Kim Scott

Getting to Yes is foundational for San Diego Angel Conference, yet for 98% of founders in the competition, the answer was no, at least for funding, at the moment. There are other many other Yesses to take away: *Say Yes to all you learned *Say Yes to the feedback received *Say Yes to nurturing the relationships started with founders and investors (it often leads to follow on investment) *Say Yes to receiving feedback and making changes *Say Yes to what’s next What an impressive cohort it was. Founders filled with purpose and commitment to make a positive impact, and the grit to see it through. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gG5Hf6Z3 #startups #angelinvesting #entrepreneurship #resilience #leadership

29

9 Comments

Many tech leaders pretend they have everything figured out. They use fake bravado and cultivated social media posts to hide their struggles. But, what would happen if you were REAL instead? Your peers and your team members all struggle with something! Being AUTHENTIC and REAL as a leader and letting people know that we ALL have battles we're fighting builds a more powerful and meaningful connection with people. In a world of El🤡ns, you can choose to lead with humanity, authenticity, and realness. Take inspiration from Luke Zhang, winner of the TechPoint Mira Resilience Award:

18

2 Comments

The purpose of this article is to explain Donella Meadows' 12 leverage points and how they can be applied by technical leaders to drive growth, foster innovation, and enhance resilience in tech environments. Key Takeaways - Donella Meadows' 12 leverage points provide a roadmap for technical leaders to drive growth and foster innovation in complex systems. - Each leverage point offers a specific strategy for optimizing tech environments, encouraging a holistic view of technical ecosystems. - Applying Meadows' insights can help navigate and influence intricate systems, ensuring decisions enhance resilience in the digital age. - Thought Collective highlights the relevance of Meadows' work beyond environmental systems, urging technology professionals to integrate these principles for transformative results. - Understanding and harnessing the leverage points can empower technical leaders to make informed decisions that position their organizations at the forefront of the digital age. In this blog, learn how Donella Meadows' 12 leverage points can help technical leaders drive growth and innovation in tech environments. Share your thoughts on how you can apply these principles in your company in the comments below! #leadership #transformation https://hubs.la/Q02Ff1Dc0

1

New Episode: What a difference a good story makes! James Norman (General Partner, Black Operator Ventures) shares his unique perspective on effectively raising capital as an underrepresented founder - beyond the metrics. (link below) We discuss topics such as: - Hiring the right engineer to build a product - Shifting power dynamics when fundraising as a founder -Building a Strong VC Network - Articulating the unique value and experience of the fund - Considerations for fund size and raising a first fund - Financial modeling and decision-making for portfolio construction - The power of storytelling in convincing investors and supporters - Addressing Gaps in Accelerators for Black Founders Spotify: https://lnkd.in/dUnddNZm Apple: https://lnkd.in/d-Pv2Nxn

22

2 Comments

Community managers stand at the frontlines of democracy during election cycles. 🛡️ Their role? More critical than you might think because democracy is built on informed discussions. ☝️ Community managers use the power to shape narratives, control misinformation, and foster a culture of respectful conversation. Imagine a world where every comment section becomes a space for constructive debate rather than a battleground of insults. But how do they do it? ✅ Fighting Misinformation: They tirelessly correct false info, stopping harmful narratives in their tracks. ✅ Boosting Diverse Opinions: They ensure all voices are heard, preventing the echo chambers that divide us. ✅ Promoting Respectful Exchanges: With clear rules, they foster spaces where everyone can debate constructively. Social media community managers keep the very principles of democracy ticking: open dialogue, truth, and mutual respect. And thank you all for doing so because sometimes it is extremely hard! 🙏 #elvai #politicalmarketing #contentmoderation

20

Starting a new fun project with Victor Lee - an AMA series with early stage founders. There are many podcast shows featuring successful, famous entrepreneurs. But what about those who are still relatively early in their journey, perhaps just one step ahead? The zero-to-one founders who have recently cracked the product-market fit and raised Seed or Series A capital. They may not have figured out everything yet, but they have fresh, relatable tips and advice to share. We’ll invite early-stage founders for a one-hour AMA session. Afterwards, we’ll create a public webpage featuring each Q&A session with media clips and transcriptions. This will be 100% free and open to the public. Our first AMA (June 11 1pm PST) will feature Will Drewery, whose company (Diagon) recently raised $5.1 million in Seed funding. We’ll get to know Will better and cover topics such as tips on raising funding in this tough environment. It will be a fun AMA, and you can register for free using the link below. RSVP now!

