Kirsten Leute’s Post

It was a pleasure to interview my Osage University Partners (OUP) team members Manny Stockman and Anurag Agarwal for their thoughts on staffing academic spinouts. My favorite quote from the interview from Manny - "I think we will find in the next decade that there will be passion-driven entrepreneurs who want to work for something that matters. University spinouts should leverage this to attract great people and incentivize them to work there." Read my interview here: https://lnkd.in/e4b9hwU5

🔔 NEW BLOG POST 🔔 As a continuation of our "Ask a VC" blog series, Manny Stockman & Anurag Agarwal from Osage University Partners (OUP) answered some frequently asked questions regarding staffing your startup. 🎤 "The idea that technical and business expertise are distinct and separate is not true in my mind. You can find people who are business oriented and highly technical, and it is never too early to hire one person like that." -- Manny 🎤 "Spend a lot of time with the person before you commit. Perform reference checks. Talk to the other founders that have worked with them, people that have reported to them, and individuals they have reported to." -- Anurag Read the whole blog here: https://lnkd.in/eW7T4kV6

Shocking fact: 90% of startup failures stem from TEAM! RevLab can help you hire the right people from the get-go. Click on the link in the bio to schedule a free consultation to discuss your hiring needs!

My key takeaways from interviewing 100 startup investors on The Neon Show: 1. They have an exceptional ability to discover the best founders at the pre-seed and seed stage. 2. They don’t wait for a large target addressable market, they invest while the market is small and is getting built. 3. They don’t wait for traction, they invest before traction. 4. They put a premium on founder time and go where the founders are based. 5. They look for founders who have contrarian insights on how the future looks like. 6. They move super fast and don’t over-negotiate on terms. On the other hand, average investors look for the founders to reach out to them, over-negotiate terms, and miss the best deals. They constantly tell founders that the TAM is too small and have poor understanding that large TAMs are built by founders.

"My bias is probably obvious: I lean towards the abundance side of the spectrum. I know you have to take leaps of faith to build a successful company, even if that means having a smaller role and less control. I want to have the biggest possible impact on the market, build wealth, and bring a fantastic team along for the ride. It’s also more fun. I’ve met founders who put their energy into “not getting screwed.” They obsess about dilution, giving the smallest equity grants possible when they hire people. They don’t trust investors, even ones with stellar reputations. They hire junior people who won’t challenge them, or they even try to outsource critical functions. I’ve never seen one of these founders do well. But abundance doesn’t mean abandoning caution and being indiscriminate about who to trust and what risks to take. Abundance decisions, which usually involve who you want to invite into your startup, need to be made carefully. You need to do plenty of due diligence and take risks only when you have a good chance of getting more in return." https://lnkd.in/gHxecWhd

Attracting the Right Investors: A Key to Your Startup's Success! 🚀 At GHC Growthlab, we understand that the right investors do more than just fund your startup—they become partners in your vision, bringing valuable expertise, strategic guidance, and essential networks. GHC Growth Lab CS Manu Francis

When I ask founders to send their deck ahead of a call, I rarely understand what the startup does until I speak to the founders. Deck's are terrible ways to communicating what you do. I actually send prospective investors our website + the deck (as obvious as that is) as the website actually explains what we do in a clearer, shorter way because customers are clearly buying from it. I even send links to different parts of the website to explain things. We also try to do this in the deck, but the deck is so easy to click through that it defeats the purpose of even having a deck. Sometimes it's not worth sending a deck ahead of a call as it won't make sense to the investor who's reading it until they hear it directly from the founder. That's why those who use Docsend notice that investors (who are interested) spend more time on the deck after the call, than before.

Protect Your Vision: I've heard of startups that had an innovative idea and a talented team but ended up with misunderstandings and conflicts among the founders, simply for lack of a Founders Agreement. It's easy to rely on prior relationships when dealing with co-founders. But, this is not advisable. Short PDF below explains in more detail.

Do you recognise discussions with your co-founders? Starting and growing your startup isn't easy and a one way street.. Its really easy to ignore input, opinions and stop analysing how others view your vision. If there is something I learned it's listen and analyse your teams directions and input before you start changing directions, make sure all visions are aligned.

When and How to Rebuild: Founder's Guide to Overcoming Challenges Discover why it's okay for founders to take a quarter to rebuild their business. Learn from experienced VCs and board members on navigating rough hires, rebuilding the management team, and overcoming technical debt. Take a pause, invest in rebuilding, and secure a better future for your startup. #FounderAdvice #EntrepreneurshipTips #StartupChallenges #ManagementRebuilding #TechnicalDebt #BusinessGrowth #VCInsights #FounderStrategies #BusinessSuccess #CareerAdvice