Anu Hariharan, former a16z employee and investor in later-stage companies at Y Combinator, discusses growth and cash conservation for startups, the future of venture as an asset class, and the health of the unicorn herd.
Great founders possess the qualities of speed in both execution and learning, constantly shipping new products and quickly adapting to changes in the environment.
Startups in the middle to late stages should prioritize cash preservation and demonstrate a pathway to profitability, while early-stage startups may focus more on growth and be willing to operate at a loss.
Deep dives
Building a Batch-Based Program for CEOs
The podcast episode discusses a new initiative called Avera, which aims to support CEOs who are post-series A in scaling their companies from 3 to 15 million in revenue. Avera is creating a batch-based program that provides CEOs with guidance and support in building their teams and scaling their companies. The program aims to fill a gap in the market by offering resources and mentorship specifically tailored to CEOs in this growth stage.
Characteristics of Great Founders
The podcast explores the characteristics of great founders based on the speaker's experience working with successful Y Combinator founders. Great founders possess two essential qualities: the speed with which they move and the speed with which they learn. They are constantly shipping new products or features and quickly adapt to changing environments. They are also eager to learn and absorb new information, making long-term bets while being agile enough to course correct if needed. These traits help great founders navigate challenges and scale their companies effectively.
Navigating Cash Preservation and Profitability
The podcast delves into the challenge of finding the right balance between cash preservation and growth for startups at different stages. Startups that are in the early stages and have not achieved significant product-market fit may focus more on growth and be willing to operate at a loss. However, for startups in the middle to late stages, it becomes crucial to prioritize cash preservation and demonstrate a pathway to profitability. Founders are advised to assess their company's stage, market conditions, and investor appetite to determine when to shift their focus from growth to profitability.
Venture Returns in the Next 10 Years
The podcast discusses the future of venture returns as an asset class. It suggests that overall venture returns may not be as high as they were in the past due to the increased competition and supply of venture capital. However, there is still potential for exceptional returns for a small set of funds that differentiate themselves by focusing on fundamentals and building strong relationships with founders. These funds will need to have a clear product and a niche specialization to attract founders at reasonable valuations. The podcast predicts that the venture market will return to fundamentals and stock picking in the next decade.
This week, Alex spoke to Anu Hariharan, who’s previously worked with a16z, sits on Brex’s board, and more recently has been investing in later-stage companies at Y Combinator. She's also working on something new.
Hariharan recently tweeted about how "great" founders were successfully guiding their companies towards cash flow positivity. Since that very interesting post, both Instacart (a former Y Combinator company) and Klaviyo have filed to go public. And both have super strong cash flows.
Our chat could not have come at a better time. We dug into how early- and late-stage startups should approach growth and cash conservation (in her view), the future of venture as an asset class, and how healthy the unicorn herd really is. We had a blast recording this one! Enjoy!
Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
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