Thought Leadership Threads
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkie
Landing The Plane: A Necessary Choice For Many Startups
How many Founders does it take to land a plane? None, they'll just pivot to a helicopter ride-sharing service.
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieThere’s a saying that first time Founders focus on product and repeat Founders focus on distribution.
The lesson that’s been learned by repeat Founders is simple:
The top reason startups fail is due to an inability to scale efficiently.
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieIt's been a tough funding environment for the past 2 years, but even in this brutal environment great startups have been able to successfully raise the capital they need.
And even for the best startups, the fundraising process proves to be exhausting and time consuming. So once a raise is "done and dusted" there's always an amazing feeling of relief.
But what happens "Day 1" after a raise? Here are a few thoughts for Founders and VCs about shifting from a “need to raise” to a “need to prove” mindset.
It's been a tough funding environment for the past 2 years, but even in this brutal environment great startups have been able to successfully raise the capital they need.
And even for the best startups, the fundraising process proves to be exhausting and time consuming. So once a raise is "done and dusted" there's always an amazing feeling of relief.
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieImagine a world where AI makes our jobs easier, frees us from mundane tasks, and effectively democratizes superintelligence.
In that same world, AI tools might whisper in your ear to recommend the job you never knew existed, the perfect partner based on complex compatibility algorithms, and even the news you "should" read.
This future is part utopian and part dystopian with it being unclear what the “net impact” will be on society.
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieImagine a world where AI makes our jobs easier, frees us from mundane tasks, and effectively democratizes superintelligence.
In that same world, AI tools might whisper in your ear to recommend the job you never knew existed, the perfect partner based on complex compatibility algorithms, and even the news you "should" read.
This future is part utopian and part dystopian with it being unclear what the “net impact” will be on society.
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieHaving been an Operator, an Entrepreneur and an Investor, I get asked the question all the time why big companies continuously fail to innovate.
If I gave a lecture on the topic it would be called: "How to make bad decisions and not get fired."
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieRight now, "mistakes were made" is a hot topic of discussion in the startup ecosystem.
Here are a few common learnings I'm hearing from Investors who don't want to repeat the mistakes they made during "peak madness".
Frank Rotman
@fintechjunkieThe past 2 years have been brutal to the Startup ecosystem.
Darwin is back and capital has become less available and more expensive.
Many startups haven’t gotten “far enough fast enough” and can’t raise the capital they need to survive.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that M&A is a topic that’s coming up more and more frequently in Board rooms as a way of “landing the plane”.
A few thoughts: