Levi Malott’s Post

Because startups are small, they need to be high density. 1. High Talent Density = How much talent in 1 room 2. High Mission Density = How mission aligned in 1 room You need high density in both. If you have 1 without the other, you have chaos. Ex. A highly talented group that has no mission is insanity. It looks like Googlers causing chaos and getting fired.  If you have both though, you have lightning in a bottle.  Ex. This looks like a startup like Anduril that can compete against the giants in their industry and win.

Are all startups rubbish at hiring? No, obviously not. But most seem to want to make it as hard as possible... I wrote some more stuff about working with startups, focused on hiring. (link in comments)

Why Startups Fails? In my opinion, most of the startups have excellent products, but they don't invest in their manpower. Most of the startups nowadays think that their employees will generate the money from the market ( making Super Stockist & Distribution channels transferring amounts to Company) and then only these startups pay the employees salary and expenses. If you have a new product, first invest in your employees, gain the trust of the market and see the results. If your employees are happy, they will give you best possible results. Appreciate everyone to share their views and thoughts. Thanks for reading and your reactions. Regards, Gautam Kumar

Startups need to be able to convey a compelling 10x vision from whatever their latest valuation or accomplishment. Startups that are able to do this stand out as special and will continue to attract the best talent.

Startups often burn cash on unproven features — risking failure even before they launch. Here’s why this happens: 1. Overconfidence in ideas. Many founders believe their instincts are enough. But overconfidence in ideas without validation is dangerous. You need to test early, or you’ll end up building something no one wants. 2. Chasing competitors. I’ve seen founders react to competitors’ moves — “They built this feature, so we need to do it too!” Stop copying without understanding whether it’s a customer priority or not. 3. Thinking more features equal better products. More features doesn’t make your product more compelling. In reality, customers don’t want more — they want solutions to their problems. Founders often get trapped in what can be called a “feature race.” They think it’ll lead to success. But the startups that win are the ones that build fewer - but better features, validated by real customer needs.

Why are generalists preferred in startups? Let's talk about who are generalists. These are the people who love to learn a bit of everything, becoming versatile problem solvers along the way. In popular term, Jack of all trade, Master of none (disputable, but this is what generalists used to be called). In startups, the one goal is to solve a problem. It doesn't really matter from which background you come from, the only goal is to solve the problem the business is facing at any specific point of time. If you ever feel like "this is not my job", then a startup is not for you. On the other hand, large corporations are all well oiled machines. When they need to hire, they look for specialists with deep expertise to fill a specific gap and keep the machine running smoothly. Neither path is better than the other, but the question is: Have you figured out which one suits you best?

Early startup employees have to wear multiple hats. They are generalists who are skilled at learning on the job and solving whatever problem that is thrown at them. This works well… except when it doesn’t. Many a generalist has tried to YOLO their way through a tricky fundraise, an unknown new geography, or a thicket of regulations—and found they were not up to the task. For some things, you need a specialist. That’s where TSP sponsor Trilligent comes in. Trilligent are a global team of experts who can help growing startups with attracting investment, scaling operations, and entry into challenging markets–all under one roof. They’re not like the big consultancies. Trilligent are a startup themselves, and are built for the speed and flexibility of startups. Case in point: if you want to learn more, you can reach out to their marvellous MD Laura O. and talk to her directly! 

More designers should start companies. You already have what it takes: • 💡 You understand users deeply. • 🔧 You’re good at solving real problems. • 🎨 You care about quality and have great taste. Plus, you know some great engineers who’d make excellent co-founders! 🤝 So what’s stopping you? The world needs more design-led startups. 🌍

Most startups fail because they solve no real problem. The market doesn’t care about ideas. It cares about solutions. How do you stand out? ● Talk to real people. - Understand what frustrates them every day. ● Focus on results. - Users don’t buy features; they buy outcomes. ● Build, test, repeat. - Every mistake is a step closer to getting it right. Startups that win don’t just create. They solve.

Does anyone know the origin of the phase "hire slow, fire fast"? I want to meet this author and see if they would advise the same for lean early stage startups that ship quickly and experiment liberally with customers feedback. My experiences with startups, and as a founder, are that it is directionally right. However, still feel like there is a nugget of wisdom in the nuance required by small, resourceful startups. For example - small resourceful startups that may: * 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲. There is real urgency when you have to deliver value to the customer promptly before they lose interest * 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞-𝐛𝐨𝐱𝐞𝐝 "𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐱" 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭. The goal being for the new member to quickly sink their teeth in even if they aren't fully "hired" * 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐧-𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬; they may show the extreme ownership that cushy big tech FTEs may have grown unaccustomed to There is still a lot of wisdom in hire slow, fire fast. I just wonder about what the startup addendum to this phrase is.