451 Posts found for Source: First Round Review

We have not found a single market where customer needs are homogenous. Yet, time and time again, companies design products for the average customer.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Georg Tacke, Madhaven Ramanujam | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Innovation, Management, Marketing / Sales

Goals are great — as long as you have thought in advance about what would make it so that you wouldn’t pursue that goal anymore.

Content: Quotation | Author: Annie Duke | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Goals, Management

One of the things that give startups an advantage is that they’re exploring in a way that established companies aren’t able to. Enterprises have an innovation problem. Startups are exploratory. But what we have to realize is that the very act of setting a goal makes you become more and more enterprise-like. You stop exploring other avenues, strategies, products, and motions that you could be … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Annie Duke | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Entrepreneurship, Innovation

When we look at success stories that were a long time in the making, there’s a temptation to say sticking to it is just good — full stop. But the problem is that the grit that allows us to power through will also get us to stick to things that aren’t worthwhile. Success comes from sticking to the stuff that’s working and quitting the rest. … [ Read more ]

Author: Annie Duke | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Personal Development

When you’re trying to balance the hiring opinions of so many different interviewers, you don’t always wind up with the best candidate. You end up hiring the candidate that skates through by getting a more neutral opinion from most interviewers.

Content: Quotation | Author: Liz Kofman-Burns | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

Lack of delegation and an inability to understand where you truly add the most value can derail meaningful growth opportunities for your team, cause unnecessary burnout and stress, and ultimately impact how well your company scales.

Content: Quotation | Author: Massella Dukuly | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

I have to constantly remind myself: When I don’t delegate, I take away an opportunity for my team to grow.

Content: Quotation | Author: Shivani Berry | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

I’m constantly thinking about who is ready to replace me and where the gaps are. It’s not because I’m planning to leave, but it forces me to think deeply about the strengths I’m trying to develop, how to coach better business relationships, or who needs new exposure and opportunities.

Content: Quotation | Author: Colleen McCreary | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Management, Personal Development

Without the business context on why you’re doing the tasks you’re doing, you’re just not going to be as motivated or excited. I want to ensure that my team knows and believes that every single thing they are doing is driving value for the business. So I do my best to invite them to the meetings when possible, and when it’s not possible, give the … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Jenna Klebanoff | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Management

Most people describe finding product-market fit as an art, not a science. But when it comes to sales-led B2B startups, we’ve reverse engineered a method to increase the odds of unlocking it. We’ve worked with some of the world’s most iconic enterprise founders and distilled what they did in their first six months into a series of tactical sessions for taking a straighter path to … [ Read more ]

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

Many think of burnout as if it’s solely related to how much we work — and that if we take time off, we’ll soon bounce back, born anew. But a vacation will not cure burnout. Burnout isn’t only about the hours you’re putting in. It’s also a function of the stories you tell yourself and how you approach what you do — in the office … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Liz Fosslien, Mollie West Duffy | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Human Resources, Organizational Behavior

Content scales, your time does not. Try to do more things in the form of content.

Content: Quotation | Author: Sam Corcos | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Delegation, Management, Productivity / Work Tips

Never automate something that can be eliminated, and never delegate something that can be automated or streamlined. Otherwise, you waste someone else’s time instead of your own, which now wastes your hard-earned cash.

Content: Quotation | Author: Tim Ferriss | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Delegation, Management, Productivity / Work Tips

My scrapbook of things I’m proud of tests the stories I tell myself about what I care about by matching them to reality.

Content: Quotation | Author: Brie Wolfson | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Personal Development

As you consider a past decision as a team, think about what you knew before you made it. What was revealed after the fact? Could you have known about it beforehand?

We tend to only review decisions that are associated with bad outcomes, like missing a sales target by 10%. But when you exceed that same target by 10%, there’s no meeting, no post-mortem. Just congratulations … [ Read more ]

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

To make great decisions, you need accountability, repeatability, and examinability. I always describe it like this: We need to create an evidentiary record, a way to Google our own decision-making.

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

Early growth at startups comes down to a few insanely successful tactics. If you look back at the early days of any great startup, you’ll see that 90% of their early growth came from 10% of the stuff they tried.

This phenomenon is no coincidence — it’s physics. Big companies can grow by deploying heaps of cash and armies of people, using every channel, hoping one … [ Read more ]

Content: Article | Author: Matt Lerner | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

When adding a new team or role, take the time to clarify a few things: What a role is, what it’s meant to serve, how existing people have been making up for the lack of that role, and how their lives are going to be changed by new people coming in — in positive and potentially negative ways.

Content: Quotation | Author: Cristina Cordova | Source: First Round Review | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources

Don’t start with the most important partners that you could potentially work with, but at the fourth or fifth down on your list. That way you can learn exactly what the objections from a big partner might be and start solving them. If you pitch that big company five or six months from now, you’ll be in a much stronger position.

Content: Quotation | Author: Cristina Cordova | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship

A big mistake early-stage companies make around launch is focusing too much on sign-ups. It’s great to have 10,000 sign-ups in one day — but are they paying you? Are they actively using your product? Are they adopting new features? Those are the things that you really need to care about.

Content: Quotation | Author: Cristina Cordova | Source: First Round Review | Subject: Entrepreneurship