Gerald Duran’s Post

Founders — You're always 90 Days from Triumph or Defeat → You Have 90 Days to Pivot ♻ → I Live by the 90-Day Rule 🔍 When my metrics dip, especially revenue, I know I've got just 90 days to steer the ship back on course. Can it be done in 73 days? Possibly. But let's not gamble on "cute." As a seasoned managing partner at a top venture studio for over two decades, and a serial entrepreneur with 40 years under my belt, I've seen it all. → I've turned around countless startups — it's my daily bread. → I've walked the path for my first 17 years growing my own ventures. I've made every mistake in the book, turning those failures into the fertile ground for success. 🔹 90 Days Will Pass Regardless 🔹 Problems Don't Self-Correct 🔹 You Can Bandage Up or Bleed Out Most startups, unfortunately, bleed out. Something shifts — internally or in the market. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹: → If revenue's the issue, RevOps is always the root. → Strong revenue buys time to fix product issues. 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁? 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝘀. → Start with the foundation: Ensure your problem-solution fit is solid. → Misalignment here throws everything off course. 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 when you know where to look, but executing the fix demands: → A Stellar RevOps Playbook (knowing what to do) → The Correct Roadmap (knowing the sequence) 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼'𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: → Every startup came to us with flat or declining revenue, typically stalling at $1-2M. → What propels you to your first $1M won't catapult you to $10M. Forget $100M! For those pre-revenue but on a collision course (a fate 90% face), those 90 days are critical before you even hit the market. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮: From Flawed to Viable, where everyone understands the stakes. 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽, go to our website and reach out. Follow me, Gerald Duran for daily startup and VC mentorship, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘁 from CanaGlobal's faith-driven venture studio and startup incubator.

🌟 Big Shoutout to 1000+ Great minds! 🌟 Hey Project Managers, Startup Founders, Co-Founders, CEOs, and Owners, Thanks a ton for being part of Startup Growth Republic! You guys rock for making things happen! Guess what? We're on a mission to make your journey in building, launching, funding, marketing, and sales super easy. Exciting updates are coming your way soon! Follow and Connect Stay tuned for some awesome stuff! 🚀 Eno Umoka Your Digital Business Doctor #CheersToGrowth #ExcitingTimesAhead #linkedin #startups #startupgrowth

In this edition of RightShift Pulse, we share exclusive data from a survey of 20+ startup founders across industries. The results reveal key obstacles founders face and the support they really need. But that's not all... The newsletter also features: ✅ A 10-point startup checklist from legendary angel investor Jason Calacanis, covering essentials like what investors look for ✅ A fascinating Wharton study on the effectiveness of accelerator programs and who they really benefit ✅ Marc Andreessen's profound insight on what VCs should focus on instead of lack of weakness Whether you're a founder, investor, working at an accelerator, or just passionate about the startup world, there's tons of value packed into this newsletter. It's a quick, insightful read that will give you an edge in the startup ecosystem. Don't miss out on RightShift Pulse! Subscribe today: https://lnkd.in/eX5fzWzQ

What is the secret to scaling a startup ecosystem 10x in just 3 years? It’s not million-dollar funding or viral marketing campaigns, it’s consistency. You heard it here first from Durwin Ho, CEO of venture enabler StartupX, built to power the next generation of businesses and innovative ideas in Singapore. Read his story here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gyAy6BUb #fintech #founder #startup

Scaling a startup through the startup process has a litany of challenges. But never fear. The latest installment of our “Startups Scaling Smarter” series features an in-depth interview with Naman Jain, a Senior Manager of the startup program at Startup Grind. An experienced founder in his own right, Naman has spent the past six years at Startup Grind, helping founders connect with other founders, investors, and media. With his unique experience, Jain kindly shared tons of helpful advice with HubSpot for Startups to help founders navigate the scaling process, from nailing down product-market fit to finding and reaching out to investors. Jain even speaks to trends he’s seeing in the startup and VC investing spaces. Here’s just a glimpse of all the wisdom Jain shared with us for this interview: “In terms of the deck, I think there should be different versions. For the initial outreach, there should be a one-pager, literally just one page that makes it very obvious why I should spend another five minutes looking at this company. Founders need to think about how they can stand out and make it very easy for whoever's looking at that email or that deck to understand what they're like. “Another thing that founders often do is, if you look at that deck, it's hard to understand what they do because it's so technical. They build an advanced machine learning startup, and they get super technical in the deck. But most VCs are not technical people, right? They're trying to identify the right business to buy, and they're not from your industry. So, I think it also has to be highly simplified, at least initially.” Ready to get inspiration and level up your business? Check out more of Jain’s best tips for startups in this post. #startups #VCfunding #scaling

