Chang Kim’s Post

8 Essential Traits Every Early-Stage Founder Needs to Succeed... 1. Vision and Passion: Ignite inspiration and attract talent and investors. 2. Innovation and Problem-Solving: Tackle existing problems and drive growth with fresh perspectives. 3. Adaptability and Resilience: Overcome obstacles and adapt to change with necessary grit. 4. Building a Strong Culture: Set the tone for company values, work ethic, and environment early on. 5. Networking and Relationships: Build crucial relationships with mentors, investors, and other entrepreneurs. 6. Learning and Growth: Continuously learn from mistakes and stay open to feedback. 7. Impact on the Community: Positively impact communities by creating jobs and supporting local economies. 8. Long-term Vision: Think beyond immediate challenges to achieve long-term goals and sustainability. Is there a key quality you believe is essential for early-stage founders? Learn more Here: https://linktr.ee/beawolf

When I was an early-stage investor, I was looking at all the wrong things when evaluating companies Surprise, a 24-year-old with no operating experience didn't know anything! Who would have thought? This is hands down the biggest epiphany I've had in the transition from early-stage investor to founder. I used to look at: 💰 Revenue and Revenue Growth 💵 What other investors had invested 🏛 Where the founder worked before 🤼 Team Size / Clout Now I realize most of these are either A) Lagging indicators that don't tell you much about the future or B) vanity metrics that actually mean nothing. With 3 years running Superfiliate, this has shifted entirely Not just in terms of how I think about our company but how I evaluate other early-stage companies as well Now, the things I think about that seem to actually have signal 🏗 Product Velocity - No one knows what needs to be built from the start. It comes down to your ability to talk to customers, learn the market, and quickly respond to what the market and customers tell you 🎉 Company Culture- Do people on this team wake up every day excited to help the company accomplish its mission? Is it a missionary or mercenary culture? Are top performers going to see the company as a place to build their career or a stepping stone to the next thing when they get a better offer? 💵 Capital Efficiency - Is the goal to raise money or build a successful, sustainable company? I think people miss the forest for the trees here 💎 Founder Tenacity and Market Fit - Are these founders the type that will stop at nothing to bring this into existence? Do they have an opinion on the market? Are they going to be able to avoid the pitfalls along the way and keep their heads down and build? Do these co-founders compliment each other? This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there is certainly some value in things like revenue growth, but the signal in an early-stage company's ability to drive returns is lower than I thought. I'd love to hear what other people think or have learned on a similar journey—bonus points if it's the other way around, from founder to investor!

Which employee is more important to a founder - ✨ High Skilled resource OR 🙋♀️a Loyal about average one? Most bootstrapped founders are lonely; they remain busy building something that they believe in (this might be different in VC funded companies). By the time they are draining, near to success, and going through the toughest times in their life - they value loyal resources. A highly skilled resource is too distracted by the market forces [🏍]. A loyal one stays besides the founder, shares the pain - even when he/she has not signed up for - and is looking at the same vision for long term investments and learning. Yes, the latter ones are in scarcity today. It is what it is. This post would relate more with founders. Agree? 🙂

Check out this Meetup event from "Ex Founders Club" https://lnkd.in/gHgk3Yeb This club is for ex-founders who are now working for a corporate. Last 10 years we have seen many people starting-up companies. Some : 1. Ran it and got an exit 2. Got an exit and had a no-compete 3. Ran it but had to terminate for any reason And then joined a Corporate. Want to get similar people together to share thoughts, ideas, knowledge and their outcomes.

Too many small companies and startups stay silent in the face of mistreatment by big corporations. But there’s nothing more important than values and character. We need a way to hold both employees and companies accountable—almost like a social dashboard that keeps them in check. Speaking up is essential. CEOs need to know how their companies are treating partners on the inside, beyond the awards and culture they promote. Let me be clear: I’d rather lose a multi-million dollar contract than let one of these companies mistreat my team. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.

