As a founder and former client of Horizon Partners some years ago now, I remain a genuinely enthusiastic fan of both you and Mike Firmage. Just reading your post above, a couple of brief thoughts perhaps worth sharing:
"Over time, execution ability converges with storytelling skills. Great software founders become great at storytelling for investors, but this is more an effect than a cause of startup greatness."
I so wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, and moreover, for what it's worth I believe great founders will begin to excel at such storytelling not merely for (existing and prospective) investors, but in fact for virtually all stakeholders as both the needs *and opportunities* are revealed.
Conversely, founders who seem unable to master these once the business is well underway are almost certainly not the go-forward CEO. Of course the why of that "greatly depends", e.g., it's not to say there is no place for that sort of founder in the business, and one would hope they are be aware of this class of concern at least as early as anyone.
One more add: Early stories are of course inherently and predominately centered around things like, "who are we (the team), what problem are we going to solve and what do we think the future looks like"; in time, a founder should be able to articulate with deep insights and healthy humility, stuff like "How did we get here, How has our story changed and why?, together with things like 'What are the most valuable things we have learned" and how is that informing the story in its subsequent iterations.
As a founder and former client of Horizon Partners some years ago now, I remain a genuinely enthusiastic fan of both you and Mike Firmage. Just reading your post above, a couple of brief thoughts perhaps worth sharing:
"Over time, execution ability converges with storytelling skills. Great software founders become great at storytelling for investors, but this is more an effect than a cause of startup greatness."
I so wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment, and moreover, for what it's worth I believe great founders will begin to excel at such storytelling not merely for (existing and prospective) investors, but in fact for virtually all stakeholders as both the needs *and opportunities* are revealed.
Conversely, founders who seem unable to master these once the business is well underway are almost certainly not the go-forward CEO. Of course the why of that "greatly depends", e.g., it's not to say there is no place for that sort of founder in the business, and one would hope they are be aware of this class of concern at least as early as anyone.
One more add: Early stories are of course inherently and predominately centered around things like, "who are we (the team), what problem are we going to solve and what do we think the future looks like"; in time, a founder should be able to articulate with deep insights and healthy humility, stuff like "How did we get here, How has our story changed and why?, together with things like 'What are the most valuable things we have learned" and how is that informing the story in its subsequent iterations.
Any case, thanks for the great post. Bravo!