YouSaid · the spoken record

Christian Lanng

lines on the record: 93
first: 2023-09-27
most recent: 2023-09-27
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

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“Yeah, I think the first one is don't ovetimize on valuation. It's current market, it's also pretty easier. I think the second one is fundraising, and nobody will admit is a game. Don't reveal all your cards up front. I used to always take out one or two slides off the deck. Like I'll make the perfect piss deck and then I'll remove the team slide. Because all VCs will then ask the question, but what about team? That's the question I want them to ask instead of asking some stupid question about architecture that they don't know about anyways and they just want to sound smart because you've got to remember VCs will always want to have a question that make them sound smart. So it's much better they ask about something you have in full control over and they'll say, oh, it's seen. And then I'll show like this kick-ass team that done it three times before and everybody was very senior and so on. Remember it's a little bit of a game and make sure that you control the conversation a bit of where do you want to go and then lastly I think remember you're building relationships for five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten years in some cases, right? And just min max negotiating on the very first contact. Like if you're about to do something together, that might be very suboptimal for the whole length frame.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Hard when you feel like you're just running from, you know, for the first seven, eight years is just up and hyper growth. And then you're like in turbulent waters and you're just running from fire to fire to fire. That's hard. Like sometimes I was writing an update, but by the time I was done writing the update, everything had changed. And you're like, how do you keep catching up? But like for the last parts of this process, we had to have a really tight coordination between the shareholders to pull it off. And we did that by having very frequent calls and trying to explain everything, what's going on to everyone. I think I would like to think in the future life I could do better.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I agree it is. You just got to be sure that when you get that name, you also get that attention because you're right. If that brand is behind you, but then also give you that attention to push, then absolutely right. You got to be a bit careful with the big names. I mean, they're really, really great. I know a lot of people there. I think they're amazing. But what you're going to ensure is you have that attention for the right people. And then what you said will happen.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think you're both right. I think he's right in the sense that you do need, and in fact, our argument for racing at those valuation were nobody has done this before. Nobody has built a global network for trade just like you build a Facebook. It didn't exist. And I mean, to be honest, we freaking clue how to do it. We have a lot of ideas and we need to iterate. So my argument was always if we get more capital, we have more shots and we can try more times, right? And also I kind of always dislike the whole, you should pick us as a VC. We know it's a 40% discount so the other guys, but we are smart, like the smart VC-like story because the reality is like if I need to give us 40% discount because the VC is so smart that they will make a fun value, like then I probably shouldn't be the founder. The VC should probably be the founder.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, if you think about it, right? And this is 14 years ago, we raised our A round at $100 million valuation. We did our B round 140 C at 350, right? So these were hefty numbers 14 years ago. And we could because we had a strong vision and a strong product and strong customers. But it also meant that when real SaaS metrics started emerging and the market started normalizing and then it was really, really tough, right? Because we had to catch up to that and we had to do some creative structuring of financing in the interim because you couldn't go out and raise necessarily the same market.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You put too much time. Exactly right. And this is the other thing, right? Like runway works both ways. Runway is an excellent tool to make sure you also are able to have some levers in that negotiation because the reality is if your company is doing well and if you're great, then if the runway is shorter, then everybody needs to come to a conclusion faster. And that can work both for the founder and for the VC. So I think there's a lot of stuff where VCs are not your friends, but the best VCs can help you get a great and much better outcome. And I think one of my regrets, I mean, I think earlier on we were too focused on valuation and we probably made some other choices then and spent a lot of time.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, of course. But I also think VCs get pissed off when founders use exactly the same strategies as they do, right? And I'll take an example in the latest financing round for TradeShift and for all the trade shifters out there, remember to remind your investors of this. I refuse to sign the papers until the employee stock option pool got moved from common to prev2 because I did not want all of our employees to be underwater in any potential trash action in the future. And that did not include Founder Stock. This is the thing where people understand waterfalls, they understand the games, understand the leak prefs, they understand how everything flows. Probably not win me the most friends in the world at that time. And I did wait quite late because I knew if I was bringing it up nine months before, it would be hard. But, you know, when the transaction is about to happen.