43North’s Post

So many great minds together!! Was awesome to hear from Curtis Thomson and Sean Diljore sharing the growth story of Simpro Software while wearing Deep Space shirts! 🚀🚀🚀 I wonder who these other characters in the room are... 📷 👷♂️ 🏗 ❓ #BuildWithData #DeepSpaceDesign #DeepSpaceConstruction

Thursday night is our live event in Melbourne with Aussie Founders Club, and here's a look at how we will be unpacking MVP F*ckups... We've built a fun card deck called "MVP Killers" that shows examples of ways MVPs (and startups in general) can go off the rails, and we'll be premiering them at this event! The MVP Killers are a fun (and slightly silly!) way to look at the traps we can all fall into, with warning signs and steps to avoid each pitfall. If you've been working on startups for any length of time, you're sure to see yourself in one or more (maybe all?) of these archetypes, and tomorrow night we're going to use these to call ourselves out on mistakes we've made (or are making!) to have a laugh and learn from it all along the way. The event is free and filling up, but some spaces are still available - link in the comments!

Just raised your first round? Congrats on achieving this milestone, especially in today’s tough market! Building your founding team can be daunting, but essential for your startup's success. If you or someone in your network could benefit from guidance on best practices, message me directly or mention them in the comments for free access to Ribbon. Look forward to hearing what you are building!

Years ago I was a junior, junior, junior, junior... junior reporter at a fantastic Colorado paper. I was once berated, publicly and a great length, by a senior editor because I had written, "so-and-so *sustained* damage to their right leg as a result of the crash." I still remember him yelling, "Buildings sustain damage. People suffer injuries!" I had to slink back to my tiny desk through a bullpen full of averted gazes. One (soon-to-be Noble Prize-winning) reporter just gave a sad whistle. The verbal flogging hurt. But, that editor was so deeply, incredibly right. I think a lot about the truth he shared. Things sustain damage, people suffer. I also think there’s a version of that truth present in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs don’t run out of money. Enterprises do. Entrepreneurs run out of energy. As long as they have the energy, hard though it may be, entrepreneurs can find more money. So what helps entrepreneurs and changemakers keep the energy? Encouragement, not just from friends and family, but from peers who are on a similar journey. That means listening ears and accepting hearts. It means informed guidance for technical problems and patient solidarity and support for the emotional ones. It means long walks, late night texts, and goofy videos. (Like this one.) Energy can be a renewable resource. But when it’s gone, it’s gone. The dream dies. The motivation leaves. The startup folds. The community loses. What would it look like if we spent more time actually becoming invested in the health and well-being of individuals, instead of just investing in the growth of their enterprises?

Business Insider has named The Grand World, led by Anita Hossain Choudhry and Rei Wang, to their list of 44 Startups to Bet Your Career On.” Comprised of companies with strong founding teams and investor dollars, the list recognizes those startups that are going strong and weathering the storm in a tech industry that has faced challenges in recent years. Congrats to The Grand team! 🔗 Find the link to the full list in the comments below

Had to have a very hard conversation today. One I probably should have had before today. It sucked. Yet, the best things in life are on the other side of difficult conversations. I first heard this statement from Kwame Christian, Esq., M.A. in 2019. He was giving a talk at the Columbus startup week. This is prudent advice in general and especially for startup founders. If you know any founders you also know how we embrace the chaos. We're very good at making lots of hard decisions almost every day. We're building the plane as it flies. Sometimes, we aren't that great at having hard conversations. Yet it's having those hard conversations that makes harder decisions easier. We're humans though. We've all been guilty of pushing out a conversation we know we need to have. Even when we know we're delaying the inevitable. If you're putting off having a hard conversation, first give yourself some grace. Then go have the conversation. Everyone will be the better for it.

One of the biggest reasons NY has slowly become a top hub for founders? 🗽 Camaraderie. Over the last 20+ years, the startup scene in the city has evolved into an ecosystem where founders build deep roots and community. And now, great companies are being built in NY every day. Check out the full conversation with Eric Friedman of Graph Advisors and Sam H. of Intangible Ventures on this week's episode of NY Seed Round, hosted by Justin Wolz Link in the comments 👇

Join King Street's founder, Thomas Ragno, at Urban Land Institute's upcoming conference on October 29th, where he'll be part of a panel discussing the pivotal role labs play in transforming communities. This session is a must-attend for developers and investors interested in how labs are driving the future of innovation ecosystems. Learn how labs attract cutting-edge startups, foster talent, and create thriving environments that accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking ideas. https://fall.uli.org/

Last evening, local St. Louis attorney David Weaver spoke at the Founders Loung event, and he shared his wisdom and perspective on company formation as pertains to startups and scaleups. David is one of the few people in our startup ecosystem that understands the nuances of working with founders, the challenges they face, and how they can avoid stepping on landmines. Key takeaways for me: 👉 Founders often make bad decisions when it comes to company formation because they think somehow the rules don’t apply to startups. Spoiler alert – they do. 👉 They should get counsel sooner rather than later. Mistakes you make early can haunt you, and they are more expensive to unwind than not making them to start with. 👉 Protect your cap table, and don’t hand out equity as if it were Halloween candy! If you are considering founding a company, and don’t have your ducks in a row, I strongly recommend you talk to David before doing things that you might regret later! 

Our Co-Founder, Gosbert Chagula MBE Chagula, will be speaking at Startup Grind on October 24th! 🎙️ Gosbert will dive into a topic very close to our hearts—building a startup ecosystem that truly empowers diverse founders. 💡 Why is a diverse startup community so important? 👉 Diverse teams foster innovation by bringing fresh perspectives and ideas to the table. 👉 Inclusion drives business growth—companies with diverse leadership are proven to outperform their peers. 👉 Equity creates resilience—empowering underrepresented founders ensures we’re building a future that benefits everyone, not just a select few. If you're attending Startup Grind, be sure to catch his talk. 🙌