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Hi there,
I’ve been seeing lots of advice to startups to get more prudent with spending to control burn and give themselves more runway given the current funding climate and valuations.
This is harder than it looks.
Being undisciplined with money is easy. And it becomes part of culture.
I was at a startup like this.
You have no decision quality because you make no decisions. You do everything that seems cool.
And so you never develop that muscle around “ruthless prioritization.”
You hire people who have lots of ideas and who are used to doing what they like. These folks are not naturally good at living with resource constraints.
Just telling them to do more with less is easier said than done.
Plus, living large often means perks, and perks become entitlements.
They become expected — you can’t just take them away. People will scream bloody murder when you do.
All this to say, I’m skeptical that undisciplined companies will magically become disciplined.
If you’re working at an undisciplined company trying to get disciplined, buckle up.
If you’re playing the odds, they are against you (and your equity being worth anything).
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