Lost and founder
by Rand Fishkin · first published 2018
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A candid, first-hand account from the founder of Moz covering work with VCs, fundraising terms, and what is normal in startups. Practical and insightful for founders and anyone weighing venture funding.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Shares the author's experiences creating, running, and leaving a tech company, and offers advice to people who want to create tech startups of their own.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Seriously though, you should read "Lost and Founder"[0] by Rand Fishkin of Moz for some insight on what's in store. VC's expect very high multiples on their return 10x is not even close, even small seed funds look for 40x+. That said I am not totally convinced…
on “Why I switched sides: From bootstrapping to VC” ↗No It is not normal. Atleast, based on the experiences of Rand Fishkin (of Moz.com fame ) as recorded in his autobiographical book [1] "Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World". In it, he elaborates on his experience with working with VCs at different stages and what is normal and what is not. It should be required reading…
on “Ask HN: Is it normal for VC to take a fee on exit?” ↗Favourites of 2018: Lost and Founder: The Mostly Awful, Sometimes Awesome Truth about Building a Tech Startup by Rand Fishkin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35957156 Transforming NOKIA: The Power of Paranoid Optimism to Lead Through…
on “Ask HN: Favorite nonfiction books of 2018?” ↗Really enjoyed Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35957156 It’s an honest look at the life of a startup founder, but without all that self-congratulatory stuff and bragging you often find in these…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2018?” ↗I've been following TinySeed for a few weeks now, it's such an interesting idea! Another great book that I'd recommend is Lost and Founder (TinySeed's terms are based on the Rand Fishkin's most recent startup terms).
on “Jason Fried: “Venture capital money kills more businesses than it helps”” ↗…business books: -Secrets of Sandhill Road -Hackers and Painters -The Great CEO within -Venture Deals -Predictable Revenue -Zero to One -The Hard Thing About Hard Things -Lean customer development -Lost and founder -Lean B2B -From Impossible to Inevitable -Traction Best computer science books: -Competitive programming 3 -Structure and interpretation of computer programs Best for fun (non-fiction): -Meditations…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Founder-Painfully-Honest-Startup... Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin goes in deep about the challenges of leading a company. It felt honest and truthful and talks about the implications of each choice they made in tech and marketing.
on “Ask HN: What's the best book for a tech guy who's becoming CEO?” ↗Here are the best books I've read over the last few months: - Lost and Founder - the founder of Moz shares his advice and experience from building a 40M/year company. I found the things he says about building a startup extremely insightful and practically useful. Reading it feels…
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗…control, even you have built a successful startup, the chance of building another one is not much greater. I strongly recommend two books: - Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future - Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World
on “Ask HN: Is there a step-by-step guide on how to create a successful startup?” ↗Hey HN, So looks like I got an idea formed from personal experience for an essay on start-ups, investment, and whatnot. Kind of in the theme of "Lost and Founder" by Rand Fishkin (you know, the guy from SEOmoz), but with a different angle. Not my typical topic. The only issue is I am already working on a more formal piece about Big Data for O'Reilly, so don't…
on “Ask HN: Author of “How I sold my stock options” – thinking of writing another” ↗It's like half isn't it? Heard ONLY good things about Lost and Founder — is it that good of a book you reckon? What stood out for you?
on “Show HN: A curated library of venture capital investment pitch decks” ↗I clicked, because I remembered the term Flywheel from Rand Fishkins book "Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World". After scrolling and scanning the article I realized, it was written by Rand himself. Looked deeper and saw, that it is his (somewhat) new venue…
on “Why Marketing Flywheels Work” ↗