Ulvi Rashid’s Post

"The best and the brightest" founders (from Harvard, MIT, etc.) seem to struggle more in the 0-1 stage than everyone else. Not with fundraising, with figuring out the shape of the business. Here's my sense of the biggest reason why this happens, after supporting 10+ $0-$1M ARR journeys: We assume we can de-risk our business in advance, through research, analysis, & focused experimentation. This sounds right. It is "best practice" (for now). There are a lot of people who haven't built anything who confidently tell you that this is the way it must be done. But here's what this does to smart founders: - They waste years in "research and experimentation" mode - It leads directly to "pivot hell" because they fail to "validate" ex-ante - They wind up building products people don't want - They never know if they're failing because they're building the wrong product, they've got the wrong messaging, they're doing the wrong things in GTM, etc. - As a result, they get overwhelmed and don't know where to focus their effort And the startups that succeed when Plan A fails, succeed when something randomly works, then they say, "oh, well I guess that's what we're doing now." Why does this kind of thinking sound so right, but fail so hard? Because when you step back and think about it... you realize it makes ridiculous epistemological claims like: - You are capable know what people want to buy... without selling - Everything can be figured out in advance, there's no space for emergence - You can know step 10 before you know step 1 - You can separate components of a business and test/validate them independently - You can know what the real risks of your business are in advance Always back to the classic Bob Moesta's quote: "A students don't get started until they understand; D students get started because they don't understand." Go try to sell, and the business unfolds in the process. You've got a big brain, stop using it to try to bend reality.

It was a delightful evening for the Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business Summer Welcome Reception at the beautiful Silicon Valley home of Julia Schloss (MSIA 1997) and Eric Schloss (MSIA 1997). Our alumni warmly welcomed summer interns, new graduates, and incoming students to the Tepper family and heard the latest news from the school. Julia is a member of our Tepper School Alumni Board and was joined by Alumni Board Ambassadors Michelle Crottier (MBA 2014), Lee Diamond (MBA 2005), Krista Markert (MSIA 1997), and Sujal Shah (MBA 2004). I love this wonderful tradition where our alumni open their homes to welcome our future alumni into our very special community as “alumni for life!” Thank you to Julia and Eric and all the alumni who joined us for their amazing support! #TheIntelligentFuture #TEPPER75 #alumnifamily #hospitality #community

After speaking with Mohammad, I realised raising investment from a Middle East Family Office is different from the rest of the World. But why??👇 From listening to Mohammad, I learned that when approaching a Middle East Family Office, one must enjoy the longer process and understand it is part of the culture that will not change anytime soon. UAE family leaders like Mohammad BinHendi are the next generation of the UAE, with an imbedded mentality - which is…… "Consider the Camel and not the Unicorn” This desert mammal might not be the most attractive creature. But a camel is built to last. Unlike other animals, camels can withstand extreme changes in body temperature and water consumption. You probably picture camels in the scorching, dry desert — but they can also survive in frigid mountain climates. Why is it? Camels evolved to be resilient, so they can adapt to conditions that would kill other animals. I love to use camels as a metaphor for entrepreneurship in the current economy. In recent years, many of us embraced the "unicorn" mindset, hustling at all costs to disrupt our respective industries. But during a financial crisis, rapid growth isn't as realistic as it once was. That growth-at-all costs perspective can only occur in the strongest economies — and right now, it comes with significant risk. It's time for entrepreneurs to start thinking like camels instead of unicorns: To embrace the resilience and adaptability that come with slow growth. It might not be as exciting — and opting out of risk-taking isn't easy — but we'll only survive with a weather-proof approach. Here are three, simple ways to boost your business' resilience so you can ensure your growth and success for the long-haul. 1. Embrace a slow-but-steady trajectory Back at St. John's University I had a New York friend whose parents paid for his entire degree. I was a bit envious at first, since I had to rely on my golf scholarships and part-time jobs to carry me through those four years. But in the end, I'm grateful the money wasn't simply handed to me. I developed the work ethic that built my holding company, gaining crucial skills like responsibility, initiative, and long-term planning. 2. Be strategic, not opportunistic Entrepreneurship in the UAE is often seen as pure opportunism: Simply come up with a great idea, then do everything you can to bring it to life. (Usually, that translates to finding a source of money, as everyone around me is rich!! 3. Hone in on your mission I've found that remembering what you set out to do in the first place makes big problems manageable, because you always have a clear goal in mind: when things get hard, just do what you set out to do. #familyoffice #uae

We sell into executives, so I spend most of my time talking to executives. But executives don’t actually use our product. Blind spot. My favorite hack for talking with our users? Unhappy support tickets. 👉 Ticket comes in 👉 I claim the ticket 👉 I pick up the phone They usually like that the CEO is calling them. So after I address their problem, they let me ask questions. The front line user is a totally different window into my customer’s business. And an opportunity for accelerated learning.