Claudia Frese

🎧 Thinking about your next professional step? Eyeing a CEO role after a product leadership one? 🎧 This Podcast is for you! In this episode of Reasonable Product podcast, I welcome Jonathan Landau, CEO of MOVU AG, Switzerland's premier marketplace for moving services. Jonathan shares his remarkable journey from Chief Product Officer to Chief Executive Officer, revealing the nuances of leadership, strategy, innovation and pricing in the marketplaces and in the moving services industry. Climbing the corporate ladder is not all sunshine and rainbows... but those with a background in product management are often uniquely well-equipped for such transitions. Together, Jonathan and I delve into the essential skills and strategies that can smooth the path to a CEO role and a successful marketplace. We cover: ✅ Shifting focus to the company's overall revenue and direction, ✅ Applying product management expertise while empowering your teams, ✅ Navigating the complexities of pricing—especially when you don't control the final price, ✅ Putting customers first: The significance of feedback, retention, and providing context, ✅ Leadership Insights: How strategic guidance, effective communication, and leveraging OKRs can become your most powerful tools. Jonathan offers invaluable insights on effective communication with your team and customers, the lessons in leadership learned from managing products, and the critical role of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) in steering a company toward its strategic goals. This episode is a must-listen for anyone aspiring to evolve professionally from a product or leadership position into a CEO or general management role. But don’t take my word for it, and look for "Reasonable Product" on Spotify, Apple Podcast or your favorite platform. Or get the direct links in the first comment of this post. 👉 Don’t forget to **FOLLOW** my podcast 🌟 on your preferred platform to be among the first to listen to new episodes! ❤️ #productmanagement #productcareer #productjobs #pricing #marketplaces #okr

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Why basketball is (objectively 😉) a better product than soccer 🏀 As Euro 2024 wraps up this weekend (and as a basketball enthusiast myself) I think that basketball has better potential as a product, let’s break it down from a product management perspective: - 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (𝐔𝐗): Basketball gives you non-stop action. The play is fluid, the pace is fast, and there's rarely a boring moment. Compare this to soccer, where you are more likely to encounter a boring match. - 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: In basketball, points are scored frequently, making every moment feel thrilling and keeping fans on the edge of their seats. Soccer? Sometimes you wait ages for a single goal. - 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞: Basketball is all about tight-knit teams. With only five players on the court, each one plays a crucial role. It’s easier to build alignment and synergy, which is key in both sports, (and product teams of course!). - 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭: Soccer players run more on average, covering about 11-14 kilometers per game 🏃‍♂️, compared to basketball players who run about 3-5 kilometers. Less running means more energy, so saving resources. - 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫: Basketball offers more frequent scoring, which keeps the excitement levels high. Plus, the thrill of a slam dunk is hard to beat, it’s the ultimate product feature! Let’s face it, basketball checks all the boxes for a great product: engaging, exciting, and versatile. Just like airfocus! 😉 What do you think? Team Basketball or Team Soccer? Vote in the comments below 👇🏽 #productmanagement #basketball #soccer #sports #airfocus

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Crafting the perfect pitch: Why deciding between a vision-driven narrative or data-driven results could define your fundraising success 👇 Actionable insights from: ➡ Christina Cacioppo, CEO and Co-founder at Vanta and Mario Gabriele, Founder at The Generalist ✏ “The Founders Guide to Optimizing Your Fundraise” ⭐ Base your fundraising pitch on either a compelling narrative or strong metrics, depending on the state of your business, but avoid trying to do both simultaneously. 💬  "You can raise on numbers or you can raise on story, but you shouldn't raise on both. You should always be clear with yourself about which one you're raising on, and your pitch should make it clear, too. It's hard to do both well: the vision obscures the numbers, and the numbers detract from the vision. The same company can raise on either vision or numbers at different times. At Vanta, we raised on our numbers in the early days because people didn't buy into the market or its potential. As we matured, so did our ability to bring investors along on that vision." – Christina Cacioppo ───── 👉 Follow me, Alexander Small, for tactics and strategies for building startups from industry-leading Founders, Operators and Investors

