Ali Fozooni

Startup founder | Tech lover | Doer

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@illyism SEO

[a16z @a16z]

We have consistently found that the best founders and startups build their boards forward from product-market fit—instead of backward from IPO—and approach it like building a presidential cabinet.

Here is a strategic approach to building a board 🧵👇

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@JaiminDesai93 👋

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@mohsenhatami The next step or the game changing factor is taking the responsibilities, not just talking about them.

[Justin Kan @justinkan]

10 months ago we shut down Atrium after raising $75m in venture capital. Anyone hearing that knows I made tons of mistakes along the way. Someone asked me today what my biggest lessons learned were. Here they are:

[Sam Altman @sama]

Move faster. Slowness anywhere justifies slowness everywhere.

2021 instead of 2022. This week instead of next week. Today instead of tomorrow.

Moving fast compounds so much more than people realize.

[Gagan Biyani 🏛 @gaganbiyani]

Nobody talks about failure in Silicon Valley, yet 90% of startups fail.

Why?

3 yrs ago, @neerajberry and I shut down @Sprig, which raised $60M from @GreylockVC + @socialcapital & grew to $20m revenue.

Then, it all fell apart.

For an honest story about failure,

**Read on**

[Paul Graham @paulg]

When someone's audience derives mostly from complaining about some narrow set of problems, they have less incentive to fix them, or even acknowledge progress other people make toward fixing them.

[Sam Altman @sama]

Pay attention to who you have the highest-bandwidth conversations with (i.e., important ideas are exchanged quickly and clearly).

Work with those people any way you can.

[Naval @naval]

Integrity is when what you think and what you say and what you do are one.

[arash ferdowsi @arashf]

Thank you, Kansas! https://t.co/tSibGh2bEo

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@andrewchen None of the mentioned platforms was prepared for 2020. I mean, we have TikTiok vs. Instagram era. I can't understand why new innovative platforms can't succeed.

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@mohsenhatami @danielpearson https://t.co/AbFQO1j2gN

[Shane Parrish @shaneparrish]

If you wait until you're ready, you'll be waiting the rest of your life.

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@mohsenhatami @danielpearson What are you waiting for?

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@hnivi @nivi Age matters!

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@ryan_caldbeck @CircleUp @roryeakin What an authentic story!

[Ryan Caldbeck @ryan_caldbeck]

1/ Tuesday was my last day as CEO of @CircleUp. I’ve been CEO since starting the co. in 2011 with my co-founder @roryeakin.

This is a thread about what happened, why and my emotions about it. For more detail:

https://t.co/vYImcm1bTM

Much of this I have never talked about.

[Vinod Khosla @vkhosla]

Can't find an example of major innovation where experts who knew too much made change happen! Amazon vs Walmart, Tesla vs GM, Spacex vs. Lockheed, Twitter/Youtube/FB vs media, Genentech vs pharma, AirBnB vs hotels, Uber vs. taxis,... Experts can explain "why not" instead of "why"

[Ali Fozooni @AliFozooni]

@pejmannozad Pejman the great!

[Gagan Biyani 🏛 @gaganbiyani]

8 years ago, I got fired as President and co-founder of @udemy, a now-$2B unicorn

This is a tough story to share, and I’ll try my best to be honest

Fortunately this story ends on a positive note & I hope it’ll be useful to anyone who’s been laid off or fired.

**Read on**