From the Investors
Brian Feinstein of Bessemer Venture Partners guides founders to get the most out of venture debt in “Ten Questions Every Founder Should Ask Before Raising Venture Debt” (PDF)
Maxwell Wessel of Sapphire Ventures and Aaron Levie of Box chat about the evolution of the technology landscape, the impact of mobile, and learning from the past in “Data as a Strategic Asset” (video)
Mamoon Hamid of Social Capital talks about his path to the industry, the path forward for technology, and ‘the necessary audacity of startups like Uber and Airbnb in “Venture Capital v 20.15” (audio)
Abhas Gupta of Mohr Davidow calculates whether companies like HelloFresh, Evernote and Oscar (and more) are unicorns or donkeys in “Unicorns vs. Donkeys: Your Handy Guide to Distinguishing Who’s Who”
Christoph Janz of Point Nine Capital helps founders understand how to manage their growth targets, in order to communicate them to investors in “The Problem with Month-Over-Month Growth Rates”
Guy Turner of Hyde Park Partners looks at how to experiment and measure success at each step in growth and how the overall process fits into a startup finding product market fit in “The Five Steps of Startup Go-To-Market” (slides)
From the Operators
Brian York of Bliss walks through his process of being rejected by AngelList, finding a Syndicate lead, and the days after fundraising began up to its conclusion in “How I Raised $400,000 in Two Weeks, from 61 Investors, Through AngelList”
Sam Gerstenzang of Sidewalk Labs realizes there is not ‘one right way’ to start a company, but the first step is to ‘take the leap’ in “The Right Way to Start a Company”
Benjamin Hoffman former EIR of Maven Ventures outlines how to design and develop a functional MVP for immediate customer feedback in “From 0 to Product in 14 Days”
Lulu Cheng of Pinterest answers common questions for Product Managers about whether they’re technical enough and addresses how they can there in “Getting to ‘Technical Enough’ as a Product Manager”
Justin Kan of The Artist Union reveals details of his lengthy journey building Justin.tv and Twitch to encourage founders to keep going in “Survive and Thrive”
Cameron Conaway of Flow uncovers the impact of unlimited vacation policies on workplace culture and a company’s financial outlook in “What An Unlimited Vacation Policy Really Means”
Tiffani Ashley Bell of Detroit Water Project shares her perspective on creating a non-profit, coping with government bureaucracy, and how it feels to hear a family’s toilet flush in “Founder Stories: Detroit Water Project’s Tiffani Ashley Bell”