Lakhani Financial Services’ Post

I used to scoff whenever a founder had “Stealth” on their profile. I mean, what jokers right? My thoughts were: Do they really think what they are working on is going to be stolen? Are they working on something that “cool” that they can’t tell anyone about it? Now, obviously you can see that I have “Stealth” written on my profile. But there are key reasons as to why this is the case now as opposed to the first time I started a company 👇 1️⃣ I get a LOT of VC reachouts. I know, world’s tiniest violin right? But the reality is: it’s incredibly distracting to building a business. The privilege I have of being a 2nd time founder makes it so I already know the people I’d like to partner with ahead of time; not necessary for me to do cold inbound convos. “Stealth” shields me from a lot of back and forth. 2️⃣We don’t need to launch for sales…at least right now. We’ve already reached $XX of ARR without needing a website. The “constantly launch” ethos of YC is true…but more true for those who struggle getting their product out to the world. 3️⃣My standards have changed for launching publicly. As much as possible, I want a great experience for those who land on our website. We won’t get it perfect, but we want to get to a point where our product is stable enough to handle the inflow of people who land on the site and can self serve their way through. 4️⃣ There are a LOT of hype builders out their with amazing marketing videos. YC is churning those startups out like a factory. That’s great, but does their product actually work? When publicly launching, we want to make sure things actually work to get to that first “aha!” moment. 5️⃣ I’m not exactly “hiding” what we are building. If you ask me individually, I’ll tell you. Feel free to DM me if you’re a CEO or a Head of Finance/Revops that’s struggling with ARR reporting or getting data from your systems, more than happy to give you an early look!!

Early-stage founders: What’s holding you back as you wrap up 2024? Let’s tackle the chaos together. 🎯 You’re conditioned to think hustle solves everything. But here’s the truth: you can’t scale a business by doing it all yourself. With January around the corner, now’s the time to focus on what really matters for your startup. I see founders burning energy on tasks that don’t move the needle, while overlooking areas that drive real growth. Here are 5 critical areas to focus on before the year ends: 1️⃣ Tighten up workflows now to save time and sanity later. 2️⃣ Spot churn patterns and maximize your best channels. 3️⃣ Focus your team where it matters—or get help to find gaps. 4️⃣ Clear KPIs = better decisions. 5️⃣ Lay the groundwork for 2025’s growth today. This is exactly the work I love helping founders navigate. You don’t have to do it all alone—or worse, spin your wheels doing the wrong things. 👉 Watch the video above to dive deeper. And if any of this resonates, head here to signup for my Ugly Seedling newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gRazWZPZ Let me know in the comments—what’s your biggest priority as you plan for 2025?

No one will remember if you worked late. Except your kids. It took me building a $9M company to understand this. When I started Expandi, I thought success meant: • Grinding 16-hour days • Always being available • Sacrificing everything else Then my 2 beautiful kids were born. And reality hit me in the face: You can work until 2 a.m. But your toddler will still wake you up at 3 a.m. And in that moment: • Your 9 am meeting doesn't matter • Your deadlines don't matter • Your metrics don't matter They just need their parent. And you need to be there for them despite the chaos. The startup world often glorifies sacrifice. But the truth is, your startup can recover from: • Bad quarters • Failed launches • Lost deals But your kids won’t understand why you: • Missed their games • Skipped their dances • Weren't there for dinner I still work those long hours. But now I know what really matters: In 20 years, my kids won't remember my startup's valuation. But they'll remember if I showed up. And that’s what I do every single day.

Should you offer to give the money back to your VCs if your startup just isn’t going to make it? It’s an interesting question. Many of us have been there. I’ve been there. When in the earlier days at Adobe Sign / EchoSign, my co-founder had left, growth stalled, and I had made a rough mishire and lost almost a year — I offered to give everything left back to my investors. It was a great experience, actually. The answer back was fast and swift: Keep Going. While I won’t say that alone inspired me to push on even harder, it helped. It helped me recommit to pushing through tougher times. A ways backs A16Z wrote how Stewart Butterfield in the early days of what became Slack also offered to give all the money left back. His gaming company had failed, although they were excited to see where a new product, “Slack”, might go. The board told him no, push on. We think you may have something. Not only did that lead to the Slack we all use today, and a $27 Billion acquisition, but it inspired Stewart to push on. Today? I often see the opposite. I see too many founders unwilling to even have the discussion. To just keep spending and spending, even as the business declines, or never even gets to any revenue. Sometimes, this is OK. It’s not the investors’ money anymore, and as long as founders are ethical and honest, VCs generally can lose any single investment. It’s part of the model. But what I can tell you is this. For me, for Stewart Butterfield, and many of the best — if things really aren’t working, for real. Not just a a tough patch, but simply not working. Then offering to give the money back can be both liberating and inspiring. If you are told to push on, that’s a true vote of confidence. And if they want the money back? Well, maybe that’s for the best. Tough to hear, but often true.

