André Schwämmlein’s Post

How can startup companies prepare now for attracting investment once they are an established business? ✅  This was the topic when Generation’s Lila Preston shared her insights during TechCrunch Disrupt 2025.     Lila, our Head of Growth Equity, was a panellist at a session titled ‘Preparing now for your later stage raise’, during the conference which took place in San Francisco from 27-29 October.  The session was moderated by Rebecca Szkutak and Lila was joined on the panel by Sadi Khan and Zeya Yang. Discussion included how startups can build metrics, their brand story and relationships to position them to appeal to investors in future funding rounds. 💡    Lila says: “For companies thinking about raising at the growth stage, spending the time now with later stage investors to align on long term vision and mission of the company is as important as ever.” The conference brought together entrepreneurs, company founders and investors to discuss the challenges startups encounter and the solutions.  Discover more about our Growth Equity strategy at https://lnkd.in/eK8m_4dq  

Startups are not for everyone — and that’s perfectly okay. The journey demands resilience, uncertainty tolerance, and the ability to build for long periods without clear guarantees. Not everyone wants that, and not everyone should. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to be a founder to create value, drive innovation, or make meaningful impact. Let’s normalize different paths. Let’s celebrate operators, builders, intrapreneurs, advisors, and the people who make ecosystems work behind the scenes. Not everyone needs to start a company — but everyone can contribute to progress. wubrist Yalew HENOK D. Bemnet Mitiku Lelaw Wondimu Bereket Shimekit Oren Simanian

Ideas are cheap execution is everything. Most startups fail due to execution errors like Cash Flow Mismanagement, Hiring Too Late or Wrong, and Poor Time Prioritization. True success comes from relentless focus, clear strategy, and, critically, Ignoring Customer Feedback never being an option. Which of these is the hardest for a new founder to master? #StartupTips #VentureCapital #SmallBusiness #Innovation #CustomerFirst

Turning Ideas into Actions: Why Execution Matters 🚀 A great idea is just the beginning; the real challenge is turning it into reality. Studies show that 90% of startups fail not because they lack innovation, but because of poor execution. The ability to drive a project from concept to completion is what separates success from failure in today’s competitive landscape. The benefit? Strong execution transforms potential into measurable results and lasting impact. What strategies help you bridge the gap between ideation and execution in your field?

Most IT startups burn cash like there’s no tomorrow — chasing growth through aggressive hiring, fancy tools, and big campaigns. But the real question is: Is this the best use of money? The smartest founders think like investors. They analyze risk, forecast returns, and monitor every expense as if it were an investment decision. At Garvansh, we help IT startups adopt this investor mindset — planning, optimizing, and managing finances to scale sustainably without burning out. Money isn’t just for spending — it’s for strategic growth. Think like an investor, and your startup’s cash will work as hard as you do. #InvestorMindset #StartupFinance #ITStartups #FinancialStrategy #SmartSpending #ROIMindset #SustainableGrowth #GarvanshInsights #ScaleSmart #ThinkLikeAnInvestor

What Startups Can Learn from Enterprise Consulting   Intro: -Startups often pride themselves on speed, agility, and disruption. But there’s a hidden advantage in borrowing a few pages from the enterprise playbook, especially when it comes to scaling sustainably.   Key Lessons: -Process Doesn’t Kill Innovation—It Protects It -Enterprises excel at repeatable systems. Startups that implement lightweight -SOPs early can avoid chaos without sacrificing creativity. Data-Driven Decision Making -Corporate consultants live and die by metrics. Startups should adopt a similar rigor- tracking CAC, LTV, churn, and cohort behavior from day one. Stakeholder Communication In the enterprise world, alignment is everything. Startups can benefit from structured updates, clear OKRs, and regular retrospectives to keep teams rowing in the same direction.   Takeaway: Startups don’t need bureaucracy, but they do need discipline. The right enterprise habits, applied with a startup mindset, can be a growth multiplier. Shawn Gray BizGroom

