BC STARTUPS
Saved by @zmbnski

1/ Tuesday was my last day as CEO of @CircleUp. I’ve been CEO since starting the co. in 2011 with my co-founder @roryeakin.

This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:

https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM

Much of this I have never talked about.

 2/ My goals: I hope it helps founders feel less lonely than I did. Little public content about the challenges of transitioning exists, but I longed for it. I’m not here to provide a playbook- just to share my experience. Hope it might build greater empathy.

Here goes….
3/ Why: When I tell people that I’m transitioning to an Exec Chairman role their first question is always: “why?” Short answer: co. pivot + fertility issues + health issues + a false sense that grit was always the answer = burnout. Long answer: is longer so hang in there with me
4/ Over a 12-18 month period that ended in late 2017 I ran my tank far beyond empty for far too long. You know that sound your car makes when it’s sputtering for more gas? It was like that. Worst year of my life. Since then it has felt like bone on bone.
5/ Here is what happened:

Professionally: pivoting a Series C company was a living hell in and of itself, as I’ve talked about before. https://t.co/FiAyJlAKul
6/ Pivoting while also making layoffs, raising a first time fund, dealing with a very difficult board member (see blog for detail) and raising a big round from TPG & Temasek made for an extremely hard year.
7/ Representative moment from pivot: “I arrived 11 minutes before the board meeting started. I went to use the restroom. I slept with my head in front of the toilet until the bell rang.”
8/ Personally: things were harder.

Much harder.

It started with absolutely brutal fertility issues that my wife and I went through, beginning in 2016. The pain from this is hard to describe and difficult to talk about.
9/ If you have gotten this far and think this is a self-indulgent pity party, please just stop reading. I feel uncomfortable sharing some of this but want to be truthful and real, so I’ll keep going...
10/ Countless tests and visits to multiple fertility doctors around the country ensued. With a lot of help we eventually had our 2nd child, but IVF was so intense and emotionally draining. Among the many tests, one revealed something surprising...
11/ I was diagnosed with cancer.

I’ve never said that publicly. Even privately few people were told.

It wasn’t the worst type of cancer you can get, but w/ a 4-5% mortality rate I was pretty damn scared. It was also a complicated case for reasons I don’t need to detail here.
12/ More than scared I felt helpless. Between work and our fertility issues, things were already overwhelming. I remember calling my wife outside UCSF hospital, physically hiding behind a concrete pillar. We were crying.

Neither of us had known they were even testing for cancer
13/ I’ll never forget how afraid she sounded on that call when I told her. She was trying to be strong, but we were both so scared. It was like that scene in a movie when someone is dying and they’re told “everything is ok”, but patently everything is not ok.
14/ Since then I haven’t done a good job of dealing with it emotionally. To this day I still cry every time I go to the Stanford cancer center for my tests. I check in, then the resident will start asking me questions and I cry. My wife still has to come with me every time.
15/ My daily crippling headaches concerned doctors that the cancer had spread to my brain. The 1st MRI only worried them more, but after the 2nd they thankfully concluded it hadn’t. We now think they were caused by exhaustion: Not ideal timing for the CEO of a pivoting company.
16/ I made many mistakes during this time, thinking I could just grit it out alone.

I wish I’d joined a CEO support group earlier or taken time off. I wish I’d looked for a therapist & a mgmt coach sooner. I wish I’d confided in the wider team, not just the board.
17/ For reasons I explain in the blog post, I thought keeping everything to myself would allow me to handle the professional challenges more effectively. I believed that if others knew my personal struggles it would only compound my problems.
18/ Once, in the middle of 2017, our VP of Product pulled me aside and said, “hey, you look really stressed out—is everything OK?” It was such a kind, generous and supportive gesture. I could have, and should have, been open with her. I wasn't. She left 6 months later.
19/ My approach was wrong. For some, the info would have been too much to hear and they would have bailed. But they would have bailed anyway.
I now think sharing that authentic journey would have engendered trust and brought our team closer together.
https://t.co/yMrAiODMhA
20/ I think every CEO has a certain “normal” level of exhaustion. I felt that from 2012-2017. Honestly, that was exhilarating for me. I would sign up for that again.

