Nick Taranto

Just sold @HopWtr. Here's what building it actually taught me: Great product ≠ great company. Distribution wins. Customers will humble you fast. Good. Ego is the liability. Think about your acquirer earlier than feels comfortable. Gross margin, gross margin, gross margin. Taking all of it into my next venture. Different category, leveled-up learning.

The company is on fire. Your team is staring at you. No playbook exists. Here's what I actually do: 1. Stop. Don't spiral. Panicked moves create more mess. 2. Name the REAL problem. Not the symptom — the root. 3. List what you control. That's your whole world right now. 4. Pick ONE move. Buys time or information. Execute. Reassess. 5. Communicate before you're ready. Silence kills trust faster than bad news. You don't need a perfect plan. You need a clear head and a next step. 2.Name

5/ Not being honest in the offer about what the job actually is

4/ Skipping reference calls because you liked the interview

5 hiring mistakes founders make when scaling fast: 🧵

Fundraising hot take. Investors aren't buying your certainty. They're buying your ability to hold a view under pressure and update it honestly. Founders who fold at the first hard question don't get funded. Neither do founders who can't admit what they don't know. Conviction ≠ certainty. Learn the difference.

"Commander's intent" is the most underrated management framework in startups. Tell your team what winning looks like and why it matters. Then get out of the way. The alternative is you become the bottleneck. And you will. Intent > Micromanagement. Purpose > Process.

5/ Culture is what you tolerate, not what you post on the wall.

4/ Your best people will leave if you stop giving them hard problems. Give them hard problems.

Things I wish someone told me before scaling to 1,500 employees: 🧵

Every founder I respect has a "what were we thinking" story. The ones who don't? Still haven't taken a real swing.

I led the biggest exit in Shark Tank history. Plated. $300M. Started it in a 200-square-foot apartment with zero food experience. The Marines taught me one thing that mattered more than any MBA: move toward the problem, not away from it. More on what's next soon.

I’ve been debating with my friends recently whether any of my kids are best served by going to college. I would love to see a thoughtful and rigorous discussion around this. Any good takes out there?