The podcast @AcquiredFM is one of the best business history podcasts ever made. The early seasons are all about IPO’s and acquisitions. I listened to all these episodes and used AI to distill the most crucial tips for web3 founders in the first 1000 hours after raising.

Tldr; Right after raising, and before profitability, there is only one mistake you can make:

That mistake is not spending enough of the money you raised on buying back your equity/token!

You could invest in product development, but that can fail and that means money was spent on a big oops. Hope is not a strategy! Basing your strat on what worked for others is, you know, this

You could hire top-talent, but they will only disappoint you later. Employee churn is at an all-time high and AI replaces all of them anyway at some point. Talent is for the untalented only.

You can work hard for the best UI in the world, but preferences in UI change every few years, so why bother At some point, old becomes fashionable again. Better frontrun the inevitable and position yourself for fashionable a decade or two from now

So really the only thing that has a permanent and lasting impact on a business is the amount of shares outstanding. All other forms of use of capital are ridiculous when compared to the beauty of reducing the amount of shares that have a claim to cashflow.

Ty for your attention to this matter. Am analysing the work by Graham, Venture Hacks and ofc the great Founders podcasts next to find more nuggets of wisdom around how to spend the money you raise pre-profitability.

@chivasweb3 I mean sometimes they are great. I dislike it pre-profitability within weeks after raising