Startups and Investing

When Everything is on Fire, Founders Sometimes Struggle to See the Wood for the Trees

In 1949, a crew of elite smoke-jumpers parachuted into Montana’s Mann Gulch to fight what looked like a routine wildfire. But within hours, the fire turned deadly. As the flames roared up the slope, their leader, Wagner Dodge, made a radical move: he lit a fire of his own. By burning the grass ahead of him, he created a patch of scorched earth the wildfire couldn’t cross. He lay in the ashes as the main fire swept over.

Seven Hard-Earned Lessons for First-Time Founders

Starting a company is a crash course in humility. You’re juggling 100 decisions a day, half of which you’ve never faced before. You’re trying to build a product, grow a business, and stay sane—all at once.

Here are seven principles I’ve seen trip up first-time founders (myself included). If you're just getting started, I hope this saves you some scar tissue.

The Founder’s Vision Trap: Why Culture Beats Tech Every Time

It starts, as these stories often do, with a bold vision.

A founder has an idea — one they’re convinced is going to change the game. It’s innovative. Disruptive. The kind of idea that turns heads and opens investor checkbooks. Before long, there’s money in the bank, a team in place, and the runway to bring this vision to life.

From the founder’s perspective, the stars are aligning. The idea has been validated — after all, someone just put money behind it. Now it’s just a matter of execution.

But this is where things often go wrong.

Why VCs Say No: The Real Reasons Behind the Rejections

When a VC passes on your startup, it often feels personal. But in reality, most rejections come down to patterns they’ve seen before. Sure, some decisions hinge on chemistry or a gut feel, but most are rooted in a rational (if sometimes unspoken) assessment of risk and return.

That said, storytelling still matters—a lot. Founders often fail to tell the right story. You need to make your vision clear and believable, your momentum feel part of a deliberate and executable plan, and your success feel inevitable. VCs see dozens of decks a month, many tackling similar problems. Your job is to make yours stand out.

Here are the most common reasons why investors pass, grouped into themes they’re evaluating in every pitch.

The Top 10 Practical Startup Books Every Growth-Obsessed Founder Should Own

What Startup Founders Get Wrong When Raising Money (and How to Fix It)

As a Venture Partner at a VC fund, I've reviewed hundreds of pitch decks in my time. In fact most funds will receive thousands of decks a year, with only a small fraction leading to conversations and even fewer resulting in investments. With those kinds of odds, your pitch deck needs to be exceptional - think 8 or 9 out of 10 - to stand out.