74

2 Comments

The Future of Fundraising: Gen AI Trends and Predictions. Gen AI is changing the game. 1. Empowering non-profit organizations. 2. Optimizing donor engagement. 3. Revolutionizing fundraising strategies. How will you adapt? Are you ready for the future? #GenAI #Fundraising #FutureTrends

10

Haven’t been this energized in awhile…. All artists, inventors, athletes, even entrepreneurs go through hot streaks. In Ben Cohen’s book, The Hot Hand, in it he explores if streaks of success are random or if they can be predicted. One of the key points he makes is that some of the most iconic artists, inventors, builders etc who produced lots of great work over the entirety of their adult lives went through periods of lulls, and bursts of hyper-productivity when certain conditions were right…sometimes there was tragedy, or economic hardship, or cultural renaissance and these conditions created inspiration. Their respective masterpieces weren’t sequenced with a consistent amount of time between them but rather their genius happened in spurts under certain conditions. These iconic figures were in fact streaky when the conditions were right… I believe the same is true for company building. Anyone who has done it knows how easy it is to get distracted, grow exhausted, or become enamored by a shiny object. Success isn’t evenly paced or perfectly sequenced. Despite what we’re taught…slow and steady does not win the race. Big companies can afford to move slow; small companies cannot…and no small company grew into a big one by moving slow and missing deadlines. As such, success is streaky rather than passive, steady, and slow. I’ve grown to appreciate that when you’re feeling energized, go all the way in. The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks https://a.co/d/1HHya5G

53

3 Comments

"Attention is the beginning of devotion" I happened upon this Mary Oliver quote all too late. She wasn’t talking about what I’m about to talk about, and I shudder to think what she’d think of her concepts being appropriated by capitalists. But I think my point goes beyond enabling profit and speaks to the humans we are, even at work. When I first read this quote it stirred up countless memories of people not paying attention; colleagues who had called meetings and asked others to think about something and share their thoughts. When it came time for them to listen, they were checking another chat window or typing away on an email. They were somewhere else entirely. Time is our most critical finite resource. We can’t control time; we can only decide how we use it. That’s our attention. Deciding what we pay attention to is the closest thing we have to control. Attention is a zero-sum game. You cannot pay attention to two things at once. If you are asking someone to pay attention to you, you're asking them to ignore everything else. Time marches inexorably forward, and they won’t get those moments back. It’s an irreversible transaction. You could argue that asking for someone’s attention and ignoring them is the ultimate form of disrespect. Quite literally wasting someone’s time. And then we wonder why our teams are disengaged; why our meetings drag on and we feel as though they are unproductive; why our teams are misaligned on what they think we’re trying to achieve; and why our employees prize personal growth and achievement over team success. It starts with attention. If we don't pay attention to each other, how can we be devoted to each other? How can we expect people to follow us, to be led by us, if we won’t listen to them when they have something to say? If you want your team to be devoted to you and your cause, pay attention to them. Show them you value their attention. Don’t invite them to meetings they don’t need to be in. Don’t give them assignments simply to keep them busy. Most of all, when they speak, listen. Show them you are paying attention to them. Attention is the beginning of devotion. -- Why yes, I DO have a substack. Thanks for asking. I just started it. https://lnkd.in/eCKiy9JH

10

1 Comment

I'm delighted to announce the public release of my e-book with co-author Alisha Barretto, Handbook for Founders Based on Evangelism Principles, titled "The Power of Genuine Users." This is an outcome of years of exploration into how founders are frequently disregarded in discussions about their lives, experiences, mental health, burnt out, and personal issues, while the emphasis is more on internal teams, users, and the market. This approach to evangelism is not new, although it is less well discussed. However, in this rapidly changing software market, we may stabilise our efforts and achieve maximum outcomes by understanding the revelations underlying them. This free e-book informs you about the following: Chapter 1: Discover your purpose as a founder Chapter 2: Align your purpose with reality to reach out to the needs of users Chapter 3: Educate, Evangelize and Advocate the challenges of the users Chapter 4: Create a roadmap for the success of the user Chapter 5: Reap the fruits by gaining genuine users for your solution Download here for free: https://lnkd.in/dCRAw3Kg Special mention to DevRel 360 for enabling this to happen. #handbook #entrepreneurs #evangelism #developercommunity #saas #devrel

24

6 Comments

Innovation doesn’t have to be overwhelming. The most impactful changes often come from small, incremental steps. Michael Greenberg shared how to harness the power of small steps in automation in the recent episode of SaugaTalks: 🔹 Start Small: Focus on automating simple tasks from A to B. Avoid complex, multi-step processes at first. 🔹 Understand Workflows: Map out the workflow to identify bottlenecks and pain points. 🔹 Deploy Incrementally: Implement and test small automations one at a time. Gradual deployment leads to sustainable improvements. 🔹 Use the Right Tools: Equip your team with essential tools: - Communication: Slack, Teams, Gchat. - Work Management: Asana, ClickUp, Notion. - CRM: HubSpot, Salesforce, custom no-code CRMs. - Automation Platforms: Make, Zapier. 🔹 Adopt the Right Mindset: Automation should enhance work, not replace people. It’s about making tasks easier and recognizing employees' efforts. We can drive innovation and make meaningful workflow improvements by taking small steps and leveraging the right tools. #Automation #Innovation #Workflow #TechStrategy #Productivity