Hello LinkedIn Family & Startup Enthusiasts📢📢🚨 I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!🌎💯🔥 Building startups is very exciting and yet very challenging and there's a lot of rejection and uncertainty and as an early-stage startup founder I've always made sure I make use of any startup resources available. 🔧🔍🛠 Initially, my target use to be mostly Hackathons and online courses but just towards the end of lastyear I started paying a lot of my attention on mastering my pitch deck creation, making sure all key slides are present, focusing on solving the actual problem and targeting more startup pitching competitions to gain wisdom.🧠 In 2023, I participated in the Phocuswright Global startup pitch and even though I ddnt make it to the finals I was very happy to be part of the competition and I took great advice from the judging panel and went back to the drawing board to fix a lot of things, I also became friends with one of the founders who were also pitching in one of the categories. 🎤 Startups are a never ending cycle of continuous learning and thank you to all of you who also share startup content here on LinkedIn for us to improve and also answering DM's, giving advice, zoom calls despite alot of pressure from your own startup ventures, highly appreciated family.✉️📩 I have gathered a lot of wisdom and have made networks and developed new effective strategies and I will be dropping a few exciting startup projects that I'm currently working on at the moment with my amazing co-founder and we look forward to solving more problems through startups and making more collaborations. 🤝🌎 Possibilities are endless and there's a high chance some of you investors / VC's here could see our DM or email in the future🙂 but for now the primary focus is making sure products are well marketed, achieve product market fit have a healthy MRR/ARR and the timing is on point.📈📈 Wishing all you a wonderful weekend fam 😃💯🌎 #startups #startupfounder #VC #pitch #startupjourney #founder #pitchdeck #tech #Techstartups #entrepreneur

The root behind startup failure → is missing Problem-Solution Fit → remember, whatever the root is → the fruit is 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗱, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁. (God) If star-studded founders like Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman can miss the mark, imagine 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘁. Quibi, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 $1.75 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽, is a prime example of how even the most experienced leaders can fail to find problem-solution fit—and eventually, product-market fit. Quibi had everything going for it: → big-name founders → raised $1.75 billion from major investors → and a vision to revolutionize how we consume video content 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁. → They launched with the belief that people would pay for high-quality, short-form content on their phones, but the market said otherwise. → Free platforms like YouTube and TikTok were already satisfying that need, and Quibi’s mobile-only approach didn’t resonate—especially when the pandemic hit and people wanted content they could enjoy on their big screens at home. → The lesson here? No matter how great your idea sounds in theory, if it doesn’t solve a real problem for your audience, it’s not going to stick. → 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴, chasing ideas that seem exciting but don’t align with what people actually want or need. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲? Get involved in startup accelerators, incubators, and venture studios where you can find deep mentorship from industry operators who have been through it all before. These programs are designed to help you validate your ideas, find that crucial problem-solution fit, and guide you towards building something the market truly wants. It’s about surrounding yourself with the right people who can help you navigate the pitfalls before they turn into roadblocks. Remember, if the likes of Katzenberg and Whitman can miss it, we all can. Need help, reach out. Like this? Follow Gerald Duran for daily Startup and VC advice, and sometimes — a kick in the nuts. #startups #founders #venturecapital #entrepreneurship

