Elad Gil

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Startup Purpose

  “Early stage startups exist to commercialize technology, not do massive research explorations.”

  Our noteElad clarifies the distinction between a business and a research project.

• Fundraising momentum

  “The easiest time to raise money is when you already have momentum on a round. Don't wait for the perfect moment to raise. Just get it done.”

  Our noteAdvice on completing a seed round instead of waiting for a Series A.

• Burn rate impact

  “The faster you spend your funding, the less time you have to survive.”

  Our noteWarning against overspending on large teams or expensive PR early on.

• Capital Influx Risks

  “All the capital flooding in means some not-so-great companies are getting funded.”

  Our noteDiscussing the downsides of an easy fundraising environment for the ecosystem.

• Power sharing outcomes

  “In general equal power sharing yields worse outcomes than having an (eventually) dominate cofounder.”

  Our noteElad discusses why equal power between founders often leads to suboptimal business results.

• Post decision alignment

  “Once a decision is made, the non-CEO co-founders need to get behind the decision and make it successful.”

  Our noteHe explains the duty of co-founders after a final call has been made by the leader.

• Metric driven sales

  “Sales at its best is a repeatable, understandable operational process that can be run in a metric driven way. Indeed, sales productivity is dramatically easier to track and understand versus engineering productivity.”

  Our noteElad highlights that sales is more measurable than many technical founders realize.

• Drivers of efficiency

  “The capital efficiency tends to reflect that (a) people really want your product and will pay you for it and (b) the founders are cost-conscious and frugal, and do not overhire.”

  Our noteElad explains why some startups are more capital efficient than others.

• Junior partner incentives

  “A junior partner is trying to climb the partnership ladder at their firm and may put their career before your startup.”

  Our noteDiscussing the potential conflict of interest when working with junior VCs.

• Choosing Angel Investors

  “It depends on what sort of help you think you will need most as a startup (e.g. BD intros? Hiring help? Product feedback? Help raising the next round?).”

  Our noteElad explains that the right investor depends on the specific needs of the startup.

• Investor Vetting

  “Make sure to vet people before adding them to your round.”

  Our noteElad warns about adding 'brand' investors who might offer bad advice with high confidence.

• Stock upside potential

  “A $50 million acquisition can suddenly become a $500 million acquisition if the acquirer's stock appreciates dramatically.”

  Our noteHe explains how the acquirer's future growth impacts the real value of a stock-based deal.

• Vertical market opportunities

  “However there turns out to be a lot of room for standard tech companies to add defense as an important vertical market.”

  Our noteHe discusses the potential for non-specialized tech firms to enter the defense industry.

• The trap of thinking big

  “many startups fail because the founding team thinks *too big* from day one, and doesn't take the time to really define the short term, immediate value their product or business provides.”

  Our noteElad explains why starting with a massive vision can sometimes be a disadvantage for new startups.

• Early stage frenzy

  “I think it is a clear sign of the fundingpocalypse. Yes folks, there is an early stage funding frenzy right now.”

  Our noteElad warns about the excessive excitement in the early-stage startup funding market.

• Investor updates

  “Do not demand detailed updates from entrepreneurs simply for the sake of wanting to know what is going on. Instead, ask how you can help and an update usually naturally follows.”

  Our noteAdvising angels on how to get information without wasting a founder's time.

• Proactive support

  “By proactively asking how you can help, you may save the entrepreneurs a lot of grief without wasting their time asking for a detailed snapshot of their metrics.”

  Our noteEncouraging investors to be helpful rather than administrative burdens.

• Contextual advice

  “Don't be intellectually lazy and just pattern match - instead, try to understand the nuances of the founders' business and give advice based on context.”

  Our noteWarning against giving generic startup advice without understanding the specific business.

• Definition of SPAC

  “At its core, you can think of SPACs as decentralized investment banking - SPACs are roughly public search funds that allow individuals or funds to take private companies public.”

  Our noteElad explains the fundamental nature of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies in the tech ecosystem.

• Liquidity Flexibility

  “In a SPAC acquisition, who can sell what shares when is completely open to negotiation between the SPAC and the target.”

  Our noteExplaining the lack of rigid lock-up periods in SPAC deals compared to IPOs.

• AI transformation potential

  “AI has really been emerging as a very exciting sort of next gen area that I think will transform a lot of what's happening in startups, in society and everything else.”

  Our noteElad introduces the fireside chat by highlighting the broad impact of artificial intelligence.

• Refounding the company

  “I felt that we needed to essentially refound the company, ground ourselves back in what's the core sense of purpose and mission so that then we can pursue something new and bold.”

  Our noteSatya Nadella discusses the necessity of renewing Microsoft's mission when he became CEO.

• Respecting time

  “Ivan is implicitly stating that he does not value Becky's time enough to ask in advance if she wanted an intro.”

  Our noteElad explains why blind introductions are disrespectful to the recipient's schedule.

• Side projects for fun

  “A friend and I decided to work on a Facebook app for fun. (Side note: This has nothing to do with my long term company plans)”

  Our noteElad clarifies that this small project is separate from his professional roadmap.

• Billion dollar exits

  “In general you need to be worth tens of billions to buy a company worth a billions plus, and you must hold strategic value to the acquirer.”

  Our noteHe explains the rarity and difficulty of achieving a billion-dollar acquisition.

• Venture Capital Supply

  “While the number of angels (and the amount they have available) has expanded dramatically, the sames does not hold for venture funds.”

  Our noteElad discusses the imbalance between the surge in seed funding and the limited number of VC funds.

• Startup momentum

  “In contrast, at a startup as the entrepreneur if you stop pushing, everything immediately comes to a halt.”

  Our noteElad explains why startups are more stressful than large corporations.

• SaaS distribution shifts

  “Bottoms-up adoption and in-product viral and growth distribution techniques have at last been integrated into SaaS products.”

  Our noteHe is describing how modern enterprise software spreads through users rather than top-down sales.

• Curation without production

  “Re-blogging allowed a user to repost a blog with a single button, allowing users to essentially curate content without producing any original content.”

  Our noteDiscussing how Tumblr and Twitter enabled users to share content effortlessly.

• Consistent remote policy

  “Make a rule and stick to it. Many CEOs deal directly with exceptions on remote work - which minimizes the set of people asking for an exception.”

  Our noteHe explains how to handle requests for remote work exceptions effectively.