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On speed of execution: Last week one of our customers had asked for usage analytics. Analytics were shipped before the week ended. End-to-end, full-stack. We also made analytics available through our API. A classic startup advice is to move fast and break things. This phrase is used so often that before Reform, I took it for granted. It just seemed like a best practice, but I never really questioned why it is so important. After spending the last year talking to customers, here’s my answer to that question: you can think of a startup as a video game, and what you’re really trying to do is level up. As you level up, you uncover a set of truths that were previously unknown to you; you get to learn more about your customers, your industry, how to build a business, how to sell, etc. You simply just become better at the game. You certainly are a worse Super Mario player at level 1 than you are at level 10, and your friend is certainly a better Super Mario player at level 20 than you are at level 10. If you’re moving slow, your rate of improvement is slow, and the next level just gets harder and further. What you’re really doing when you move fast is shortening your iteration cycle, accelerating your rate of improvement, helping you arrive at the truth faster. As you uncover more truths, your chances of success simply compound. A startup with a compound interest of 1% can never compete with another that has a compound interest of 5%. Happy building my friends 😊 https://lnkd.in/evFq4sJQ

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𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬? My idea is to rethink the classic impact/effort and shift to a time/ROI matrix instead. The pros: ⏳ Time as an explicit factor—to highlight what effective execution means for our company 🧲 Focus on solving the most valuable problems—to make comparing and contrasting easier 🎯 Creating value—to make sure that we move needles, not deliver because we can Swipe through the carousel below for a quick overview, and dive deeper into my thoughts in the link in the comments. 🤔 I’m curious: has anyone moved completely away from the traditional impact/effort approach yet? #ProductInsights #Prioritization #ProductManagement 

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+5,000 followers on Linkedin! 🎇 👀   Since leaving Amazon two years ago, I'm incredibly grateful for the sheer number of amazing people I have crossed paths with - from sellers and partners at numerous industry events, to investors and fellow founders. I am glad to have you all along with me for this crazy ride.   To celebrate this milestone I'll share some thoughts on KPIs, and the frameworks behind defining the milestones we are actively trying to achieve. My learning since founding Ecomtent is incredible discipline is needed to anchor the entire company around 2-3 core metrics.   In my previous role, leading a team of PMs at Amazon, I was guilty of the inverse of this. On my team, each PM tracked several individual KPIs we set at the beginning of the year, specific to their program. The goal was to give individuals ownership. However, the result was a laundry list, and different team members across the organisation optimizing for different things. Tech prioritisation was a nightmare.   A better framework is one Primary metric, and 1-2 additional secondary metrics. The Primary metric should be a monetary measure - revenue or profitability. Secondary metrics should be more business-specific, inputs to drive this primary metric. For example, in its growth stage, Airbnb had a primary metric of revenue, but the secondary metrics of beds on the platform and responsiveness of hosts. There are a thousand different ways teams across the company could help to drive up these two secondary metrics - initiatives and innovation on product, sales, marketing. Team and individual goals should be structured to contribute to these 2-3 KPIs.   Your KPIs also should reflect the overall strategy. By strategy, I mean specific trade-offs you are consciously making - betting on X and not Y. For example, at Ecomtent, one of our initial secondary metrics was # managed product listings to build defensibility. This dictated our behaviour, e.g. spending dev time building a robust product that could handle catalogues with hundreds of thousands of SKUs; and our pricing. However since filling a patent, our strategy has evolved. We fired this KPI and replaced it with reducing churn. This meant listening to customers, and from their feedback dedicating resources to improving our lifestyle image generation models to ensure it remains best in class in a competitive market. It also meant delighting and surprising customers with innovations such as 'auto prompting' to improve image quality. Since firing # managed product listings, and focusing on reducing churn, we have been able to move the dial on this KPI with a reduction of -51%.   I could imagine as Ecomtent grows, that we grow our number of secondary KPIs from two to 5 or 6. But I vehemently believe discipline is needed, that KPIs should be set by leadership, monitored on a weekly basis by the entire company or business unit and fired if the strategy or landscape shifts. Do you agree? Should large teams fire their KPIs? 

