Founder Weekly (Issue 650 August 21 2024)

Founder Weekly - Issue 650

August 21, 2024

Founder Weekly

Welcome to issue 650 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week.

General

The article introduces a series of essays predicting rapid AI advancement, with AGI expected by 2027 and superintelligence by the end of the decade, leading to massive industrial mobilization and potential geopolitical conflicts. It argues that while few people currently grasp the imminent transformative impact of AI, those with "situational awareness" in San Francisco and AI labs foresee unprecedented technological and societal changes, including trillion-dollar compute clusters and intense competition between world powers.

The article provides a comprehensive guide on hiring a CTO for startups, covering the importance of the role, criteria for selection, and the hiring process. It emphasizes the long-term impact of a CTO on company culture and product development, and offers detailed advice on structuring the interview process, using executive recruiting firms, and conducting reference checks.

Mihika Kapoor and team built Figma Slides from just an idea to a featured product at Figma Config. She shared with me how anyone can build 0 to 1 products inside large companies — from building internal excitement to getting leadership buy-in to overcoming the odds to ship. She also shared why she doesn’t write PRDs.

Marketing, Sales and PR

The article highlights ten insightful growth charts from the SaaS industry, emphasizing key metrics such as CAC payback period, net dollar retention, and the importance of existing customers in revenue growth. It also discusses trends in pricing strategies, the challenges of balancing growth and profitability, and the evolving landscape of product-led growth approaches.

Learn about Google’s AI Overviews impact SEO and how to optimize your site for AI-driven search. Adapt and enhance your online presence!

Money and Finance

In order to get your startup off the ground it's critical to keep your co-founders motivated. One of the best ways to do that is to figure out a fair co-founder equity split. In this episode of Startup School, YC Group Partner Michael Seibel explains the ins and outs of co-founder equity, why it's important to be generous with that equity, and how to avoid bad advice that can lead to co-founder breakups.

There isn't much advice to guide founders on navigating their first VC partner meeting. So First Round Partner and former founder Liz Wessel shares her playbook for seed-stage startups tackling one of fundraising's most opaque processes.

The Intrinsic Value of a SaaS Business.

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