This handbook helps startup founders take their business from seed to past series A. I wrote this guide based on my experience working closely with a YC founder, where I 6x’d the company’s annual recurring revenue, increasing the company’s headcount from 30 to over 100, and helped raise over $ 8 million. I made/observed a crapton of mistakes, so I’ve compiled my learnings below.
Here are the core lessons, which you can read in any order:
- Understand the essential elements of a great company
- Lead the way by creating company values
- Create audacious goals for your business
- Hire great people, and more importantly, don’t hire the wrong people
- What gets measured gets improved, so choose carefully
- Make sure you’re getting accurate information for decision-making
- Automate your business processes
- Avoid these critical personnel mistakes when building your company
- Make decisions using general frameworks, and don’t be misled by context
- Manage your higher-ups (whether that be an investor or your manager)
About this guide
This guide was written by someone who helped grow an organization from 30 to 100 people. The data comes from three core experiences:
- Directly helping the company raise over $8 million
- Working closely with a first-time startup CEO on organizational design, hiring, and culture
- Building a growth marketing team department from scratch, and generating over $8 million in annual recurring revenue during the process
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Next Page – Understanding the Elements of a Great Company
To start, get familiar with the basic elements of a great company. Click here to start.