This article was written by Ken Leaver who comes from a product & commercial background. He has founded multiple companies and held senior product positions at SEA tech companies like Lazada and Pomelo Fashion.
Ken runs his own agency that helps early stage companies execute faster and cheaper. Check out his linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenleaver/
Guest Author: Ken Leaver
Love the insights from Lenny’s interview with longtime VC, Mike Maples, who was an early investor in companies like Twitter, Twitch, and more.
1- Most people should hate your idea
He explains that the best ideas are often ahead of their time and contrary to popular belief.
So most people think they are stupid and will literally hate your idea (eg. YC tried to convince the AirBnB founders that it was a bad idea and they should change it)
2- You “earn” your secrets
The best insights are typically ‘earned’. Meaning the founders went deep down an unpopular rabbit hole and because they did they discovered something transformative to their growth.
3- Most success comes from a pivot
80% of his returns over his entire vc career came from companies that pivoted.
Why? Because the founders needed to ‘earn their secret’ often by realizing the shortcoming of the original model and pivoting.