Three Phrases Founders Need to Hear 💡 "No software company should raise a pre-seed." (Controversial but true for some) 💡 "A lifestyle business is thrown around like a derogatory term as if you are not a legitimate founder because you didn't take on funding." (Let's change this narrative) 💡 "The Mighty Middle" - A newly coined term for founders who are aggressively building, reaching profitability, and creating sustainable businesses without institutional capital. (Join the revolution) As an early-stage company (Openroom HQ), we're experimenting every single day to see what sticks and what doesn't. It doesn't make you less of a Founder just because you didn't take capital. The mindset of "go raise capital" and "growth at all costs" is starting to shift. It's not that founders need reassurance to continue building and solving hard problems. We will continue regardless! But, it definitely helps when people who have done it, seen it, and believe it too. It might be controversial but I loved this morning's debriefing. Thank you to Cherry Rose Tan, MBA, MA, Moshe Mikanovsky, Brice Scheschuk, CPA, CA and Schulich School of Business - York University's Schulich Startups for a memorable mentorship quarter and helping me see a better future of building my own company. ---- Repost this for your network ♻️ P.S. What's the most controversial advice you've heard recently?

I'm going back into startup mode. Pitch deck and all, but more on that later. As we built this business, we accidentally carved out a small niche in a vast market, largely because we had to: → Focus on survival. → Bootstrap with limited resources. → Keep our heads down, unable to look beyond the immediate. But as our business stabilized and we began to plan our evolution and next steps, a few things became crystal clear: → There’s untapped potential in our market. → Timing couldn't be better for what we've built our skills around. → No one else is better positioned to seize those opportunities than we are. And that's exactly what we're doing. So I'm diving back into the foundations: → Customer development. → Business model refinement. → Feedback, iterations, and all. This time around, I’m aiming to avoid the same old mistakes. But I'll surely be making new ones, and will share the lessons learned along the way. Now, let me get back to that pitch deck. The last time I touched that was in 2018 😮💨 Any thoughts on rebuilding and scaling up from a stable base? -- I'm Pierre Sabbagh, (re)building in public. Follow for weekly stories from my journey.

A few weeks ago I did something a bit new, a bit crazy and a bit spur-of-the-moment - a live deck roast giving founders raw, unfiltered and direct feedback as to how investors see your cold-call deck. It was 🔥—over 200 attendees, nearly 50 decks submitted, and incredible feedback from founders who said it changed how they approach fundraising. So, we’re doing it again. But way bigger and way better. 🚀 And..... 🥁drum roll -  I’m thrilled to bits to announce I'm doing this deck roast with the INCREDIBLE Chris Tottman who amongst other things is:  - Founding GP at Notion Capital ($1b AUM), Founder of AlphaGrab. - Author of "The Go-To-Market Handbook for SaaS Leaders" 📘 - Creator of the Substack newsletter "The Founders Corner" - Investor in over 500 founders**, backing startups every week via Notion, AlphaGraph, and his family office run by Vencha, the growth consultancy. Chris has seen many, many MANY thousands of decks, does startups deals every single week and between the two of us, we’ll be breaking down what works, what flops, and how to stand out in the inbox chaos. 💥 We’ll walk you through a few decks in real-time, "talking out loud" to show what goes through an investor's mind when they open your cold email. You’ll see exactly what makes us say: ✅ "Let’s set up a call!" ❌ "Delete, next." We’ll get into the stuff investors like, dislike, tolerate, and flat-out hate. No fluff, no filter, and absolutely no bullsh*t. You’ll leave knowing how to get us (and investors like us) to pay attention. When? December 5th at 1pm GMT. 🚀 Spots are limited, so don’t wait! See you there. Bring your deck, your questions, and maybe a little courage. 😏 Comment ROAST on this post and I’ll send out the deets!

As a founder, there’s one metric that can sneak up on you faster than you think: ➡️ Your runway and burn rate. In 2008, Airbnb’s founders were down to their last $1,000. They had a vision, but no cash. To survive, they sold cereal—yes, cereal boxes themed around the presidential election—to keep their dream alive. That gave them just enough breathing room to refine their idea, attract investors, and build what’s now a billion-dollar company. No matter how promising your startup seems, cash flow is everything. Runway is how long you can survive without additional funding, and burn rate is how fast you’re spending. Mismanage either, and your dream evaporates. The difference between thriving and folding often comes down to discipline. Every dollar spent should be a conscious decision, not a mindless habit. Stretch that runway. Lower that burn rate. You might be surprised how much creativity surfaces when your back is against the wall. For those navigating this delicate balance, here’s a deeper dive! Credits - CFO Insights #startupwisdom #foundersjourney #cashflow #founders #investors #venturecapital

There's a new generation of founders emerging. And they aren’t chasing VC capital and getting handcuffed to investors. Instead, they’re taking matters into their own hands by building profitable service businesses. They’re growing these businesses rapidly by borrowing strategies straight from the tech playbook. I built my career working inside venture-backed startups, so I get the allure. But over time, the luster fades: - You start answering to the money - The vision gets blurred - Your ownership dwindles Most founders I know are sick of the VC circus. They want to get back to building great businesses on expertise and hustle. Not PowerPoint decks. 

If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, it means you launched it too late. My message to other founders: Don’t overthink it. Just do it. Launch a basic version and get user feedback. You might discover that nobody needs your product. That's okay. You'll feel disappointed for a while, but you'll also save time and money for your next project. Or, negative feedback might help you improve your business and grow faster. This second scenario happened to me last year. In 2023, I switched my business to a subscription model. Bugs kept popping up every day, and they still do. But my business has never been better: the numbers, the users, the traction – everything is breaking records. If I had hesitated to switch to subscriptions, if I had waited for everything to be perfect, my startup would probably have shut down already.