Startups
Founder psychology, company design, pricing, finance, and startup case studies.
There is a slide that appears in pitch decks now. On the left, the old model: a subscription fee. On the right, the new model: a percentage of value created, uncapped, aligned with outcomes. 'We don't charge for seats,' they say. 'We charge for results.' I think this argument is wrong.
All e-commerce platforms will tell you you've made a certain amount in 'Sales' but especially in today's world of cross-border commerce, it's not sales at all. It's a mess of liabilities, pass-through charges, and fees that would make any accountant wince.
Before you join a startup or accept that co-founder offer, you need to understand what type of leader you're dealing with. The difference between a Value Maximizer and a Lifestyle Architect isn't just philosophical—it's the difference between 80-hour weeks and asynchronous Slack messages from Bali.
Everyone talks about getting your team 'rowing in the same direction,' but companies are more like bodies than boats. Your kidneys filter toxins while your heart pumps blood—different jobs, same organism.
When their internal pricing strategy document accidentally went to 3,200 customers instead of 3 executives, CEO Melissa had to choose between damage control and radical transparency.
When Maya discovered her co-founder was maintaining two different financial models—one for investors, one for banks—she had 72 hours to decide whether to sign the Series B term sheet that could save or sink their company.
From garage tinkerers to Twitter philosophers, mapping the entrepreneur ecosystem across four decades of creative destruction.