Ever heard of venture building? It's like the superhero version of launching a startup! What's it all about? Venture building is the ultimate shortcut to entrepreneurship success! Instead of starting from scratch, venture builders dive in with a treasure trove of resources: funding, expertise, networks, and even ready-made tech platforms! They spot hot opportunities and assemble dream teams to turn ideas into fully-fledged ventures at warp speed! Why it's a game-changer: - Speed: Say goodbye to long, uncertain startup journeys! Venture building accelerates the process, getting businesses off the ground in record time! - Resources: With access to funding, talent, and tech, venture builders have all the tools needed to hit the ground running! - Impact: By launching multiple ventures, venture builders drive innovation and create a ripple effect in the startup ecosystem! Ready to dive in? If you're itching to supercharge your startup journey or explore new horizons in entrepreneurship, venture building could be your ticket to success! Stay tuned for my forthcoming Venture Building podcast next week! #VentureBuilding #StartupSuperpowers #EntrepreneurshipUnleashed

I get asked a lot by founders if they should join an accelerator. The answer depends on where you're at and what you want...🤔 I'm admittedly bias to coaching groups, but I work with some accelerators because I think that the more helpful options and resources there are for founders, the better...🚀 Dasha Shunina recently researched accelerators and wrote a piece for Forbes after speaking with multiple program grads. Those grads can give you a first hand perspective that is different than mine as a mentor/coach and I wanted to share. The full article link is at the end👇 Here are the key takeaways.... ➡️While funding is a benefit, the network, and community are valuable ➡️The well known programs provide some cache, like a stamp of approval ➡️Getting in isn't easy (the best programs have @ a 2%-3% acceptance rate) ➡️Your company needs to fit the accelerators profile, so choose wisely ➡️Success after an accelerator isn't guaranteed or fast ➡️They can be a good reality check for your ideas - find out if your "next big thing" actually has legs ➡️Demo days can make fundraising way easier ➡️The best programs help you accelerate up the learning curve ➡️They are a great source of advice from people who've been there, done that ➡️You can get guidance on how to get product/market fit ➡️Access to a star studded network ➡️Ongoing support ➡️Can make hiring easier While I'm bias, I'll say you should check out programs I've advised for like Berkeley SkyDeck and 500 Global And if you are looking for something a bit smaller and personalized, ask about my PM it coaching. I structured it to provide everything in the list above (except the star studded network)🤩 So, what's your take? Have you danced with an accelerator before? Thinking about taking the plunge? Drop your thoughts in the comments - I'm all ears! 👇👇 #EarlyStage #Startups #StartupLife #Founders 👋 Liked this post? ♻️ Please share and repost it to help others. 👍Thanks https://lnkd.in/gJwWdNvw

Founders – Embrace Your First Times We all have our firsts. Here are a few of mine: → The first time my startup grew over 500%. → Becoming the 9th fastest-growing company in Kansas City. → The first of many milestones that followed. The first time we made the INC 500. The first time we made the Deloitte Tech 50. We were swinging for the fences. Despite the obstacles and mistakes, we were making history, laying down first times. Back then, these weren’t just numbers—𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀. → I love first times. → And the first times won’t be the last time. → But while you’re experiencing them, remember to stop and smell the roses. If you’ve been around me, you know I’ve got plenty of war stories. After 40 years as an entrepreneur (yes, longer than many of you have been alive) and 20 years leading a venture studio, I’ve seen more than my fair share of firsts. 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗻𝘁: → Running out of cash, more than once. → Having a co-founder betray you. → Taking a startup through Chapter 11. → And still coming out on top. No matter where you are in your startup journey, you’re going to have some memorable first times. Embrace them. Even the tough ones. They’ll shape you. Setbacks can become comebacks. As Patrick Bet-David says: “The future is bright.” When God is with you, these victories are your Baal Perazim moments—breakthroughs. Something Patrick and I share is a deep trust in God. We know He’s with us. So, keep swinging for the fences, founders! Your best times are ahead. ~~~ We're looking for the future 1%, if that's you 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 and reach out. Follow me, Gerald Duran for daily startup and VC mentorship, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘁 from CanaGlobal's faith-driven venture studio and startup incubator. #startups #venturecapital #entrepreneurship