Insights
What we’ve learned building companies.
Lessons from the businesses we’ve built with founders, and the ones that taught us the most.
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Our LinkedIn statistics laid bareFeel like LinkedIn is getting harder? You’re not imagining it… This time 12 months ago, I’d gone from 3,000 to 18,000 LinkedIn followers in a year. In the last 12m, however, despite getting better (hopefully?) and more consistent (definitely), my follower rate has slowed massively (I just passed 24,000). Let’s dig in.Read the post →
The problem with outsourcing to a software development companyOne of the biggest problems with taking your startup idea to a software development company is this… … They might build exactly what you ask. ↓↓ I was talking to an experienced CTO last week, who told me that people often come to him with a very clear brief of what they want to build. SometimesRead the post →
Building successful companies without venture fundingPeople often ask me: how can you create successful outcomes for founders if you advise them NOT to pursue VC money? That’s easy. We focus on what we call “rational startups”. For us, that means… businesses that we believe can grow to a minimum $10m outcome WITHOUT venture funding.Read the post →
Is it better to burn out or fade away?There’s a fine line between never giving up and knowing when to quit. I’ve been in the startup and investing business now for nearly 15 years. With the benefit of all that hindsight (but definitely not at the time!), I now realise that one of the best things I did in my startup was failRead the post →
Should you launch a side hustle?Should you launch a side-hustle? You’re mid-career and feel you have more to offer than what the day job provides. Is the answer to start a business on the side? It sounds appealing in theory. In practice… not so easy.Read the post →
Some Scary Stats to Keep in Mind if You’re Building a SaaS ProductIf you’re an aspiring SaaS founder (or investor), this could save you some pain. In recent weeks I’ve been interviewing Seed / Series A-stage SaaS CTOs in the UK, Southeast Asia and Europe about security and scalability. The results were… unexpected.Read the post →
Why Early-Stage Investing is Broken and What We Can Do About ItFounders, THIS is why it’s so hard to raise money, and what you can do about it… 👇 There are 3 ways to launch a business – all completely different. 1. With no money 2. With some money 3. With serious (VC) backing Very few companies start with no money. (It’s possible, but rare.) Here’s the problem if you’re considering #2 or #2. They are absolutely not the same.Read the post →
Why you should interview customers, and how to do itMany entrepreneurs are surprised, once they’ve built their solution, that nobody is actually willing to pay for it. Often, they haven’t spoken to users (or sometimes anyone!) about what they plan to build. Don’t do that. ↓↓↓ Here are some practical tips for conducting user interviews: TIPS FOR IDENTIFYING YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE (ICP) Focus on extracting data, not selling a solution.Read the post →
Living how most people won’t, so you can live as most people can’tThis is a cool line, but is that really what entrepreneurship is about? It suggests that it all boils down to making a giant sacrifice in pursuit of life-changing wealth. But is that really it? I have no doubt that there are a lot of people here on LinkedIn who are building companies because they want to get rich. And there’s nothing wrong with that… But what if you get wiped out? What then?Read the post →
Lessons from 20 years as an entrepreneurIn 2006, I was MD of a small creative agency in the UK. It wasn’t your typical route into an MD role. I’d returned from 2 years overseas, traveling around Latin America, Australia and NZ. Instead of returning to London—where I’d made quite a lot of money in a job I didn’t like—I decided to move to Southwest England.Read the post →
3 reasons why we avoid brilliant jerks, and you should too3 reasons why we work 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 with polite, likeable people and avoid brilliant jerks at all costs… and why you should consider doing the same. 01. When aspiring founders sign up to DQventures, they join an ecosystem of people like them – experienced professionals who (eventually) gave up the corporate gig to run their own business.Read the post →
Is your MVP really just your product?This is the most common founder mistake when creating minimum viable products (MVPs). In fact, the term “MVP” itself is so dangerous that we prefer an alternative. Here’s the reality of most MVPs: Minimum Viable Product After backing more than 100 first-time founders, I can say with confidence that most people ignore “minimum”and “viable” and go straight to product. They love their idea.Read the post →