Understanding Personal “Fit” in High-Performance Startups

The Golden Rule, Momentum is Trust

Thrive in Startup Ambiguity and the Turbulence of Growth

While the objectives, strategy, and challenges of the startup ecosystem are well-published, the perspectives and tools for personal success are, unfortunately, not as well understood. The following is a framework I developed to onboard new talent after finding Product <> Market Fit and raising a Series A round in the Spring of 2019. This is a four-part series on themes extracted from the biggest home-runs and worst strikeouts I’ve seen during the past four years of building zero-to-one at two startups.

Part 1: The Golden Rule, Momentum is Trust
Part 2: Scale as an Input, Not an Output
Part 3: Idea Inclusion & Team Thinking
Part 4: Outcomes & Organization

In writing this I don’t focus on prescriptive ideals of culture, because it’s often dressed up marketing. Here I chose to capture these themes simply because I would have benefited from knowing them when I moved to the valley. Culture takes time to experience and by presenting these early, my goal is to help others find their flow state in what is often seen as a chaotic startup ecosystem.