462 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

If luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation, a crisis is difficulty meeting unreadiness. You can’t avoid every iceberg, but you can add a few more safety boats.

Content: Quotation | Author: Krista Berlincourt | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Risk Management

People will remember a totally random sample of the information you give them about what you do. It won’t be the best sample. It won’t be the summary you wish you could hand them. It’s a random set of data. Because they’ll remember random parts, you want to construct a message that — when sampled at any point — reinforces your argument and remains persuasive. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Communication, Networking, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

When we look at what visionaries really succeed at, they give us a confident, consistent and coherent plan that makes us feel safe. We trust them not because their vision is perfect, but because they have it under control. They communicate clearly without giving us all the answers. What most people think of as vision is actually persuasion.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tyler Odean | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Leadership, Organizational Behavior

Tell your audience “this is a point that is important to me” to tell them “this is a point that should be important to you.”

Content: Quotation | Author: Nicole Khan | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Communication, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

Founders shouldn’t feel that they have to go it alone. An abundance of support and high-quality advice can make all the difference in times like these, which means getting the most out of your existing network of advisors and investors has never been more important.

Advice is by no means a silver bullet. And as we’ve previously noted, we’re steadfast believers that the best advice often … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

Your alpha group is the one that already loves you, that would even love your MVP. It’s your mom who will love anything you make. On the other end of the spectrum, your GA is far more skeptical. Your GA is much harder to please. Their trust is hard to earn and even harder to regain once lost. Your beta is your sweet spot for … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Market Research, Project Management

Say you’re trying to test whether people like pizza. If you serve them burnt pizza, you’re not getting feedback on whether they like pizza. You only know that they don’t like burnt pizza. Similarly, when you’re only relying on the MVP [minimum viable product], the fastest and cheapest functional prototype, you risk not actually testing your product, but rather a poor or flawed version of … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Customer Related, Market Research

People want to help, but they can only help so much if you yourself don’t know where you’re headed. With a more specific objective, you can much more effectively maximize your network.

Content: Quotation | Author: Sasha Orloff | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Networking

Research has shown that thinking “I am like you” instantly translates to “I like you.” It’s how we process likability.

Content: Quotation | Author: Patrick Ewers | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

Most of us buy into a certain set of myths when it comes to feelings on the job. Even though emotions play a central role in our lives, we’re trained to check them at the door before we head into work. We hesitate before talking openly about the monstrous emotions that lurk beneath the surface at startups. We’re told to “follow your head, not your … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Liz Fosslien | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Career, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

One of the dangers leaders can fall into when they’re growing a vibrant community is listening to that loud 1%. It’s the tail wagging the dog. You have to learn to take in all the feedback that you get, but parse it carefully when it comes to the product decisions that you make that affect a larger audience. Communities are great for supercharging and scaling … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bailey Richardson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Customer Related

The missing ingredient in many would-be communities is dedication. We put on one-off events or annual fundraisers, but we don’t give potential community members the chance to keep showing up or to raise their hands to take on responsibilities.

Content: Quotation | Author: Bailey Richardson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Customer Related

Communities are sacred. They imply a level of connection, advocacy and energy on the part of the people who are showing up. You’re incredibly lucky if you have a passionate group of people with a sense of ownership. It’s not a word to bandy about lightly. There’s a difference between opting into true engagement and passive, utilitarian use or inclusion. Aspiring community builders in the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Bailey Richardson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Customer Related

Hiring is not a problem to be solved but an opportunity to build the future of your organization.

Content: Quotation | Author: Julie Zhuo | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Human Resources

Two years ago, our team at First Round, led by Partner Bill Trenchard and VP Platform Brett Berson, began to quietly build out a program to help our founders navigate the choppy waters of follow-on fundraising. Long had we observed founders caught off guard by what was needed to raise their Series A after having a relatively easy time at the seed stage.

Realizing how … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Authors: Bill Trenchard, Brett Berson | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital

Consensus means no ownership. What’s important is not that everyone agrees, but that everyone is heard and then the right person makes a decision.

Content: Quotation | Author: Gokul Rajaram | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Management, Organizational Behavior

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The art of decision-making isn’t always about capturing some elusive “best” decision — it’s about making the most of information available, garnering trust across stakeholders and executing with conviction.

Content: Quotation | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Decision Making, Organizational Behavior

Efficiency is great if you can plan for the long-term. If you know what you’re going to do for a long period of time, you can really get into the nuts and bolts of how to do it efficiently. But because efficiency, by design, locks in roles, processes and practices, it also makes it much harder to change.

Content: Quotation | Author: Adam Pisoni | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

When Don Otvos first joined Datahug earlier this year, the sales team was spread out between San Francisco, New York and London. They were operating independently, isolated from each other. Most importantly, they couldn’t learn from each other and collaborate as quickly as they needed to. When he came aboard, he got the chance to make this vision a reality by rebuilding the company’s sales … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Don Otvos | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Marketing / Sales