I almost gave up on the story of how we nearly lost our entirely. Then something clicked that changed my whole approach.
After more than ten years in Silicon Valley, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from my startups and investments—the wins, the failures, and the unexpected strategies that actually helped us succeed.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Here's what surprised me most about the story of how we nearly lost our: the best practitioners do less, not more.
When I was building MovieLaLa, we tried to do everything at once. We had the best technology, the smartest team, and we still almost failed because we spread ourselves too thin.
The lesson I took from that experience, and from watching hundreds of other companies, is that timing is everything in this game. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
What I've Learned From 35 Companies
After investing in 200+ startups and running two companies to successful exits, I've developed a pretty clear picture of what works with the story of how we nearly lost our.
The biggest misconception is that you need to most founders overthink this and underspend on execution. That's backwards. The companies that win are the ones that simplicity beats complexity every time.
I remember sitting with the Anthropic team early on and discussing how they thought about the story of how we nearly lost our. Their approach was counterintuitive but brilliant.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to the story of how we nearly lost our are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
The Numbers Don't Lie
I've tracked the performance of companies in my portfolio that take the story of how we nearly lost our seriously versus those that don't. The difference is stark.
Companies that invest early in the story of how we nearly lost our see, on average, 2-3x better outcomes within 18 months. That's not a small edge. That's the difference between raising your next round and running out of runway.
One of my portfolio companies went from struggling to profitable in under a year after they finally got serious about this. The founder told me later that they wished they'd started sooner.
This connects to broader themes around AI diagnostics, healthcare automation, biotech AI, drug discovery AI that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Wrapping Up
I've shared a lot here, and I know it can feel overwhelming. But here's the thing about the story of how we nearly lost our: you don't need to get everything right on day one. You just need to get started and keep improving.
The founders in my portfolio who excel at the story of how we nearly lost our share one trait: they're relentlessly practical. They don't chase perfection. They chase progress.
That's the mindset I'd encourage you to adopt. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And keep pushing forward.
As always, I'm rooting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.