Sitemap - 2023 - Houck's Newsletter

The Best of 2023 from Houck's Newsletter

Your Startup's Problems Are Within Your Control

How to Use Cold Email to Grow Your Startup

Your First Idea Doesn't Matter

Your Positioning is More than Your Messaging

Founders Own The Unpleasant Parts

The 7 Pillars of Customer-Led Growth

My Startup Idea Got Into Y Combinator

Don't Run Out of Money

What Sam Altman Looks For In Founders

What Founders Should Do in a Crisis

A Hiring Principle From An a16z Partner

The Founder Journey: Anis Bennaceur

Y Combinator's 22 Pieces of Essential Startup Advice

OpenAI Didn't Just Kill Your Startup

A Startup Idea For The New GPT Store

Why Founders Should Hire a Chief of Staff

Fundraising Is A Tactic (Not A Goal)

The Risk Of Accepting A High Valuation

Peter Thiel's Best Management Tip

6 Signs You Should Fire Someone

How to NOT Ask VC's for Money

How to Disrupt a Giant Incumbent

Elon Musk's Startup Commandments

How AI is Changing Project Management

I'm Launching IRL Founder Meetups Around the World

11 Investor Red Flags

How Jeff Bezos Makes Decisions

Building in Public vs. Building in Stealth

Why You Should Raise Your Prices

Imposters Run The World

Startups in Legal Grey Areas

How to Build a Cult (With Your Startup)

When To Go All In

How Founders Can Save 20+ Hours Per Week With A VA

Focus Is Everything

Optimize For Uncomfortable Conversations

Creating a Category is Overrated

Founders Should Embrace Their Weirdness

9 Ways to De-Risk Your Startup's Fundraise (Without Traction)

Don't Hero-Worship or Mock Failure

What Do Top 1% Startup Employees Want?

Why You NEED a Moat

6 Sacrifices Founders Shouldn't (But Do) Make

How To Build An MVP

The 6 Tradeoffs Founders Have To Make

Resilient Founders Always Have A Move

Don't Build a Zombie

Collapse Your Talent Stack

Threads Faces 7 Big Risks

Being Comfortable Being Sloppy

Non-Technical Founders Can Ship Too

Founders Should Take Care Of Themselves

Your Most Important Decision As A Founder

The Hierarchy of Engagement

The Reddit Crisis & Why Community Startups Are Different

Knowing Why You Failed

How Startups Create Hype (My 5-Step Playbook)

Two Traits Hyper Successful Entrepreneurs have

When You Should (and Shouldn't) Split Equity Evenly

Hiring for Potential vs. Experience

Reference Checks as a Service

8 Lessons From The Most Successful Pivots Ever

Painkillers vs. Vitamins

How Much Equity Should Founders Give To Early Employees?

SpaceX's Product Checklist

How To Grow Your Startup With A Niche Newsletter

AI Spotify and Selling Horseback Riding

How Much Cash Should Founders Pay Themselves?

How to Write a Great Investor Update

If VCs Do This, Run Away

Will AI Replace Founders?

GPT-4 Can Save Founders Hours Each Week (Here's How)

I Walked Away From My Startup This Week

The 10 Ways Startups Can Raise Capital

Good Advisor / Bad Advisor

Why Founder Market Fit is More Important than PMF (and when that changes)

How to Make Sure Your Startup Survives 2023

How to Be a Top 1% Startup CEO

7 Ways To Extend Your Runway (Without Reducing Headcount)

The Most Underrated Way To Convince Investors — Backchanneling

⚡️ I Analyzed 5 Pitch Decks From Unicorn Startups