Jason Rosenthal’s Post

Decoding the art of scaling can unlock massive business value, help avert painful crises and put you in the top echelon of startup operators. Knowing when, how and in what dimension to scale your company is one of the most perplexing and often misunderstood job requirements faced by founder/CEOs. Here’s the 4 step framework I used to master this essential company building skill: 1. Start by thinking through all of the dimensions of scale that are relevant to your company and product. Here are a few of my favorites: - Product traction- Growth in users/customers/developers/subscribers, transactions, TVL, etc. - Business- Revenue, cash flow, EBITDA, Net Income, Expenses - Organization- Employees, executives, functions - Geographies- Markets, office locations 2. Tune your senses, instincts and data collection in order to identify when and in what dimensions to scale in order to create the most value and growth. Here are a few clarifying questions to ask yourself: - Are customers in love with your product but you can’t deliver it to them fast enough? - Is the market clearly happening but you’re being out maneuvered by a competitor who is getting to the most important customers first? - Do you know what you need to build to win the market but don’t have the people or skills to do it quickly enough? 3. Take a first principles approach in designing your process to scale. - Define the key results you are trying to achieve - Deconstruct the obstacles to achieving your desired results - Determine whether you have the talent inside the company to accomplish the mission or whether you need to look externally - Put in place a v0.1 team and process designed to capture the opportunity - Measure your results regularly - Iterate and improve 4. Heed these hard learned words of caution to avoid common pitfalls: - Scaling any business or administrative function ahead of achieving a tight lock on product-market-fit will only serve to burn precious capital that you can never get back - You can almost always catch up if you scale later than is ideal but building out a team or function too early usually results in a redo at best and a further waste of time and precious capital at worst After one round trip through this process, you will likely feel like a battle hardened scaling pro and can lather, wash, rinse and repeat to scale other parts of your company. Onward!

Founders/CEOs, Get your 2024 plan in place before your team takes time off for the holidays. One effective strategy to help you get there: Implementing a lightweight approach to annual planning. Here’s the tried and true approach that worked best for me: Where do you want the company to be a year from now? Think about this across each of the key company dimensions: Product, org, quality, brand, key deals and customer wins, etc. Write this down. What needs to get done in order to make your vision a reality? - What features and capabilities do you need to ship?  - What key deals do you need to win?  - Who do you need to hire?  - What processes do you need to create or optimize in order to increase company velocity, efficiency and quality? Share your thinking with the smartest folks on your team. Don’t worry about their level or role in the company, optimize for intellect and creative problem solving. Ask your team to deconstruct your plan and make it better. I promise you’ll be inspired and amazed by the resulting insights and unlocks. Assemble the team and encourage vigorous debate. Discuss, debate and analyze the various points of view until you’ve forged your original thinking into an actionable plan with prioritized projects. Essential additional step if you’re building in crypto: Engage your ecosystem One of the most powerful capabilities of blockchain networks is the ability to align and incentivize decentralized teams and individuals towards a common goal. A good planning process includes explicit thinking around how best to engage your community and ecosystem. Executing well in this area will very likely amplify and accelerate the impact of your plan. Failure to account for the needs of your community can result in finger pointing, infighting, loss of momentum and worse. Return from the holidays and commence relentless execution of the plan. Improving execution even 3% month over month results in an incredible compounding level of success over time. At the end of each quarter, reflect on what worked well and identify opportunities for improvement. Adjust the plan based on learning, feedback and in-market data. Building and leading a team that’s focused, mission-aligned and aggressively executing is the goal and the dream. If you want to give this a try, hit me back with questions. I’d love to help!

Here's a Founder/CEO power move: Resist the siren song of the many conference & event invites you’re likely receiving and which seemed to hit new highs in 2023. Instead, emphasize quality over quantity by attending a few high impact events per year and making them count. Create a game plan prior to each conference: - Who do you want to meet? - What are the conversations you hope to have? - What outcomes do you hope to achieve by the end of the event? Here are the simple questions I used to ask myself when evaluating whether I should go or stay home: Access to customers, partners and investors. Can I meet a set of customers, partners or investors that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to access? Save time. Can I save time by meeting the folks above all over the course of a few days rather than over weeks or months? Brain Boost. Will I be exposed to a set of people, ideas, or inspiration that might help me unlock new strategies for creating value in my company? Opportunity cost. What are the high value activities I’m giving up by spending my time at the conference? Punching above our weight. Can we host an exclusive dinner, cocktail hour or a gathering in the context of the event that will amplify our product/brand/message above everyone else? By resisting FOMO and embracing JOMO (Joy of Missing Out), it’s likely that you can have a much bigger impact on your long term success and goals. With all of this in mind, what are some of the conferences or events that will make your short list in 2024?

This is the final week to submit your application for Crypto Startup School and we're seeing some incredible teams applying who are working on some of the most interesting opportunities in crypto, including core infrastructure, gaming, onchain generative AI and DeSci (to name a few). If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to message me! Here are some additional resources if you'd like to dive deeper: 1) Application: https://lnkd.in/guAUM2ZZ 2) FAQ: https://lnkd.in/gNEqBcQY 3) Blog post: https://lnkd.in/gjq-y8ri None of the above should be taken as an advertisement for investment services. Please see https://lnkd.in/g8Qi5MKW for more information.