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think one of the things that we were lucky early on is that we have a lot of investors that were actually, in a way, they were thinking evergreen. They did not have to have necessarily an exit entry four or five years, especially because we, as when we talked nine years ago, massively underestimated how hard it would be, how long it would take. But I think, I mean, what are some of the things you see, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“To sustain that drive, if it's the only thing. There got to be something you want to scratch at a peek at our particular mind enough that you want to keep going.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So, for me, money has never been the goal. I always just been a very curious person. I always just stumbled into things that sortique my curiosity. And then I start digging at them, digging more at them. And what I found is that if I follow my curiosity, it tends to follow that success and money and so on. But I think also in my later years, right, like it's easier and you don't have any kids and it's just you know, what is risk really then? Like all the investors and especially when they want to extract a bit better terms or bully in a down market or whatever, right? They will tell you like we hate to see you lose everything, right? But the reality is my everything is my mind. They can lose some money, but I cannot lose my mind. I can still tomorrow go out and think about what's next. And so I think for me, later in life, now that I have a family and people like, of course, it's important that you can support everyone, but it's never been the goal. It's really nice. People say Monica and by happiness haven't tried. You can definitely make things nicer and you can make life nicer, but it gets very high.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I mean, I used to also don't mind, but I think I also learned that I also don't mind actually being happy with a bit of the edge go off. I think you should ask my competitors about that. They would probably say no. And that's the thing. I think inside your head, you think it's really, really important and it's what drives you. But what I found is even when it goes down a little bit and you feel less of the anger, less of the motivation from that. I didn't lose my drive. So I think one thing you might be depriving yourself of is figuring out that you have the drive because you have the drive and it's not necessarily something external. I mean, that's awesome. That just means you're a creative driven person with a high amount of willpower, right? You don't need to let somebody else who was a dick in your childhood define you, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, of course. And I think you'll have a hard time finding a founder that don't have something that they're motivating them, right? Because as I said earlier, like founders are extreme people.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I did coaching for seven years. I had an amazing coach. In the very first session I had with her, I said, coaching is bullshit. I don't want you to take my anger away. I'm angry about all the bullshit from my childhood. And just like, I want to build and show everyone what I can create. And she just looks at me and she says, Christian, what makes you think that it's not a bigger revenge to be happy and successful? And I say, like, F you. So that was the start. But I think one of the things she taught me is it's okay. Like it's okay that you're failing at certain things. So I think for giving yourself and taking some of the hats off, honestly, I also think it's about creating maybe a family life where you are aligned in what you want. You can build together, for instance, is what I'm doing now. And in that way, it's not a constant talk of force of time, right? And it's more like you're pushing in the same direction. Now that's very, very hard to find, of course, but that's at least what works for me.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, yeah, I think it's really, really important to learn to forgive yourself. It takes me, I'm still struggling with it, but taking me a very, very long time to do that.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, absolutely. There's lots and lots of things I regret missing. And I mean, we all have the right parent school meetings, et cetera. I mean, one of my friends said that being a parent is too permanently feel guilty. Like that's just how it is. And I mean, to your point about getting up early in the morning, I mean, if you have a problem with that, just get kids because that solves the problem. Again, I mean, that's another thing. It ends up costing family time and it ends up costing with your family.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Time will tell. I think I always try to be honest with my son about what I do and why I do it. I always try to be honest that I work a lot, but I also try to include him in what I do.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, that's a really good question, by the way, Harry. I think there was this pride of just being able to keep going. We used to have a Skype movement Skype was a thing of a few people in the Commonwealth called late night motherfucking XYZ. That was because at 2 a.m. we were all sitting solving some problem, getting something done, getting somewhere, and we were proud that we were in that group, right? And again, that's maybe not the healthiest sign. So I do think there's something about enjoying that you can do what other people can't, maybe. Like you can be a little bit more tough. You can last a bit longer. You can get more stuff done. I can go straight from a customer meeting and then make a keynote in the car. And I came back at 4 a.m. the night before because I was out with customers. And for most other people, that would just mean that they would be destroyed. But how long can you do it? And what are the consequences of doing it?