Elad Gil

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Data request traps

  “Beware multiple data requests without any future meetings or clear next steps defined!!!”

  Our noteElad warns against VCs who ask for data just to learn from you without intending to invest.

• Economic shock timing

  “It usually takes 3 to 6 months for an economic shock to wend its way through the economy. Like dominos slowing falling over there is a cascade of hiring freezes, purchasing freezes and layoffs.”

  Our noteElad explains why the full impact of a recession isn't felt immediately by startups.

• The lost art

  “I realize that the once great art of bootstrapping a startup (i.e. building a business on cash flow rather then venture money) has been lost.”

  Our noteElad observes that many founders now default to raising money instead of using their own revenue.

• LLM market structure

  “Frontier LLMs are likely to be an oligopoly market. Current contenders include closed source models like OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and perhaps Grok/X.ai, and Llama (Meta) and Mistral on the open source side.”

  Our noteDiscussing the concentration of power among a few top-tier AI model providers.

• Market uncertainty

  “I used to say that the more I learn about AI, the less I knew about AI - because it was unclear in many early markets who the likely winners would be”

  Our noteReflecting on the period when rapid technological changes made market predictions difficult.

• Niche market potential

  “Since markets online are 5-10X bigger than they used be, these same companies will now scale to $100M+ in revenue and a $1B+ market cap.”

  Our noteElad points out that even niche software can now reach massive scale due to internet reach.

• Delegation struggles

  “Many first-time founders of managers tend to fight delegating to others. Or they promote "smart, junior athletes" to run a function like engineering or sales and watch them flounder”

  Our noteElad explains why early-stage founders often struggle with building a leadership bench.

• Hiring without capital

  “One way to be able to hire someone but not raise money is to effectively raise debt from the people who want to work for you.”

  Our noteElad explains how to hire talent when you don't have investor funding yet.

• Survival in downturns

  “The ones that are able to raise money in the coming tough year, or who can get to profitability or psuedo-self funding will be extremely well positioned as well.”

  Our noteDiscussing which startups will survive the 2009 economic bloodbath.