Shana Fisher at Startup School NY 2014

TL;DR

Shana Fisher argues that common startup advice is often wrong: runway should not be a fixed 18-month goal but rather a commitment to get the company done with whatever you raise; single founders can outperform cofounder pairs; taking as long as needed to make a perfect product is better than rushing a minimum viable product; investors operate with no special knowledge and patterns trap founders; b

Key insights

• Runway is not about raising for a specific duration; it is about making whatever you raise last by cutting rent (free space) and labor (only essential hires, low pay).
• Single founders can be a better structure than cofounders; many founders are not equipped to have cofounders.
• If you do have cofounders, avoid repeat skills; but a long-standing relationship may override that rule.