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INSRD: Reinventing Business Insurance! Meet INSRD, the Berlin-based insurtech that's changing the game for business insurance and risk management. Raised €500k pre-seed to bring you a smarter solution! Here's how they do it: 1. Adaptive Coverage: Insurance that grows with your business. 2. Expert Advisory: Tailored advice to handle new risks. 3. Tech Power: AI-driven platform to keep you covered. INSRD's Protect & Connect platform keeps your insurance up-to-date, ensuring you stay protected no matter how fast you grow. Why it matters: Accurate coverage means peace of mind and security for next-gen industries like AI, Creator Economy, and Robotics. Have you reviewed your business insurance lately? John Ismailoglu, Evgeny Bezlyudnyy, Stefan Balg, Valeriy Bykanov 🇺🇦 Randolf 🐸 Schürmann, Kevin Halpape, https://lnkd.in/dEhb82Wb #Insurtech #BusinessGrowth #RiskManagement #MondayFunding

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After 13 incredibly exciting years, my final days as the COO of jameda have passed – it was a blast! 🚀 It started with a super small team in a backyard in Munich City when doctor reviews were uncertain to be legal. We've gone through break-even, high margins while growing heavily, transformed to SaaS, underwent two super successful company sales, and merged with Docplanner while hyper-growing to >300 heads. Now, after the challenging merge with Docplanner is completed and the company is in the new setup, it's time for me to move on... So many changes, low- and highlights, so many learnings - way too much to summarize them here in any fancy list! Throughout this crazy journey, the most important aspect for me has always been the team and shareholders, so a big thanks to all the people who joined me on this trip, building a great company where people felt appreciated and valued. There are way too many people to thank for making that happen, but I want to mention a few here briefly: 👉 Dr. Florian Weiß: What should I say, love you, man! F&F forever. 👉 Dr. Philipp Goos: As a friend but also CEO of jameda back then, you convinced me with your passion and drive that jameda would be great for both of us. You were right - thanks for your trust, power, and commitment. 👉 Michael Nowak: Thanks for founding this company and being a friend for 13 years. I don't think either of us expected that we would make such a team. Thanks! 👉 Stefan Winners & Paul-Bernhard Kallen & Hubert Burda Media: Thanks for believing in this company when others had so many doubts, pushing, sparring, and developing. Missed our board meetings a bit! 👉 Mariusz Gralewski & Carlos Fernández Elviro & Docplanner: Thanks for believing in the company and me. I learned a lot in the last 2 years, thanks, guys! Docplanner is a great group with extraorinary, committed people aiming for one of the most important missions we have, no question we will be super successful - worldwide. I will watch closely! Again, thanks also to everyone I haven't mentioned here for making this journey happen 👊 Finally, I will now find some more time for my two sons while creating the future. For the moment: Mic Drop. Cheers

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My most favorite articles (and maybe the only ones??) on how to find the Aha-moment in your product: In no specific order 👉 How to Discover Your App’s ‘Aha Moment’ by Parsa Saljoughian https://lnkd.in/eBAcNpen 👉 Facebook's "Aha" Moment Was Simpler Than You Think By Benn Stancil https://lnkd.in/gMBmVAQ3 👉 A-ha moments in the product: a systematic approach to search By Paul Levchuk https://lnkd.in/gRcPfEpk This one is in Russian, I read it with the help of browser translation into English. There is SO LITTLE writing about hands-on approaches and how to ACTUALLY find the Aha-moment, if you have more resources please share them in the comments. I'd love to add them to my Notion knowledge base. #productmanagement #BCnoBSprodmgmt #productAnalytics #productMetrics  

