my 5 step framework for early stage startup valuations
i've helped over 100 founders raise their first round from vcs
their most common question?
how to find the right valuation for their startup
here's the 5 step framework i share with them:
most founders focus on maximizing their valuation
instead, they should think about:
- how much capital they need
- how much of the company they're willing to sell
- the current state of the markets
and work backwards from their next round
elon musk's 3 step framework for first principles thinking
elon musk has built companies worth over $800 billion
and he credits his success to first principles thinking
here's his framework for coming up with new ideas:
first — what is first principles thinking?
it's a way of approaching problem solving used at many of the most successful tech companies
it says to base your ideas on undeniable truths you've identified
a first principle is the answer to the question "what do we know for sure?"
my 5 step framework for startup valuations
i've helped hundreds of founders raise their first round of capital
their most common question? what their startup's valuation should be
here's my 5 step framework for how to value early stage startups:
most founders focus on maximizing their valuation
instead, they should think about:
- how much capital they need
- how much of the company they're willing to sell
- the current state of the markets
and work backwards from their next round
15 youtube channels about startups
these 15 YouTube channels will teach you more about startups than any university:
garry tan (@garrytan)
ceo of y combinator, exited founder, cofounder of initialized... and youtuber
garry's built his channel to 200K subscribers by making great videos over 2 years
recommended video: level up your friends like billionaires do
9 pitch deck red flags 🚩
i've reviewed hundreds of startup pitch decks this year
but i've only invested in 14
here are the 9 most common pitch deck red flags:
🚩 early stage financial projections
here's a secret — vcs know you made them up and that they won't be accurate
what they don't know is if YOU know that
they'll be concerned if they think you believe everything will go as planned
instead, share some revenue napkin math
i'm launching a newsletter!
big news 🔥
i've launched a newsletter!
it's full of quick, actionable advice for founders
i'm sharing what i've learned co-founding @launchhouse and raising from @a16z
here's the first weekly post 👇
my goal?
help founders make better decisions and grow their startups faster
over 3,000 are already signed up
try it here 👇
houck.news
10 lessons from my 20s
at 21 i didn't know what a startup was
at 31 now i've raised $15M for my startup
here are 10 lessons i learned over the last 10 years:
money is a tool:
many people are taught that money is the root of all evil
but it's simply a tool that reveals who you are as a person
used well, it unlocks faster progress and greater success
9 big things built fast
it's taken san francisco 20 years to build a single bus lane
but many incredible things get built surprisingly quickly
stripe's founder patrick collison wrote an article highlighting 9:
ipod
went from hiring a product manager to launch in ~290 days for a product that reached 1 billion people
look at the timeline:
• jan: tony fadell hired to lead the project
• mar: steve jobs gives it the green light
• oct: product announced
• nov: delivered to users
how airbnb was saved by cereal
Airbnb is worth $70 billion
when i worked there i learned how it almost failed
here’s the story of how it was saved by cereal:
in 2008 a young Airbnb was in need of cash
on an NPR podcast, co-founder @jgebbia said:
“You know those binders where you keep baseball cards? I had one of those except there weren’t baseball cards in it, they were credit cards.”