annoying at times, but still a friend. If you’re a founder looking for somewhere a little different to post your jobs and get in front of an audience ripe with exceptional candidates, give me a message and I’ll give you early access to post a job before we launch next week. #getthebadgein

Last week, I made some posts packed with valuable insights that can help you sharpen your focus, accelerate startup growth, and build a meaningful career. Here's a recap of my posts from the week for those who missed them On Monday, I talked about how to increase productivity by improving focus, citing a few steps to implement to improve focus. On Tuesday, I talked about how successful startups go from 0 to 1, breaking down the three core components involved in this growth. On Wednesday, I talked about the Career Strategy Speaker Series being hosted by BUILDGEMS featuring Ekene Ashinze. On Thursday, I talked about how building a career could be difficult, and how passion alone wasn’t enough to help maintain consistency in building your career. On Friday, I made a short post about how customers do not always know what they want and would take whatever solution you offer if it solves their problem. On Saturday, I spoke at TechFest 3.0, where I shared my thoughts on “Building No-Code and Low-Code Solutions: Driving Innovation Without Extensive Technical Skills”. The links to these posts are in the comments, check them out in case you missed them last week! _________ Follow me Arinze Onye and turn on notifications 🔔so that you can see tomorrow's post about talents first 🚀

What makes a company truly thrive? It’s not just the product - it’s the 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 🚀 In every successful startup, you’ll find highly talented individuals who bring their unique backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. The team is especially critical in the early days. With so much uncertainty about culture and growth, each early hire makes an enormous impact. That’s why getting those first hires right is essential. When MakerVerse was just getting started, several individuals took a leap of faith and joined us on this journey, believing in our vision despite the lack of an established track record. Their remarkable character, dedication, and organizational prowess had a significant impact. On this way we did some great memories together - including successfully escaping from this escape room in the photo. It fills me with joy and pride to see how they have grown with MakerVerse: @Arjun Shetty From Venture Building Intern to our Business Development Shooting Star 💫 @Maitrayee Upendra Kulkarni 🚀 From Talent Acquisition to Culture Manager (aka Chief Happiness Officer) 💃 @Lars Loddenkemper From Venture Associate to our Finance & Automation Lead (aka Mr. Everything) 🚀 A big shout-out to all our early hires and a huge thanks to the rest of our amazing team - in the meantime 50+ people strong from over 20 countries. 🌍 What qualities do you think are most important for an early hire? #StartupSuccess #TeamCulture #Leadership #FirstHire

We had an incredible evening at last week's Ascend dinner 🍽️ as we dived into some of the biggest challenges pre #productmarketfit startups face. Huge thanks to George Hall, Dr Fin Williams , Lucrezia Cester, PhD Cester, Alisa Patotskaya, Dr. Louise Rix, Geoffrey Johnston, Roman Sevast, and Stacy Pavlyshyna for bringing such sharp insights to the table. Here’s a taste of what we covered: 🔥 Focusing on What Matters Pre-PMF Founders often feel the pressure to grow fast, but the real trick pre-product-market fit is zeroing in on the tactics that let you learn, quickly. We discussed how keeping the focus on core issues—and not jumping into hires too quickly—can be a game-changer. 👥 Hiring for Specialised Roles A key takeaway? If there’s a product problem, it’s on the founders to fix it—not a product manager. If sales are lagging, hone in on your value proposition before hiring. Founders who are laser-focused and hands-on during these early stages find lasting solutions rather than quick fixes. ⭐ The North Star Metric Pre-PMF Sean Ellis shared with me last week that pre-PMF, “your north star is finding PMF.” During the dinner, we talked about this idea, agreeing that any metric should reflect learnings and progress. For example, if conversions are low, focus on raising the MQL to SQL rate rather than focussing on ARR. 🔎 Understanding Buyers vs. Users In #deeptech, the end user and the buyer are often not the same person. A lab tech might drive product use, but the lead scientist is signing the checks. Recognizing and balancing both groups’ needs is critical in gaining traction and achieving buy-in. I think we all walked away with a focussed todo list of high impact ideas to try out. I absolutely love these dinners and I'm very grateful to the #founders who join me each month to share their biggest concerns and most inventive solutions with me.

Tech founders, execs and operators – I am thrilled to be hosting a #NYTechWeek event in partnership with TECH WEEK by a16z on June 4th! Looking to learn from some of tech's top execs, building a network or casually looking for your next job venture? My co-host Tushar Rawal and I are putting together something extra special for you – sponsored by our very own passion projects: The Beyond Network 🚀 and Savvy Operator 👷🏽. Here's what we're planning: 1) A fireside chat featuring execs from some of the biggest names in tech – covering topics from operating and leading companies under a resource-constrained macro environment, to standing out as a job candidate in today's competitive hiring landscape. AND 2) A ~fun~ mixer – meet and mingle with other like-minded tech leaders and operators, all while enjoying great food, drinks, and music. Please RSVP in comments and follow us for more updates closer to the event. P.S. If you're a C-level exec in big tech / startup founder / people leader AND interested to speak at this event, DM me directly for more info!

When Vidhan Arya and I started TechX, it wasn’t just another project. We realised there needs to be a global community truly representing engineers and their craft. That’s why we’re building TechX✨ Today, as we launch our website, it feels surreal :’) It’s the culmination of planning and hard work to create something meaningful for our engineering community. We wanted to build more than just a job board that gets lost. We wanted to create real opportunities for growth. So far, we’ve seen over 25 engineers land roles at companies like Microsoft, Deliveroo, and Doordash. But this is just the beginning! TechX isn’t just about job placements. We’re focused on providing the tools and support engineers need to succeed - whether it’s through mock interviews or events that go beyond the usual networking. For me, the TechX website is a personal win. It’s a way of giving back to a community that’s given us so much. I’m excited for what’s ahead and can’t wait to see how TechX helps engineers reach their full potential. Super pumped! 🚀 We just launched our alpha, and guess what? We've already got folks from these amazing companies signed up! 🙌 Check out the lineup in the screenshot—can't wait to see where this journey takes us! Join the World's Elite 1% of Engineers here: https://lnkd.in/g3AQpRnr #TechX