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How do you stay disciplined? Today Nadine asks: — “How do you keep yourself disciplined day-to-day?” — Welcome to Episode 9 of AskMatty! Here’s my answer, Nadine: — Self-discipline comes in many forms. But one thing I learned from sports is this: →    Your discipline is completely dictated by how you talk to yourself The words we use when we talk to ourselves matter. Let me give you 3 examples — 3 mindset shifts. 1.    Many people say to themselves: →    “Why can’t I…?” For example: →    Why can’t I achieve this goal? A better version of that question is: →    “How can I…?” For example: →    How can I achieve this goal? This mindset shift is probably one of my favorites. Once we start using “How can I…?”, everything seems more affordable. Let me give you an example. In the last few weeks, I started to receive many DMs. So I was spending about 20 minutes a day replying to them. And of course, I was trying to bring as much value as possible. At some point I realized this: →    Many of those DMs could easily become a post for LinkedIn. So I asked myself: →    How can I optimize my time and bring value not just to one person but to many people? Thanks to that question I’ve got the idea of this new format. So, first way to build discipline: →    Shift from “Why can’t I…?” to “How can I…?” 2.    Another phrase many people use is: →    “I have to…” Now, I use this phrase too, but in my mind is not “negative”. But for many people “I have to” means “obligation”. And it’s pretty hard being disciplined if you feel obligated. “Uhm, so Matty?” So, we can switch from “I have to…” to “I get to…” For example, instead of saying →    I have to finish this task you can say →    I get to finish this task In short, you move from “obligation” to “desire”. It’s a mindset shift that gives you: →    Appreciation →    Empowerment →    And a positive attitude 3.    Ever used “I won’t be able to…”? No worry — you’re not alone. Try to turn it into “I’ll try to…” For example, instead of saying    →    I won’t be able to finish the project by Friday. say →    I’ll try to finish the project by Friday. That simple “try” will put you in a position to really try. And many times it’s exactly what we need — just trying. That’s it. Discipline is probably the thing I believe in the most. Again, it comes in many forms, but one thing is sure: →    Our mindset matters more than what we think. This is what sport taught me. — Alright! Thanks for your question, Nadine. Question of the day: →    On a scale of 1 to 10, how disciplined are you feeling? “Let’s build a more inclusive world by spreading wellbeing globally!” – Matty 

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How to bounce back stronger? Today, Moritz asks: — “How can I get better at bouncing back from tough times?” — Welcome to Episode 94 of AskMatty! Here’s my answer, Moritz: — “Tough times” are subjective, but one skill we all need is resilience. Are you with me? Super! Let’s see how to cultivate resilience through the 7 Cs. So you can bounce back stronger! 1.    Competence The more skills we have, the easier it gets to face life’s challenges. So what can we do? Just keep learning and improving — in YOUR own way! So you’re ready to face tough situations. My way, for example, is “learning by doing.” I’m not a theory guy. 2.    Confidence When we’re confident, we face challenges head-on. We also see challenges as opportunities to grow. And this is not a catchphrase — it’s reality. Confidence builds self-trust. And that trust will help you overcome difficulties. 3.    Connection Our mood significantly influences how we face challenges. That mood is influenced by the people around us too. That’s why we need to build close connections with loved ones. A deep sense of belonging can really help in tough times. 4.    Character Why is it important to know what’s important to you? Because knowing and sticking to your values gives you stability. And that stability is key during tough times. 5.    Coping Why am I so in love with exercise and other wellbeing tools? Not just because I was an athlete and personal trainer. But because they help us manage our emotions and stay balanced. And that balance is essential during difficult moments. 6.    Control This is something I learned through sports: →    Focus on what you can control! →    Accept what you can’t! That “focus + radical acceptance” is key during tough times. 7.    Contribution Having a strong purpose is not different from having strong values. When we have a purpose that goes beyond ourselves, we adopt a new perspective. That “perspective” makes tough periods more manageable. That’s it. This is how we can build resilience through the 7 Cs. — Alright! Thanks for your question, Moritz. Question of the day for all of you: →    What’s your favorite ‘C’? Let me know in the comments :) “Let’s build a more inclusive world by spreading wellbeing globally!” – Matty 

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Learn from OpenAI’s playbook: Prioritizing key projects and empowering a mission-oriented team are essential for startups aiming to make a significant impact 👇 ➡ 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗲: Sam Altman, CEO at OpenAI and Brad Lightcap, COO at OpenAI 🔌 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿: Harry Stebbings, Founder at 20VC ✏ “20VC: OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Brad Lightcap on The Future of Foundation Models” ⭐ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗜 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲: "There are two strategies to build on AI right now: [...] (1) to assume the model is not going to get better and then you kind of build all these little things on top of it; [...] (2) to build assuming that OpenAI is going to stay on the same rate of trajectory and the models are going to keep getting better at the same pace." ⭐ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: "At any given point in a company's life, there's only one to three things that really matter. And that spills over into how we run the team because [...] if we can align on what those things are, [...] then it helps me to translate down to the teams that I'm building." ⭐ 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: "I think people criminally underrate how important it is and how much return you really get on just giving people access to the technology. [...] Someone who used to spend two days doing something now spends two minutes doing it and is freed up to do 85 other things in their daily life." ⭐ 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘆'𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: "I watched what has happened to other tech companies when they just become the place you want to work because it's a good resume item. [...] I think companies that lose their mission orientation and get taken over by mercenaries usually come to regret that." ⭐ 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀: "Find a way to make sure that there's this very flat and even playing field when it comes to how you look to the team for perspective, decision-making, judgment, and creativity." ───── 👉 Follow me, Alexander Small, for tactics and strategies for building startups from industry-leading Founders, Operators and Investors