But then it changed. I didn’t do enough to prepare for what happened or get myself help.
https://t.co/403FKKvH6t
21/ Since then, with burnout and depression, everything became big. A paper cut felt like a deep wound and any little miss at work—an ineffective meeting, an inefficient conversation, a trivial bump in the road—was unbearable. I was even more on edge at home, at work, everywhere.
22/ Once at Stanford cancer center in a routine post-operative test, a resident was asking me the questions they ask on every visit. In the routine I knew my doc would come in next and ask the exact same questions. That’s how it works as a teaching hospital.
23/ This time I flipped out and started screaming. How I acted was unfair and disrespectful, and I’m ashamed of it. It was representative of the knife-edge I had been living on, but that didn’t make it right.
24/ It came to a head in late 2019. The straw was my then 5-yr old daughter saying, “Daddy you always look so sad”. My 5-yr old. It broke my heart.
I made a decision. That decision led to this email to our board (included w/ their permission):

https://t.co/5864d7Jl7X
25/ Fast forward to today… We ended up hiring a fantastic president (now CEO) while raising a big round this year. That was hard, and the pandemic didn’t help, but we got it done together.
26/ We’ve covered the “why”.

Now for how I have *felt* during this transition process... dishonest, relieved, scared, anxious, worried, insecure, proud, conflicted and more...
27/ Dishonest: Being CEO has always been lonely. This transition only exacerbated that because the majority of people I talked with—professionally and personally—didn’t know what was happening. That made me, for the first time, feel dishonest.
28/ To be clear, I wasn’t lying. The health concerns were resolved before we took on more money. But I didn’t feel as open with the team as I like to be. I believed I had to withhold a lot.
29/ I believed I couldn’t share my thoughts/feelings with everyone at once, in part because they were so….complicated and confusing. I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t know how to ensure the transition would happen while doing right by the company and our investors.
30/ Relieved: I’ve been thinking about this transition for a long time. At risk of sounding defensive, I don’t know a lot of CEOs, regardless of performance, who hasn’t fantasized at least occasionally about walking away.
31/ Over the past few years I don’t think I’ve felt “normal” CEO exhaustion. Have I mentioned it was bone on bone? There’s no doubt my mental health was suffering during that period. Believing I have found an end to that exhaustion has also felt relieving.
32/ Scared: I felt scared when I had to tell someone new of my plans, be it an investor or team member, yet saying it out loud also came with a rushing sense of liberation. Like a giant weight that I had been carrying for years was off my back.
33/ I also felt scared that I was making a mistake. That I may never find something I love as much as I loved being CEO of CircleUp. Conflicted. When the offer letter was ready to sign for the new (CEO-elect) I stared at it for 30 minutes. Unsure. (My wife took this picture)
34/ Anxious: Will I be able to transition? Could we get the round done? Could we find the right CEO? How would the team react? How would our investors react? What if people wanted different outcomes/candidates?
35/ Worried: A few weeks ago I talked with another founder who had transitioned out as CEO. She told me: “I found my stress level after leaving the company didn’t change. I just transferred my stress to new things.” That resonates and worries me.
36/ Insecure: In “Transitions” William Bridges recommends being comfortable with the “nothingness” of a liminal state. To do that I need to be comfortable saying “I’m not sure what I’ll do next.” That feels scary. I feel insecure about it as I write this.
https://t.co/lhMapgdjiL
37/ Proud: I feel immensely proud of what we have built at @CircleUp. The team is truly extraordinary and I think the technology (Helio) will transform consumer and private investing. We’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs to thrive and we will help thousands more.
38/ Some think they have no choice but to “tough it out” in front of the teams, customers or investors, despite what’s going on inside their heads because doubt isn’t respected in venture.
39/ Because of this, I’ve never before talked publicly about the personal issues that compounded the professional struggles of our pivot. It feels good to be able to speak about it openly.
40/ Was this all just bad luck? No. I think I could have made it through for longer had I searched for help sooner. That wasn’t misfortune, it was me choosing not to lean on others to get through the hardest periods.

That was my failure, not bad luck.
41/ Will some view this as weak? Maybe. Probably. But I’m sharing it here regardless so that other founders going through their own myriad challenges might hopefully feel less alone.

More from Startups

Marketing Examples
Marketing Examples
@GoodMarketingHQ
🔥 I got 2000 new subscribers from my Product Hunt launch

THREAD...

Last week I launched Marketing Examples to Product Hunt.

✔️ 1,500+ upvotes
✔️ Product of the Week
✔️ Email list grew from 1,300 to 3,300

This is the step by step account of how I did it


Step 1 - Don't launch straight away

23rd May 2019 Marketing Examples v1.0 went live. The site had a few case studies, several bugs, and an email box which didn’t convert well.

The old version of me would have thrown it on Product Hunt straight away. But I decided to wait.

Why?

1) I didn’t want to waste my “turn” with the very first iteration of my site.

2) I didn’t want to launch in a vacuum. Product Hunt multiplies current momentum. Having a small following of “fans” on launch day goes a long way.

So I set myself a target.

✔️ 1000 email subscribers
✔️ 1000 twitter followers

And then I would launch. 70 days later I hit my target.

