Lessons From a Decade in Startups

After more than a decade of building and advising technology companies, certain patterns emerge. Here are the lessons that have proven most valuable.

1. Execution Beats Ideas

Everyone has ideas. What separates successful ventures from failures is the ability to execute. This means building systems, hiring the right people, and maintaining focus even when things get difficult.

2. Culture Is Strategy

You can have the best strategy in the world, but without the right culture to execute it, you'll fail. Culture isn't just values on a wall — it's the daily behaviors and decisions that happen when no one is watching.

3. Customers Over Features

It's easy to get caught up in building features. But the most successful products are deeply connected to customer needs. Talk to customers constantly. Understand their problems intimately.

4. Cash Flow Is King

Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king. Many promising startups fail not because they lack revenue, but because they run out of cash. Manage your runway carefully.

5. Embrace Uncertainty

Startups are inherently uncertain. The sooner you make peace with this, the better. Build systems that can adapt, make decisions with incomplete information, and be ready to pivot when necessary.