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  2. How transparent can a founder of a VC backed startup be...

How transparent can a founder of a VC backed startup be to build in public?

Yehoshua Zlotogorski
2 replies
I love the build in public ethos, but so much of startups is fake it till you make it and telling the right story, at the right time. Every startup runs into difficulties at some point: growth slows, CAC is too high - something doesn't work out. How do you square the circle between real building in public and sharing good metrics when it suits you as a founder?

Replies

Dan Gusz
Lloyd
I have seen startups do this well when either they 1) share everything - revenue, churn, customer growth, etc., or 2) pick one metrics (e.g. user growth) and continue to create a narrative around that. Personally, I like #2 a bit more because you don't share everything but you are open. Curious your thoughts.
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Yehoshua Zlotogorski
Alpe Audio
Alpe Audio
@jdgusz Any examples? The only startup I know who shares investor updates is Metafly and there's definitely a correlation between founders who share more as their fundraising becoming easier. Haven't seen many first time founders share and I understand why (I'm in this camp as well). We discuss this internally quite a lot since we believe in building in public and sharing those learnings we have to share, but it's also a large risk factor when you're crafting a narrative.
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