1/ New founders spend too much time trying to emulate mature companies they admire, and not enough time learning what those companies did in the early days.

Understanding the journey is more important than knowing where they are today.

(cont.) This leads to an immense lack of focus.

The mature company is most likely doing 10-100x what they did in the early days.

This is a top 5 mistake I see in early stage companies.

"But company X has 5 revenue steams"... yes, company X also has 100 people, $50m in funding, and is best in class at their core function.

Have gotten 30+ DMs asking "how do you learn about a company's early days?"

Ask.

Email early employees and founders. They may end up becoming future investors, advisors, or employees as well.