Eric's Newsletter -- June 2022

We're at a transitional moment. Apocalyptic warnings and accompanying advice are landing weekly, if not daily. Founders are being reminded to "take inventory on their companies and be aware of impending market conditions," as SV Angel recently put it. Sequoia Capital posted a slide deck called "Adapting to Endure". YCombinator wrote a frank open letter to founders and included a video with the foreboding name "Save Your Startup During an Economic Downturn". Everyone is trying to figure out what to do about the changing economic environment, whether that means accepting that they won't be able to raise as much--or any--money, laying people off, or managing other challenges.It feels like a good time to remember that Lean Startup was developed at a very similar moment (right around the time that Sequoia posted the infamous 2008 "RIP Good Times" slide deck that many people see as the predecessor to their new one). It came about in part as an answer to people's questions about what they could do to preserve capital and make progress in conditions like the ones we're facing now. Now, as then, it's easy to say "cut costs" but hard to say which costs. Determining that is the purpose of Lean Startup.That's why it helps companies cut spending that isn't pushing them through the build-measure-learn cycle towards product-market fit even when we're not facing a financial crisis. Part of the challenge of this time is to admit we got used to spending more money than we should have during the fat years, simply because we could. Anyone who has an existing startup has to deal with that reality and make cuts. But for anyone looking to start a company, it's actually good time to take the leap using the measured allotment of resources Lean Startup supports. As Sam Altman has pointed out, even though the cost of capital goes up in a recession, the cost of everything else goes down.

I've gathered some opportunities at companies that are forging ahead below--including my own. There are also a few pieces about my work, and some of what I've been reading lately. I hope you'll find something of interest.

[Hiring]Flexpa, a health data sharing company,  is looking for a Founding Product Designer.

Pico, which designs software for community-centered online companies has a number of open positions, including Product Manager, Product Designer, and Engineering Manager.LTSE is looking for a Senior Systems Reliability Engineer, a Market Operations Senior Analyst, and a Software Engineer at LTSE Equity.

 [Conversations and Coverage]3 Ways Daily Reading Can Improve Your BusinessTop 6 Recommended Startup Books of All Time[Readings]How the "Evil Corporation" Became a Pop-Culture Trope"Whatever the consequences of corporate power are in reality...dystopian narratives have largely been fueled by the popular imagination. The evil corporation is so deeply embedded in the landscape of contemporary culture—populating films, novels, videogames, and more—but how did ill intent become the expectation?"Can Growth Continue?"We can have economic growth if, and only if, we have technological progress. How does this happen? ...Economist Paul Romer pointed out the key feature of ideas: In economic terms, they are “nonrival”. Unlike a loaf of bread, or a machine, an invention or an equation can be shared by everyone. If we double the number of workers we have and double the machines they use, we will merely double their output, which is the same output per worker. But if we also double the power of technology, we will more than double output, making everyone richer...So we won’t run out of resources, as long as we keep generating new ideas. But—will we run out of ideas?"The Nordic Model Invents the Goods"Nordic societies are lead­ers at the tech­no­logi­cal frontier. Through state-owned organizations, as well as the broader public sector, they disprove the belief that governments stifle innovation. Moreover, Nordic governments show how to use new technologies to solve the biggest social and environmental problems while ensuring the disruptions and gains of innovation are distributed fairly."Hucksters on Parade"Today’s founders aim their pitches at investors, even while their products are ultimately consumed by the masses. If you can persuade a handful of people to part with billions of dollars, rather than getting millions of people to part with a few bucks, your product doesn’t have to be good or novel or even healthy."