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Should you as a founder show vulnerability/unhingedness in front of VCs and let your guard down? Short answer: 9 out of 10 times, no, unless you're very visibly the sort of founder nobody would wanna bet against (read visibly great results). Longer answer: VCs are in the pattern recognition business. They're not just looking for patterns in your business model and product and market, but in your personal traits, too. If they're gonna have 1 or very few interactions with you, and your guard is down in those few instances, they could perceive you as weak, possibly incompetent or too inexperienced. They may not tell you, but pattern recognition works that way. One may argue that VCs who have been in the game for a long time may have dropped these biases (to adopt new ones), but I'd argue those VCs are less than 10 or 20% of all VCs. Every VC secretly wishes you're the founder they can invest in right now, but subconsciously they kinda have to look for reasons not to. And they do so by thinking of all the past founders they invested in, how those founders looked/sounded/acted like and whether you're kinda similar or different. The traits of a competent person in a low moment may be hardly distinguishable from those of an incompetent person. Add gender, ethnicity, accent, what you're wearing, where you worked at, and the culture of dynamics of the region the VC is in to the mix and boom. It becomes a mess. The only time when it's probably okay to let your guard down might be when you have established a relationship with them over a long time and your results have spoken for themselves or you are extremely in control of your public persona, so your personality, no matter how "differentiated" won't negatively affect the process 😅 It's very common for founders to be...weird, and in places like Southeast Asia this is not very often talked about so I thought I'd share :D The best people to be vulnerable/completely unfiltered with are nobody but other founders. That's why we've built LL. You get your own small tech CEO peer group with frequent video calls, and access to a broader community that's super supportive. Sign up today to get your CEO peer group – link in comments 💥

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Just how far am I willing to go? I have been asking myself this question a lot recently. Not just as a startup founder, but also as a trail runner, where the consequences of pushing hard are much easier to see. I’ve been kicking off this year’s running season with the K42 of the Innsbruck Alpine Trailrun Festival last Saturday: 42.2 kilometers and roughly 2.200 meters of elevation gain in under 6 hours and 30 minutes. At this time of the year, parts of the trails are muddy and sometimes even partially covered in snow. It‘s a rough, steep and quite technical trail. The first 20 miles are primarily a game of discipline. Dialling in the pace, neither going too fast nor too slow, focusing on nutrition and hydration and staying laser focused on the trail. Or so I thought. Despite careful preparation and a lot of hard work, sometimes things don‘t go as planned. Battling a recent cold, my heart rate was a lot higher than usual and nausea set in early on. From then on, everything was about sheer willpower. Concentration starts to fade, exhaustion creeps in and the feet are beaten up because of the steep inclines. Forcing myself to get the calories into my body despite the nausea was rather brutal. And then, after a lot of discomfort, I somehow managed to cross the finish line a reasonable time. I genuinely find it very difficult to distinguish between a destructive craving for comfort from a legitimate warning of the body because it’s right on the edge of long-term harm. After my first ultra marathon last year, I couldn’t even walk for a month without being in pain. Was it worth it? I am convinced that it was. The ability to keep focused on a goal when things don‘t go as planned, when I am exhausted and just want to go home is an ability that I would always prefer over comfort. Of course, I am nowhere near a professionell runner, many people are a lot faster than me and 42 kilometers is definitely not an outrageously long distance in trail running. But I don’t really care about that. What I care about is that two years ago, running for a single mile was quite an achievement for me. Today, I barely consider a half-marathon to be a long run. Long distance running is one of the best ways to practice delayed self-gratifiction. It‘s about voluntarily enduring a lot of discomfort in hopes that maybe there will be a subtle change in character that will pay off later in life. So when I ask myself how far I'm willing to go, the answer becomes clear: as far as it takes. So lace up your shoes, tackle that next challenge head-on, and remember: the only way to find out how far you can go is to keep moving forward. #iatf2024 #trailrunning #endurance

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More VCs should operate as business angels with their portfolio companies. 🔥 Make your companies a priority over new investments, ⬇️ Be there when your CEOs are down, 📞 Be the one they want to call when metrics are not looking good, ✌️ Show up when they need a sparring partner to brainstorm on their roadmap. Remember, being a CEO is the loneliest job in the world, really, so if you're the one who surrounds them during the full roller coaster ride 🎢, you'll be the one-in-a-million kind of investor everyone is looking for.