It was showtime.
STARTUPS
Ben Tossell
Ben Tossell
@bentossell
I don’t buy into “you should have a cofounder”

I think investors are just hedging their bets on the team

Actively finding a cofounder seems odd and forced to tick a box ✅

If you (potentially) have one, great!

💰Pay amazing folks (contract/FTE/PTE)

One pro is to share the burden with someone who cares as much about the business as you do.

Going looking for a cofounder (whether you’re pressured to or not) seems like a disaster
STARTUPS
Advertisement
Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Saturday thoughts on funding: Where it helps. Where it doesn't. And how it affects team, success, and PM fit.

This is just my $0.02 after looking reviewing 30k+ early stage startups personally and having led 350+ investments across 2 VC firms & as an angel.

Let's begin! >>

1) Money is great to have in building a startup (for the least dilution and pain possible) That's true and always will be true. 😆

But just like how money can't buy you happiness, it also can't buy you PM fit.

2) PM fit is the holy grail for software startups. (we're not talking biotech - if you have a cure to cancer, I guarantee you everyone wants it).

But for software startups, it's unclear if ppl want your product at your price pt.

3) If you don't find PM fit, in this day and age, you will be able to get some sales. Maybe even say $1m in sales (or more!) per year, and you can still make a living.

But having sales does not mean that you have a repeatable customer acquisition process that can be sustainable

4) As an aside, that is why we invest at pre-seed & don't care about startup traction, because I don't believe traction at the earliest stages suggest PM fit. Traction only shows that a founder can execute (& that's impt too) but there are other ways to assess execution earlier.
STARTUPS
Julian Shapiro
Julian Shapiro
@Julian
14 steps for acquiring your startup's first customers:

1. Pay to interview people who've successfully grown a startup like yours. You can find them via LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

2. Ask them which 3 channels (ads, SEO, etc.) you should prioritize for acquiring customers.

3. Ask for examples of companies who run these channels well.

Some channels to ask about:

• PR
• Ads
• SEO
• Influencers
• Sponsorships
• Organic social
• Word-of-mouth
• In-depth content
• Referral incentives
• Product-led invites (think Slack, Zoom, Dropbox)

4. Reverse-engineer how those companies run their channels well:

A. Map each step the customer takes between the channel and becoming a happy customer.

B. Study what makes each step great: its pitch, its design, and its user experience.

Here's an example of steps.

• Someone sees your Facebook ad ← Channel
• They visit your page
• Enter their email
• Trial the product
• Pay for the product
• Stay engaged
• Refer more users

(Tools like Ahrefs + FB Ad Library show you competitors' ads and landing pages!)
ALL , MARKETINGTWITTER , STARTUPS
Damon Chen
Damon Chen
@damengchen
I shipped all these apps in 2020. Most of them generated $0.

🎬 https://t.co/JAhXqsuu6h $0
🌍 https://t.co/BrNUAhfiIT $0
💡 https://t.co/ZWcLfOH4aI $0
🐞 https://t.co/aghOxYEcPI $1.99
👍 https://t.co/2JhJLe27pW $3,025 in 10 days.

But that's ok, just keep shipping! My stories👇

🎬 https://t.co/wuiBp1XsYD is the first thing I created. It's a community for indie makers. The different thing is we post updates in videos. I created it for fun as I think the world doesn't need one more text-based forum, so I make a video one. No monetization plan so far.

🌍 https://t.co/fiwjgCWho5 is a social app. The idea is from Linktree, an app to share your social links. I thought it would be cool to add more visuals to it, and meanwhile we can explore others around. I also have no monetization plan for it. Make it for fun too.

💡 https://t.co/fZfL45uvVX is a platform to connect influencers with their fans. People says it's like @superpeer. But the only difference is it's all sync. Influencers don't need to commit their time to fixed slot. Fans pay to ask questions, influencers can answer at anytime.

Continuing Influenswer... I think the product has its potential. But for now maybe I didn't find the right niche to serve. Will re-evaluate it in future.
STARTUPS

You May Also Like

Vibhu Vashisth
Vibhu Vashisth
@VIBHU_Tweet
THE LESSER KNOWN MAHARANA OF MEWAR:RANA KUMBHA
Kumbalgarh Fort is one of most spectacular sites of India,atop a hill abt 3600ft above sea lvl in the https://t.co/LkjmzzBhE2's second largest wall is surrounding it.A fort wall second only to Great wall of China,still not so famous.


This longest wall of India stretches to almost 36Km and encompasses a few hills, many step wells and over 360 temples and palaces. Birth place of the Great Maharana Pratap, this fort is named after another Great Maharana of Mewar, who is not given his due in the History.