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, absolutely. Started exercising four or five times a week. Took my health very seriously, you know, monitored, I would say my health condition in general. And, you know, probably one of the best things that came out of the last 14 years.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“At the time, it didn't. And that's actually really, really sad, right? Because the risk of buying off a heart attack when you have that low hemoglobin is very, very high. So yeah, you absolutely sacrifice your health over this process. And it's stupid stuff like thinking you don't have time to go to the doctor. And it's like, oh, yeah, I'm always tired. I'm a little tired anyway. It's like, what's a little bit more tired? Means just means drink some more REPL or some more espresso and so on. So in one sense, it was a wake up in the sense that I really, really started caring about my health and feeling healthy and being healthy. But I don't think it sunk in why I got to that point. I realized I needed to be healthy, but just so I could perform. I didn't realize that I got so sick because I was so focused or obsessed.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was done to talk. I delivered the talk. Yeah, tell them hey, my doctor told me my hemoglobin is 5.4. And she's like, no, it's not because you'll be laying in a coma on the floor. And then I said, no. And I showed a text message. The next thing I knew, I had like a back of blood in my arm.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. I mean, this is probably too much, but like, I mean, I almost died of anemia. I just didn't have time to go to the doctor. You know, I felt really fatigued. I felt really tired. Just before annual sales kick off, I went to the doctor and said, I feel really fatigued. He's like, let's take a blood sample. And we did. And I went off to Las Vegas to do the rah, rah. And, you know, in front of the whole company, I stepped down from stage. There's a text message from a doctor that says, go immediately to the nearest ER and tell them your hemoglobin is 5.4. I remember sort of in a blur going,”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I made you mistakes. I don't know, right? I mean, it's so weird, right? Because I story, I used to play a lot of poker. And, I mean, again, back to that Asian theme or things that pigeon out rain. But then my friends are like, why don't you play poker anymore? It's like, well, once you're done a $200 million funding round and you've just stared each other down at that table, and I'm not saying found a sometime bluff, but sometimes we do. And sometimes we take it home. It's really hard to get excited that sitting at the table and playing about 100 bucks. Like, or even if it's more. And so I think our lives become so different. What do you talk about? Like, well, I've been traveling around the world. Honestly, like, there were many years I did between 150 and 200,000 miles a year. I was looking at my average. I think I spent around four years in hotels over 14 years. You lose, in a way, connection with reality. I mean, what are you going to talk about? But I was just like, yeah, this is what happened this week and we went to work. So I think you've got to find ways to find those common threads and remain.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exactly right. And the second thing is also just like that, I should just said it's just about surviving, et cetera. Are you willing to really think through what that means on the cost of your family life, your connections, your friends? I'm lucky I have like two or three people that still talk to me after 14 years, but that's about it. Everybody else is like, we used to know you, but we don't, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, nothing does a lot of things. I mean, the first thing is for 99% of startups, no offense, but VCs is going to own most of your company by the time you have worked for six or seven years and your salary will probably be less than if you had worked anywhere else combined. And that's if you're lucky, right? Like 99% of change you just.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know. I'll try to see if it can be different this time. I'll try. But I don't know. And I have a feeling once I'm really pulled into the idea, it'll be hard, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, think it's true, unfortunately. So I honestly think a big problem over the last six to seven years is we started telling everyone they should become a founder. At the same time, we didn't tell them what that means. And I think the people I know persisted, right? Like the people who, for instance, like the Danish mafia, the early Sendes Unity, all these guys, none of us are normal people. None of us with extremely unhealthy life work balances, right? And so I don't think...”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, ultimately, there's also a chance to make a lot of new mistakes we haven't tried today. Sure. But we've eliminated a while that could make them faster and I can learn faster, right? And I think back to the pronouns side. I was also advising on a few things and I was really getting immersed in everything that was happening in generative AI. I studied as a sociologist with language as a primary, like public system and language. So everything that was happening in generative AI was piquing my brain a lot. And when you're figuring out every time that once a week you're listening into that team meeting or hearing or seeing what they're building, that's the most exciting moment in what you're doing. And what you're doing every day is the thing you just got to fight to do. Then I think your energy is also flowing differently. And I think that's also why the idea of being able to sort of have a bit of a blank slate and think differently and build differently and use all of my experience. That's really exciting.