Ever wondered what separates thriving startups from the rest? Here’s a little secret I’ve learned from my time with some amazing Y Combinator founders. YC’s success? It’s all about a repeatable process much of which is distilled in their internal user manual, accessible to all founders. Your business should be no different. One of the biggest mistakes I see founders making is not documenting their learnings. Every department has valuable insights & values accrued over time. Just today, I rolled out "User Manuals" in our Notion space at Movley. Our first manual covers business values and the best practices of our top performers. Next up, we're putting together manual on operations, capturing insights from our experience managing an international marketplace of quality control professionals in 20+ countries. We’re planning to add more on onboarding, recruiting, GTM, and beyond. It's the only way to make sure your team doesn't waste time re-learning the same lessons.

The real value of top management in a company (The founding team in a startup or the C-suite in bigger organizations) is more philosophical than arithmetical. If you understand your customers, what makes you valuable to them, and how that differs from others who want to solve the problem while ensuring that providing this costs you less than what they pay, the arithmetics will undoubtedly follow. This is the difference between strategy and tactics.

🌟 From Aspiration to Achievement: Olivia Gaudree's Inspiring Journey in #VentureCapital 🌟 At ETA Technologies, we specialize in helping investors identify high-potential teams, because in the end, investors invest in people. While our primary focus is working with #venturecapital firms, we often receive questions from ambitious professionals looking to break into the VC world or advance their careers. Though we’re not a recruitment agency, we believe in sharing knowledge where it’s most needed. One standout story that truly embodies how to thrive in VC is Olivia Gaudree’s journey at Fuel Venture Capital, as featured in Business Insider. Her story offers valuable lessons on how to not only get your foot in the door but also rise quickly through determination, #strategy, and the right mindset. For those who’ve reached out to us for guidance, we hope Olivia’s story will inspire you to take bold steps toward your VC dreams. Success in this field requires more than just financial acumen—it’s about passion, perseverance, and the ability to recognize opportunity. 💡 Pro Tip: It’s not just about finding the right job—it’s about proving you are the right person for the job. Focus on building genuine relationships, continuously #learning, and staying resilient. We’re excited to see where your journey leads! 🚀 Source: https://lnkd.in/dEhXtMad

Some statistics show that MOST scaleups fail, even after Series A funding. Venture-backed scaleups fail at a rate of about 75%, meaning only one in four survives long-term. (Feedough and Exploding Topics) Wanna know why? Here are the main reasons: * Lack of market fit: Many scaleups develop products and/or new features without validating market demand. * Financial mismanagement: Shocker. Poor cash flow and resource allocation quickly depletes funds, even with investment. * Team dynamics: Inadequate expertise on the team can hinder your growth. * Scaling challenges: Founders often lack the knowledge need to scale. * Overvaluation: Excess funding can lead to unrealistic expectations and sh*tty strategic decisions. * Crowded market: Competitors can easily replicate ideas, making it tough for scaleups to stand out. * Not adapting: Rigidity in strategy can prevent scaleups from responding to market changes or customer feedback. What's your take? Seen some of this yourself?

An early-stage scale-up CEO recently asked me: 'How do I deal with the competing demands? How should I prioritise?' My feedback? There are three things you absolutely cannot outsource as a CEO: 1️⃣ Not Running out of Money: Whether it’s closing sales, talking to investors, raising debt, or cutting costs, keeping the company alive has to be your number one priority. 2️⃣ Finding Product Market Fit: If you’ve handled survival, then your next focus is making sure your know if your business has PMF and, if not, what experiments can you run to try and get there. In some ways this ties back to Point 1, not having PMF isn’t terminal on its own but not having PMF and scaling up costs too early, without sufficient runway, often is. 3️⃣ Setting the Company Culture: Culture always comes from the top, and it’s one of the most important levers you have as a leader. I’ve seen it too many times where culture is formed more at a department level than company level and that always leads to a downward spiral of ‘us’ and ‘them’ cross teams - in a startup and scaleup you need absolutely everyone aligned on the same goals. That’s my take from working with a lot of CEOs, but I’ve never run the race myself. For those who have, what’s your take? _____________________________________ 💭 Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments. 🔔 Like my content and want to see more? Follow or connect: Kiran Mehta. ♻ Found this post useful and think your network will too? Please hit that repost button. #vc #venturecapital #founders #founderstories #raisingequity