Disqus - Latest Comments for msuster

Re: Should Your Company Be Profitable?

msuster — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 14:19:27 -0000

Thanks, Fred. You and I are, as usual, in the exact same position in this regard. I push for reduced burn rates and profitability and pragmatic growth. What prompted my article is the blind statement that "this company isn't profitable and therefore must be a house of cards" mentality of people who don't take the time to understand the accounting or economics of startups.

One small additional thought. I have always been from the school of thought that you can't just keep adding sales reps to fuel your growth but the one person who has proven me wrong consistently is my former boss Marc Benioff. I remember him telling me how we'd get to $1bn in sales and there was a predictable nature because he could add sales reps at a predictable level and with consistent results. He's now at $8.4 billion in sales and $61 billion market cap. He's always run Salesforce.com differently than my gut feel would have said and he's consistently been right. I've learned much from Marc.

Re: The Importance of Teams and Why the Best Leaders Cultivate Them

msuster — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:08:35 -0000

yes. culture and norms certainly start at the top. i also agree that it's hard to have team members who are allergic to feedback

Re: The Importance of Teams and Why the Best Leaders Cultivate Them

msuster — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:07:17 -0000

thanks for sharing that read. and you won't regret GPS. It's on CNN every Sunday morning.

Re: The Importance of Teams and Why the Best Leaders Cultivate Them

msuster — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 10:06:31 -0000

yes. i think we rewrite history around individuals because somehow the narrative is easier to consume

Re: How to Avoid Being Disrupted as a VC

msuster — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 09:33:30 -0000

"Somebody told me a long time ago the only way not to be replaced is to make yourself replaceable"

This was the first message you were taught at my very first job at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). Your job is to hire and build a great team and to train them and make yourself replaceable. That has always stuck with me. Great leaders are self confident enough to hire people as good or better than them. Weak leaders won't hire people who challenge them. That's why A's beget A's and B's beget C's.

Re: How to Avoid Being Disrupted as a VC

msuster — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:57:46 -0000

Thanks, David. Plus, I also had 10 years experience running startups with plenty of hand-on marketing experience. We value the ability to cut through the clutter for sure. As you said, it must start with a great product but in the end you do need to get through the noise

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:10:28 -0000

the challenge is the trade off between growth and profits. we could be profitable in 2 seconds. but it would hurt growth rates. thus venture.

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:09:51 -0000

yes, but given smaller check sizes slightly faster processes

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:09:29 -0000

thanks, dave. appreciate it.

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:09:22 -0000

ha. thanks. sometimes it felt like reality tv

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:09:07 -0000

yeah. but I don't pay too much attention to that. it's a "signal" but not too much more.

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:08:45 -0000

part of it is "market permitting" - good luck

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 22:08:26 -0000

thank you, eric. but mostly the kudos goes to you and the team for staying focused and delivering with customers and products and technology. onward and upward!

Re: An Inside Scoop on the Funding Environment and What it Might Mean for You

msuster — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:22:17 -0000

thank you, jess. this was a story a long-time in the making that I wish I could have told throughout but where I had hinted all along that "the times, they were a' changin." but i guess it's easier to tell a story with a happy ending :)

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:51:04 -0000

let's be honest - we all take uber! we even got an account for my in-laws who are 80 so that if it's bad weather out they don't need to drive themselves to the doctor

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:49:55 -0000

+100

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:49:40 -0000

I think most fail because they build a product that doesn't have strong demand or if it has demand it doesn't have enough demand at a price point that is economic

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:49:00 -0000

thank you. appreciate it. I agree with what you say but I would overlay it with enough economic thought or research to say, "should i even bother" before starting

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:48:11 -0000

It's part intuition, part talking to enough potential customers about their needs, part trial and error. me thinks

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:47:24 -0000

when the price of storage is so low that you no longer worry about keeping your grandma's furniture I believe we will stimulate new demand. And our future product offering plans are vast. Remember: Amazon started by selling books

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:46:00 -0000

:) bingo

Re: How to Decrease the Odds That Your Startup Fails

msuster — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 11:45:49 -0000

Not controversial at all. I say the same thing all the time. Including on a recent SnapStorm on the topic! :)

Re: The Long Economic Case for Snapchat

msuster — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 23:52:05 -0000

Look at your stories page. Often events are there like key sports matches, debates etc. and if a breaking news story happens like Paris it's immediately there.

Re: advice vs. fun ... I think it's ok to do a bit of both. It would be boring if I always just spewed advice. I think most people want to get to know the person, as well. That's the beauty of unscripted social media.

Re: The Long Economic Case for Snapchat

msuster — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 23:50:10 -0000

1. my article doesn't comment on or make any prediction about market cap.
2. I disagree whole-heartedly with the thesis that products should be 100% free and I can give you plenty of counter examples. I think a balance between ad supported and paid is sensible

Re: The Long Economic Case for Snapchat

msuster — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 23:48:00 -0000

FB didn't have facial recognition in its early years. It's obviously a much older company. And I don't think SC is built on paid celebrity endorsements.