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Some are put in an LA. I think for me personally, did I leave something behind? Probably, but I also, I think, learned so many lessons. Like we were kids, like me and me. I was joking the other day. I was talking to Visis. Like people are like, oh, SaaS metrics should be this and this should be your martin and rule 40 and all of this. Are you aware that none of this existed 14 years ago? We were making it up as we went along. It's like, what should be great metrics for a SaaS company? Nobody knows. So I think it's really important to understand that all of those lessons that today it's just a machine. It got to be like this. Here's the metrics. Here's the thing you got to hit. All of that. We have to experiment, experiment, and build and learn. I mean, one of the things that excites me today is to say,”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's really, really important that you push yourself to not be the cynic or figure out how not to be the cynic because if you don't look at stuff with fresh eyes, like I thought all of the crypto stuff was absolutely BS, still think like most, I've done transactions and supply chain infrastructure and payment infrastructure my whole life, right? So I had a little bit of knowledge and background to look at it from. It's like, there's no way this makes sense in any world. But then a few people challenged me. I challenged myself to say, no, no, try to look at it as if you wanted to build something in the space. I was not a big fan of a lot of the community and so on, but I tried because I don't want to be that sitting and say, okay, this is just BS, right? Ultimately, it was just BS and I'm happy I didn't build something in space.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No one else thinks that it's like you see the same strategy for the 17th time and people are like, hey, we have this great idea. I've just like been there. And I realized like in the early days of TraceF, we always said, be critical, not cynical, right? Critical is to try to prove an idea and to pressure test it to make as good as possible. And cynical just means you've given up before you even try. And I realized I'm assuming it in the room, right? Like I'm the last one who should be the sitting and I'm the sinning.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Potomium would have like there should be this voice telling me that's bad and you know you should care more for the people you should fight some more but I was just like I am so done like this was not just a marathon it was an ultra marathon times 10 and right now I can't imagine anything better than I don't have to do this right now and that's just both great and it's side incredibly sad because this is my life right”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I know. I think if you think about the type of funds and capsule menders and people you deal with at a late stage gross startup, I mean, there's probably as much space to have that mental health conversation as there is on Wall Street in general, which is not a lot. And I think we all agreed that it was best I stepped aside and we made space for the next generation. And I think for me, even when it was just there, like the most sort of prone feeling I had after was just relief. I was so relieved to be able to say, okay, somebody else got this now. Somebody else has the job of driving it further and getting it to the next stage. And that's what hindsight is 2020, right? That's when I really realized, holy shit, I really, really been in a bad place because to feel that immense relief of letting go of something I'd done for 14 years and then not seeing it while you're in it, right? So that's actually what prompted me to write the post. And I was really endowed. Like, do I want to write this?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I knew the transaction had to be done. Ultimately, then it was down to figuring out how long and when and where to put the focus.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. And I think it is some stupid illegal stuff, probably, just ego. It's interesting, right? Because my partner now, she's like, I don't need user care me. I don't need you to help me. Like I'm a strong person. And I think that have made me reset a lot of how I approach this and why I'm doing stuff. And I'm allowed to just do it for myself. I'm allowed to do it because it's fun. I don't have to carry someone. And I think that's freeing. It's also something I'm really still trying to get used to. But you get kicked from time to time and try to learn from it.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Maybe I could. I don't know. That's a great question. I chose not to. I chose to say, no, no, we can get through this, right? Because also I felt like a lot of other people were, of course, struggling, right? Like, you know, we were going from a world of hypergrowth to, you know, margins and profitability, right? Like the work environment was also changing a lot for everybody in TradeShift. And we went through layoffs like everybody else, right? Like, you know, to improve profitability and so on. So I think in all of that, if you then stand up as the leader and say, by the way, I'm also feeling slightly depressed and burned out. I think I might have gotten like an FU from good chunk of the company, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, like that was a very small circle of people in TradeShift that's been around for 10 years. And I told a few of them, look, I am really, really struggling and I'm trying. But it's also as the leader, like you're a symbol in a way, right? You can't go in the town hall and the whole company and say, listen, guys, I'm actually getting severely depressed at doing the work. Or like, you know, I'm suffering from burnout and I'm not sure I can go the distance.