I listen to startup podcasts so you don’t have to.
"We started realizing the pattern of people buying Bitcoin here in the US and then selling Bitcoin within the same wallet... They're just literally using Bitcoin as a rail and money transfer."
- Monitor customer usage for unexpected trends. - Adapt your offerings to meet emerging needs. - Customer behavior can guide strategic pivots."Mike was like super gung ho... And I was like, I like this business... We had a big hard board meeting... and we came to the decision that we're going all in on crypto."
- Open communication helps reconcile differing views. - Focus on the company's long-term vision over personal preferences. - Utilize board guidance to make informed decisions."I just couldn't think of anything else I wanted to do... I love building companies... It's just such a beautiful thing."
- Passion for building can drive founders to persevere. - Self-awareness helps align with what truly motivates you. - Setbacks can reinforce commitment to your mission."It was a very tough thing. But I have a great support system. I have a great partner. I have great friends."
- Lean on your support network during difficult times. - Mental health is crucial for founder endurance. - Resilience can help navigate setbacks and refocus."But they just backed out on closing date and that left us in a really tough spot... We tried turning the company around after that and it was super hard."
- Prepare contingency plans in case deals don't close. - Maintain financial prudence during acquisition processes. - Stay resilient and focus on alternative strategies."We went from maybe like a few million in revenue to doing like $50 million in revenue within like two or three months."
- Leverage product-market fit to accelerate growth. - Be prepared operationally to handle rapid scaling. - Capitalize on market demand when timing aligns."We had to scale back massively... But there's a lot of morale... I remember that just being a really, really tough time..."
- Communicate transparently with your team during transitions. - Acknowledge the impact on employees and provide support. - Leadership must navigate morale to maintain company culture."It took us like from 2012 to 2018 to find out what the business is gonna be..."
- Stay persistent in seeking product-market fit. - Listen to market signals and user adoption. - Timing is critical—being early can be as challenging as being late."The good thing that we did was like, we just build infrastructure though. At every point and every pivot, there's more and more infrastructure that we kept building."
- Build foundational infrastructure to support new directions. - Leverage existing systems to accelerate future pivots. - Infrastructure investments provide flexibility."We quickly realized that like, we built this infrastructure... So we were like, we're not making any revenue. And then we quickly after that, we pivoted."
- Recognize when your current model isn't sustainable. - Be open to new opportunities revealed by customer behavior. - Pivot swiftly to align with market needs.