Builder of many architectural marvels like the Kumbhalgarh Fort, an erudite scholar, a patron of arts, music, culture & a great warrior was the Great Maharana Kumbha. Yet we don't know much about him. Let's get to know him a little.


Maharana Kumbha was the undefeated King of Mewar from 1433-1468CE.He never lost any battles &kept Mewar out of the reach of Islamic Invaders till the time he was alive. Born on Makar Sakranti to Maharana Mokal & Saubhagya Devi, Rana Kumbha was only 13 when he ascended the throne.


His father was killed by his own relatives in a political conspiracy. He was a powerful King about 8ft tall &charismatic personality,a hardcore Hindu Rajput who could shed his life for Hindu honour without thinking twice.He was an ardent skillful warrior who never lost a battle.
ALL
Professor
Professor
@DillikiBiili
So friends here is the thread on the recommended pathway for new entrants in the stock market.

Here I will share what I believe are essentials for anybody who is interested in stock markets and the resources to learn them, its from my experience and by no means exhaustive..

First the very basic : The Dow theory, Everybody must have basic understanding of it and must learn to observe High Highs, Higher Lows, Lower Highs and Lowers lows on charts and their

Even those who are more inclined towards fundamental side can also benefit from Dow theory, as it can hint start & end of Bull/Bear runs thereby indication entry and exits.


Next basic is Wyckoff's Theory. It tells how accumulation and distribution happens with regularity and how the market actually

Dow theory is old but
SCREENERS , ALL , MARKETESSENTIALS
Advertisement
Billy Bostickson \U0001f3f4\U0001f441&\U0001f441 \U0001f193
Billy Bostickson 🏴👁&👁 ...
@BillyBostickson
1. Project 1742 (EcoHealth/DTRA)
Risks of bat-borne zoonotic diseases in Western Asia

Duration: 24/10/2018-23 /10/2019

Funding: $71,500
@dgaytandzhieva
https://t.co/680CdD8uug


2. Bat Virus Database
Access to the database is limited only to those scientists participating in our ‘Bats and Coronaviruses’ project
Our intention is to eventually open up this database to the larger scientific community
https://t.co/mPn7b9HM48


3. EcoHealth Alliance & DTRA Asking for Trouble
One Health research project focused on characterizing bat diversity, bat coronavirus diversity and the risk of bat-borne zoonotic disease emergence in the region.
https://t.co/u6aUeWBGEN


4. Phelps, Olival, Epstein, Karesh - EcoHealth/DTRA


5, Methods and Expected Outcomes
(Unexpected Outcome = New Coronavirus Pandemic)
ALL
Vibhu Vashisth
Vibhu Vashisth
@VIBHU_Tweet
Rani Chennamma of Kittur was one of the first women rulers of India who fought against the might of the British Empire in 1824. Rani Chennamma was born in 1778 in a small village of Kakati in Belgaon distt of the State of Karnataka.


She was born into the Lingayat Community to a man named Dhulappa Desai. From a very young age she was trained in horse riding,sword fighting, archery and diplomacy. At a very young age of 15 yrs, she was married to the King of Kittur and became the Queen of Kittur.


It is said that King of Kittur Mallasarja was once moving around in the neighbouring kingdoms to find support to fight Tipu Sultan. It is then, when he came across Chennamma and he immediately got attracted to her sheer confidence and bravery.

Rani Chennamma and King Mallasarja had a son together who died very soon after the death of King Mallasarja in 1816. As the Queen of Kittur, Rani Chennamma immediately adopted Shivalingappa as her son and declared him the heir to the throne of Kittur.

This did not go well with the British East India Company who was enforcing the Doctrine of Lapse those days, according to which the adopted children of the Indian rulers were not allowed to become their heirs and if the native rulers did not have children of their own, their...
ALL
Noah Smith
Noah Smith
@Noahpinion
1/OK, data mystery time.

This New York Times feature shows China with a Gini Index of less than 30, which would make it more equal than Canada, France, or the Netherlands. https://t.co/g3Sv6DZTDE

That's weird. Income inequality in China is legendary.

Let's check this number.

2/The New York Times cites the World Bank's recent report, "Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World".

The report is available here:

3/The World Bank report has a graph in which it appears to show the same value for China's Gini - under 0.3.

The graph cites the World Development Indicators as its source for the income inequality data.


4/The World Development Indicators are available at the World Bank's website.

Here's the Gini index: https://t.co/MvylQzpX6A

It looks as if the latest estimate for China's Gini is 42.2.

That estimate is from 2012.

5/A Gini of 42.2 would put China in the same neighborhood as the U.S., whose Gini was estimated at 41 in 2013.

I can't find the <30 number anywhere. The only other estimate in the tables for China is from 2008, when it was estimated at 42.8.
SOCIETY