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that many times during the spring and this year, honestly, right? And I think, you know, as also said, right, like in the beginning, when you try to figure out what it means to be a leader, you think, oh, yeah, it's about having people follow me. But then you realize, you know what? Once those people follow you, then you have a real responsibility because it's pensions on the line, mortgages, children. So I think at that point, you make some choices where you say, my happiness is not what's most important. I mean, I made some decisions where I could have gone a different path. I could have gone a very different path and probably had a very different outcome and been happier, but it would not, I mean, it would have been a disaster for the company and for everyone involved. So you kind of have to sort of eat that bit of medicine, but I think the flip side of that is with happiness comes also great work, comes great creativity and so on. So it really depends. I feel like most founders are people who can't quit. And that's both a blessing and a curse. But happiness is not a given.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, no, I think that's actually, I mean, it sounds bad. I think that's almost what broke me, right? Because the moment then COVID was over, you're like, okay, finally, we can get back. Finally, all the energy and you have this hope. I mean, this very famous thing, like the most dangerous thing in the world is hope, right? Because then you get back and it's not there. Energy is not there the same way, right? And at the same time, I mean, obviously COVID was an extremely challenging business environment, as you can guess, also every unicorn were struggling massively, right? We moved from a world where there was 40, 60x revenue multiples to a world where there's 7x, right? And so you have to restructure financing in that environment. You have to go out and all the shareholders who've been loving what you've been doing up until that point really do not like to have those conversations. So it's also you move not just from environment or anything, you're going to be back and you're going to be creative, you're going to be fun, but also to an environment where every single conversation you have is just hard-edged.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think one thing was, as I said, going around during COVID and realizing I'm thinking every day more about what food I'm going to cook tonight, what hike I'm going to do. And I mean, this sounds innocent. But like at some point, my girlfriend, she's like, you're like literally only want to talk about things that are not traditionally if you don't want to, you know, if I talk about like even for a second, you change topic, you don't want to like meet anyone, you don't want to go out, you're just sitting at home. You either want to play computer games or cook and you used to be this insanely social person. And, you know, realizing that my whole personality was almost like flipped around was a big part of it. And then, I mean, she kicked my assholes and said, like, look, this is not who I saw. I mean, she's like, I fell in love with. You're like a different person, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think I just like, you know, it's not this like, oh, I don't like this meeting. This content here is not good. But then you start realizing it's across the board, right? And it's like a bit like the frock getting boiled slowly, right? You don't see it when you're in it. And it took sort of some pretty big reality checks, both on my health and on my work that made me realize, no, you're not in a healthy place, right?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Know it probably started honestly during the pandemic, right? I'm a very social person, I love to coming into office. I loved having all of the engagement variable and seeing the creativity of what we're building. And suddenly I was just sitting for 14, 16 hours in front of a screen every day, no breaks. I remember having to like scheduled bio breaks just to be able to run to the restroom. And the rest was just one continuous stream. And I remember this sounds bad for everyone who works at TradeShift don't think about it that way. But like I end up hating looking at that screen, I end up hating even seeing at some points the logo, right? And it doesn't mean I don't do the work and I didn't believe in the company and didn't want to get home. Like I have so much drive towards that. But there's something really, really wrong when the thing you're supposed to love is actually the thing that you almost like you can't bear thinking about.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, look, I've been CEO, co-founder, and chairman for Tracy for 14 years. It sounds crazy even saying that number. It was inseparable from my life, I think, in every way. And I think this year especially, I have done a lot of reflection over how the last few years has been and also a reflection of not being happy. And I think as founders, we think we just have to keep doing the job no matter what. For me, it was really important to get to the company to a place where it was really good shape. But I also made the decision, I think earlier this year, that I would find and figure out a transition and move to what's next. It's probably the hardest decision in my life and I had know how to do it. There were very few people you can talk to about. How do you do this? How do you exit this thing you build?”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“There's something really, really wrong when the thing you're supposed to love is actually the thing that you can't bear thinking about it. I almost died of anemia. Grit alone don't make you happy. Just get the job done, right? But the cost for me was very, very high of getting to that other side. This was not just a marathon. It was an ultra marathon times 10. So I honestly think a big problem over the last six to seven years is we started telling everyone they should become a founder. At the same time, we didn't tell them what that means.”
2023-09-27 · The Twenty Minute VC · 20VC: "How Being a Founder Almost Killed Me"; We Have Lied to a Generation of Founders | The Hardest Truths About Being a Founder Revealed | Why AI Co-Pilot is BS, Seat Pricing is Over & User Interfaces are Stupid with Christian Lanng · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source