Ed Kang

Check out my latest article: Can You Pass The Startup Marshmallow Test When You're Raising Funding? linkedin.com/pulse/can-you-… via @LinkedIn

I don’t tell founders what startup to do (nobody can predict what will be successful). I don’t tell them how to startup either (the methods are always changing). I show them what to think so they figure out how to think and make it on their own (build a YOUnicorn).

Founders need to think big but act small. Thats how all great startups scale.

If you’re raising money for you startup, making statements like “millions of people lose billions” doesn’t move investors. Yes, the scale and scope might be true, but if you’re vague, it sounds like a hyperbolic opinion versus an actual problem.

Every startup should build community to first and foremost care about its customers around the problem. Not to sell product.

Check out my latest article: YouTube for Startup Founders: What I learned reaching 10K subs & being a creator. linkedin.com/pulse/youtube-… via @LinkedIn

In the HR talent wars, we say “hire slow, fire quick.” In startups we should teach the same thing. It’s perfectly fine taking your time to validate an idea and conduct customer discovery. Even better if you kill the idea sooner than later.

We’re overly obsessed with taking all the wrong “action” on our startup ideas. Lack of action doesn’t kill an idea. How can it die if it never came alive in the first place? Let them die if you can’t validate them. Nothing wrong with that at all.

Being first with a startup idea can be good. Being second, learning from previous mistakes, and executing 10x faster is even better.

Don’t tell me you’re going to “blow my mind” with your startup idea. SHOW me and let me decide without hyperbolically prattling in my ear. If you can do that, investors will get in line.

@Yan_builds Whatever indicates that the customer sees value, acts on it, and points to a path to profitability. The metric always changes depending on the stage and strategy.

@edkang99 What's your favorite traction metric ?

Founders that don’t know the best traction metric for their startup need to go back to understand the problem and solution. One culprit is having a solution looking for a problem, which is all too common. Traction is based on the value users see and what they do about it.

For startup founders, there’s never a shortage of ideas. But execution is rarer than many might think. I see and attempt to advise hundreds of founders a month. I have the qualitative and quantitative data to back it up.

Check out my latest article: The 4 Non-Negotiable Values I See in Every Great Startup Founder as Their Advisor linkedin.com/pulse/4-non-ne… via @LinkedIn

Founders, stop trying to make your pitch decks “perfect” and about “perfection.” Investors care more about being “direct” and “direction.”

Founder: I needed two problem slides on my pitch deck because the investor won’t understand what I’m solving without them. Me: No, you didn’t. Your problem is either too complex or you have a solution looking for a problem and you’re trying everything. Investor: …

My definition of a “venture studio” is “the place where my startup ideas go to die.” And I’m okay with that. That’s why I don’t have any investors.

Founders try to get “clever” with their pitch decks because they believe their startup is “different.” Instead, the story loses clarity and is no longer concise enough to give investors a chance to understand.

Founders who tell me I’m missing out and making the biggest mistake of my life if I don’t invest are one of the main reasons why I don’t use “angel investor” in any of my socials.

“Different is better than better.” - Sally Hogshead Too many startup founders are trying to be “better” than the competition. They say “(Big Incumbent) is failing so we’re going to build an alternative.” That’s code for “better.” What if we didn’t need that incumbent at all?