What does HNT Innovation Studio actually do? We often get this question, and the answer spans across ecosystems. At HNT, we work with: Startup Support Programs Helping entrepreneurs design, test, and grow evidence-based startups with real-world traction. Venture Capital Firms Supporting early-stage VCs with due diligence programs based on evidence, not assumptions, to back the right founders, at the right time. Corporate Management & HR Teams Designing and delivering innovation programs and internal trainings that promote a culture of value-creation and intrapreneurship. Innovation Teams Facilitating structured exploration of new value propositions — from initial hypothesis to field testing. Whether it’s building a new venture or unlocking innovation within an existing one. Our work is rooted in one simple principle: No value, no progress. No evidence, no decision. This short video offers a quick look at what we do and how we do it. If you’re working on something in this space, we’d love to connect. #EvidenceBasedEntrepreneurship #OpenInnovation #StartupSupport #VentureCapital #InnovationTraining #HNTInnovationStudio #StartupDueDiligence #CorporateInnovation #FounderSupport #HaniWNaguib

Startup founders should apply Conjoint Innovation for success. 🔍 Prof. Joe Tidd defines Conjoint Innovation (2014) as: “The combination and interaction of two or more entrepreneurs with complementary capabilities to create a novel technology, product, service, or venture.” 😯 According to Prof. Tidd, during the early opportunity recognition phase of the innovation lifecycle, a key challenge is the ability to synthesize and align technical knowledge with commercialization insight to overcome the Liability of Newness challenge. 😇 To accomplish this, founders need more than just technical invention development know-how. They also require industry, market, customer, and investor insight to build and test assumptions as hypotheses — reducing risk and increasing certainty for market adoption and capital readiness. 👉 My advice: If you’re a technical founder, start with strategic market validation sooner rather than later. Partner with someone who can define your market competitiveness and adoption desirability hypotheses, test them, develop a clear positioning strategy, and de-risk your story — all to strengthen your capital readiness. 📒 Reference: https://lnkd.in/dryAs48E #EarlyStageStartups #StartupStrategy #StrategicPositioning #PositioningStrategy #VenturePositioning #VentureBuilding #MarketAlignment #NarrativeStrategy #ConjointInnovation #CapitalReadiness

In my journey as an IT Project Manager and researcher, I’ve seen how many brilliant startup ideas fail; not because they lack creativity or funding, but because they lack structure. The truth is, even the most innovative ventures need governance to survive and scale. In my recent paper, “Analyzing the Impact of IT Project Governance on Entrepreneurial Success,” I explored how effective governance practices can transform how startups operate. What I discovered is that when governance is done right, it doesn’t slow innovation but it fuels it. Startups that establish clear decision-making structures, manage risks early, and maintain transparent communication are far more likely to succeed. But this doesn’t mean adding layers of bureaucracy. Instead, it’s about what I call “Minimum Viable Governance” (MVG) - putting just enough structure in place to guide projects without suffocating creativity. Think of it as a framework that evolves with your business: flexible enough for early-stage agility, but strong enough to handle growth. Governance, when aligned with vision and execution, creates accountability, consistency, and resilience — three things every successful startup needs. From my experience, the best entrepreneurs treat governance as a strategy, not a burden. It helps teams stay focused, investors stay confident, and innovation stay sustainable.  Governance isn’t the opposite of innovation but it’s the foundation that makes innovation last. #Entrepreneurship #Leadership #Innovation #ProjectManagement #ITGovernance #Startups #BusinessGrowth

Foundational genius fuels exponential startup success. In today’s fast-paced landscape, rapid innovation and scaling offer dazzling opportunities—but building on shortcuts can jeopardize your next breakthrough, turning ambition into an unforeseen failure. Entrepreneurs must cherish the elegance of precision. Every experiment, however modest, demands a deep dive into the theories and techniques that underpin robust design. Relying on simplified assumptions or shoddy data pipelines is akin to trusting a shaky framework to bear a groundbreaking structure. Mindful experimentation is your most potent safeguard. When every tweak is rigorously benchmarked and every model behavior is understood down to its core mechanics, complexity transforms into a competitive asset rather than a looming risk. Cultivating the discipline to analyze every nuance—from activation behavior to the inner workings of optimization algorithms—is what separates well-founded strategies from blind leaps of faith. The path to sustainable growth is paved with relentless testing and unwavering focus on fundamentals. Embrace a culture where understanding the finer details of your system becomes the norm, ensuring that scaling is a purposeful design choice rather than a casual gamble. With this mindset, you not only build resilient products but also set your company on a course for lasting success 🚀. Ready to transform visionary ideas into enduring success? Follow @LunarTech for blueprint-level insights that cut through the hype and forge real, strategic value.