11

3 Comments

There's a new breed of CEO in town. The AI-Native CEO. These people are either rebuilding archaic companies or building in "adjacent possibilities," they're creating truly durable businesses with real customer value, and importantly, they're building their companies in an AI-native way; more efficient than ever, stitching together technologies that once required high-overhead, and focusing their hiring on people who are autodidacts, the ones who are inhaling knowledge on how to improve their own functions leveraging the newest tooling for the future of their jobs. A few of my favorite examples... Valley, backed by General Catalyst, getting 30-50% response rates for salespeople using conversational selling instead of archaic and annoying drip campaigns. AminoChain, backed by a16z, turning biobanks into to shoppable specimen centers so that healthcare institutions and researchers can purchase biomaterial like blood an stem cells and so donors can earn and track their participation in science. HIFI, backed by Blockchain Founders Fund, using stablecoin for B2B payments, creating instant settlement times and eliminating fee extortion. Dune Security, backed by Craft, using AI to test, identify, and train employees on their own risky actions, automatically reducing the biggest risk any business has--the behavior of its own employees. https://lnkd.in/eJUnuM4z #venturecapital #ai #artificialintelligence Antler

68

1 Comment

What do you do when you don’t want to raise venture funding, or don’t have the option? Jive got started in 2001—my first day with the founders was September 11. We had no other choice but to bootstrap, which we did for five years. Eventually, we reached a crucible moment: We could stay independent and bootstrapped, or we could ride the social software trend to something much larger—but we’d have to raise money. I spoke with Lighter Capital CEO Melissa Widner about what it took to take Jive from a small open-source project to an IPO-ready SaaS business, and how it shaped my ideas on when and how to fund startups to optimize success. It’s not about funding versus bootstrapping, but about when and how much. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gDQSmuFy #Entrepreneurship #Startups #VC #IPO #Reignition

37

4 Comments

"MEI" = Merit, Excellence and Intelligence is the newly minted acronym that has emerged from the egotistical landscape of simple-minded supremacists who lack knowledge and understanding of racial dynamics in society today through an informed lens of historical context. Replacing "DEI" is the target of the MEI crowd. This landscape of leaders desperately need our trademarked "Conversations Journey" process. (https://lnkd.in/guwB439h) Read why here: https://lnkd.in/g764RYDv

2

I’m so excited to announce the new name of the vetted community for startup founders I'm building: Village Lane Village Lane connects ambitious early-stage startup founders, both in-person and online, who have at least $100k in ARR or $250k in funding. The name Village Lane is deeply personal to me... It's the street I lived on after business school, in an apartment with my friend Andrew - the kindest, most welcoming, supportive person I’ve ever met, who sadly passed away suddenly a few weeks ago at only 31 years old. It’s also the place where I went full-time on Just Go Grind for the first time when it was a daily podcast and then joined VITALIZE Venture Capital. It was a special time and place and where I took a giant leap in my career. I envision Village Lane (the community) being similar - a special place filled with kind, supportive members looking to take a giant step forward with their businesses. Several experiences have led to the creation of Village Lane: - A transformative MBA experience at USC - Working at VITALIZE Venture Capital for 2.5 years - Growing my social media audience to 40,000+ followers - Building this newsletter to 21,000+ subscribers - Hosting 400+ podcast interviews with founders & investors - Creating an angel investing community with hundreds of members Now I'm focused on helping founders connect, build their personal brand, and create more successful businesses. Village Lane's in-person events will include things like: - Co-working - Social activities - AMAs - Retreats The online component of Village Lane will include: - A member directory - Slack group - Vendor suggestions - Tech stacks - An investor database - Media exposure and amplification - Personal branding assistance We'll also phase in monthly digital peer groups as membership grows. This will all be built around our members and their needs. I’ll share more details as this evolves. Interested in joining? Learn more and apply below.

30

2 Comments

Since it's Earth Day, I thought it'd be a great day to share this. When we talk about senior care, we rarely talk about the importance of connecting with nature. However, it can be healing and transformative for seniors... just as it is for anyone! A recent study found that "participants who had more green and blue space available to them experienced lower serious psychological distress compared to participants who had less green and blue space." Access to nature can also help seniors experience less isolation and loneliness. This is because nature can help us feel more connected to the earth and ourselves and because green space is great for community building and supporting social interaction. How do you think we can incorporate more nature into the future of senior care? #SeniorCare #EarthDay #CommunityBuilding

10