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How do you deal with constant worries? Today Stefan asks: — “I've been feeling anxious lately, like my brain's on overdrive with worries 24/7. Any tips for keeping all that stress in check? I'm all ears!” — Welcome to Episode 10 of AskMatty! Here’s my answer, Stefan: — Ever tried the “Worry Time”? Let’s see how you can give it a go. 1.    First off, choose a special time each day, just for worrying. I’m not kidding. It’s gonna become your “Worry Time”. For example, every day from 4:30 pm to 4:45 pm. Make it about 15-30 minutes. 2.    Now, stick with me. When worries pop up during the day, do this: →    grab a piece of paper or your notes →    and quickly write them down. 3.    Alright! Now it’s time to wait. Instead of freaking out about your worries right away, do this: →    Wait until your special Worry Time    4.    Now your question is: →    “Okay Matty, and what do I do when I’m worried?” Well, you can do whatever you want. We don’t want worries to take over your whole day, right? So, do other stuff during the day, like: →    Playing →    Working →    Having fun →    Hanging out with friends Just keep yourself busy. 5.    Okay, it’s 4:30 pm — Worry Time is here. Guess what we have to do now? “Uhm, grab my list of worries?” Exactly! When Worry Time comes, sit down with your list of worries. Now comes the interesting part — stick with me: 1.    Look at each worry and decide if you can do something about it. For each worry, ask yourself: →    Can I do anything about this worry? 2.    For the worries you can do something about, do this: →    Think of ways to fix them or make them better 3.    For the worries you can’t do anything about, do this: →    Let them go It’s not worth your energy. And if you start feeling too worried, use some ways to calm down. Like meditation or deep breathing. That’s it. This is how we can deal with constant worries. We just need to create a space where we can face them calmly. This way they won’t take over our whole day. — Alright! Thanks for your question, Stefan. Question of the day: →    What’s your favorite way to bring calm to your day? “Let’s build a more inclusive world by spreading wellbeing globally!” – Matty 

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“What is your company actually doing?” This was among the most often asked questions during my last journey to Berlin and Stanford. For the first time, I thought I needed the right pitch to fix it. But for a while, I understood that actually I was lacking focus. I’ve been running Yedynka for 13 years. We have done a lot. ✅ We developed expertise in web development, digital marketing, and design. ✅ We even built and licensed our own CMS system. ✅ We help companies build MVPs for their products and develop and implement go-to-market strategies. ✅ We found a way how to offer services of a cross-functional team on subscription. 🔴 But how do you sell it all in one sentence? This was when I realized I needed to rebuild my company to make it more focused, understandable, and scalable 🚀 But as a creator, I find it hard to cut down on something. I decided to “go out of the building” and talk to the customers to determine what our solution/ offering resonates with them the most. I will gladly share my steps and findings with you. What do you think, what of the listed above resonates with you? Please let me know if you would be interested to talk? 🙌 #yedynka #rebuild #customerdevelopment

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How do you use AI in your day to day? AI as again the leading category as our hottest products of the day. So how do you use AI in your day to day, we are curious! The hottest and most trending products at Subscribed last week were: 1️⃣🏆OpenAI 2️⃣🥈Gemini AI 3️⃣🥉Bubble 4️⃣🏅Claude AI 5️⃣🏅Airtable 6️⃣ Mailgun 7️⃣ Omnisend 8️⃣ Pika Art 9️⃣ Decktopus 🔟 Spline AI as again the leading category. How do you use AI in your day to day?

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🚀 Knowing your customer data is key to navigating startup challenges! 🎯 Accurate data collection can streamline operations and safeguard your financial strategy. Discover the top data points to track in the original post by Vanessa Kruze, CPA #StartupSuccess

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