1/ We’ve got some exciting news to share! Applications for Crypto Startup School (CSS) Spring 2024 in London are now OPEN! Ready to fast-track your crypto startup journey? Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gAQBt4-m Learn more👇 2/ We're on the lookout for extraordinary founders. If you’re taking a big, bold swing in crypto and are hellbent on building something transformational, we want you! 3/ Why London? As we work towards opening a16z's new London office, it became clear that the UK's talent pool, top-notch academic institutions, and entrepreneurial vibe are unmatched. Plus, we believe the UK is on a path to becoming a leader in crypto regulation. 4/ You'll meet industry titans and gain mentorship from web3's finest. Remember our 2023 LA program? https://lnkd.in/g87j4wHK Speakers hailed from @coinbase, @solana, @Uniswap, and beyond. 5/ Mentorship matters! Our LA 2023 cohort had 15 stellar mentors, including the brains behind @Aptos_Network, @BoysClubWorld, @soundxyz_ and many others. The same caliber awaits you in London. 6/ CSS isn't just a course; it's a diverse community. 2024 participants will be amidst founders from around the globe, tapping into a network of elite CSS alumni. Our LA cohort saw founders from 11 countries! Diversity = Strength. 7/ This will be my first time leading CSS and the anticipation is real. I'm eager to connect with the next generation of crypto pioneers from around the world. 8/ Think you've got what it takes? Apply before October 20, 2023. Let's shape the future of crypto, together! https://lnkd.in/gAQBt4-m 9/ None of the above should be taken as investment advice or an advertisement for investment services; please see https://lnkd.in/g8Qi5MKW for more information.

1/ Founders viscerally understand the impact on company performance of 10X engineers, quota crushing sales reps, visionary high velocity designers, etc. However, too often, they under-appreciate the importance of a dedicated focus on retaining top performers. 🧵 👇 2/ In addition to delivering outsized results, high performing employees often set the pace & raise the bar for the rest of the org, help attract even more top talent & serve as shining beacons of the culture you’re trying to create. 3/ Leaders frequently fail to think about retaining top performers until they have another offer. Don’t let this happen in your company! 4/ Ask your employees these 4 simple questions (which almost no leader ever does): ... 5/… - What initially attracted you to our company? - What do you hope to contribute/learn/achieve while you’re here? - What would it take to make this the best place you’ve ever worked? - What do you need from us to help you achieve your goals? 6/ Turn the answers to these questions into a personalized career development plan for each employee & work closely with them to help them realize their goals. Check in regularly to understand how it’s going & if anything has changed. Iterate & adjust accordingly. 7/ Incorporate some of these high impact retention strategies into your plans: ... 8/... - Offer opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the core company mission - Connect employees with inspiring mentors from your extended network, both in-house & industry-wide - Support your employees' growth by enhancing their skills & broadening their networks 9/ What are the retention strategies you’ve tried that have worked the best for you?

1/ Very excited to share that I’m expanding my role at @a16zcrypto to lead Crypto Startup School, beginning with our Spring 2024 Cohort in London. 2/ The energy, creativity, and drive of entrepreneurs building in crypto is infectious, and these qualities are on full display among our CSS founders. 3/ Working closely with our 2023 CSS cohort was an honor and a privilege. I can’t wait to collaborate with the next wave of founders and builders in London next year. LFG!!

1/ Imagine if your executive team could operate like the @warriors play. These 3 strategies will can help propel your team to unparalleled excellence: 2/ 1. Recruit the right players with the specific skills your company needs 2. Build a high trust culture 3. Focus on continuous improvement 3/ The @warriors are constantly assessing & optimizing the squad based on their style of play. What works well for them would be a disaster for @KingJames and the @Lakers. 4/ Similarly, there’s no such thing as the perfect executive since every company has different needs depending on their market, product, tech, stage, business model, etc. 5/ Focus instead on identifying the strengths, skills and capabilities that your company needs in order to realize your vision/strategy & progress to the next level. Run a strong recruiting process and hire the best talent you can find. https://lnkd.in/g4PUhQZ2 6/ Forge a culture of trust among your execs and your company as a whole. If you watch the @warriors move, pass & shoot on the court and talk about each other in post game interviews, it’s clear they operate with a high level of trust & mutual respect. 7/ As a CEO, build trust by making it clear to your execs that you have their backs and you expect them to have each others’.If your team can come into work everyday comfortable in this knowledge, you’re already ahead of 99% of other teams/companies. 8/ I’ve found that doing a team personality inventory exercise (like @thmbti, @Insights, Colors or your favorite version) can be incredibly valuable in terms of building trust and empathy within the team. 9/ The goal is not for everyone to join hands and sing kumbaya but to develop situational awareness around how each team member prefers to communicate and be communicated with. This level of insight can unlock dramatic improvements in team effectiveness. 10/ Even after a grueling playoff loss, @SteveKerr shifts his focus and attention to the next game. 11/ In your company, when adversity strikes, which it invariably will, focus your team discussions on how to learn from the experience and move forward rather than wasting time, energy and emotion assigning blame. 12/ A focus on continuous improvement will yield compounding gains in execution and effectiveness. When executed unwaveringly, a single year of progress can generate exponential results. 13/ What approaches have you tried that have worked well for your company/team?