Founder Weekly (Issue 607 - October 11 2023)

Founder Weekly - Issue 607

October 11, 2023

Founder Weekly

Welcome to issue 607 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week.

General

ChatGPT and LLMs can do anything (or look like they can), so what can you do with them? How do you know? Do we move to chat bots as a magical general-purpose interface, or do we unbundle them back into single-purpose software? 

Karri Saarinen, co-founder and CEO of Linear, renowned for its rapid growth as the world's favorite issue-tracking tool, discusses prioritizing craftsmanship in product development, the Linear method for modern software development, the effectiveness of having only one PM, the importance of good design in 2023, strategies for maintaining focus in a distracting environment, Linear's distinctive hiring approach, and offers a glimpse of an upcoming feature.

In this episode of Office Hours, the Group Partners at Y Combinator share their favorite strategies to be more effective and reduce distractions at work. They'll discuss the benefits of maker/manager schedules in addition to the fake work and productivity fads that can do more harm than good. If you're going to build a big business, you'll learn it requires working smarter and harder to win.

This article is about prioritizing feature requests. It proposes a formula for calculating a "need weight" for each request, which can then be used to prioritize requests.

Marketing, Sales and PR

There's no silver bullet when it comes to pricing. There are just many things you can and should probably test. Be ready to make trade-offs and make peace with the fact that your pricing will never be perfect.

How do you write a SaaS homepage that actually converts? Messaging expert Anthony Pierri explains in 5 steps here. How do you write a SaaS homepage that actually converts? Messaging expert Anthony Pierri explains in 5 steps here.

Money and Finance

Embarking on the journey of early-stage fundraising can be both exciting and challenging for startup founders. In this dynamic landscape, Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs) have emerged as a popular instrument, offering flexibility to both founders and investors. However, the strategy of stacking SAFEs, while seemingly advantageous, can be a double-edged sword. Let’s delve into this complex terrain to understand its nuances and implications for founders aiming to secure capital before a Series A priced round.

Crypto’s ongoing bear market is possibly best exemplified by the industry’s fundraising data. Q3 2023 was no exception to the multi-quarter downtrend we’ve witnessed since the beginning of 2022 – Q3 marked new lows in both overall funding amounts and deal counts that have not been seen since Q4 2020. The quarterly totals checked in at just under $2.1 billion across 297 total deals, down 36% in both categories from last quarter.

Burn rates should be tied to product-market fit, not the letter name of the last round you raised.

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