Founders
When Should a Founder-CEO Hire a Replacement?
Kenji WatanabeThe 'founder mode' era made replacing founders unfashionable — the documented record supports something more precise: stage change, not failure, is what drives the change.
Founders
Profiles of the people running technology companies, built around specific decisions.
Founders
Technical vs Non-Technical Founders: How the Split Works
Kenji WatanabeThe technical/non-technical pairing is the most common founding team — and the documented data says its success depends less on who codes than on who owns what decisions.
Founders
Second-Time Founders and Equity: Five Documented Mistakes
Kenji WatanabeExperience fixes most first-time errors and introduces new ones — the equity mistakes of repeat founders are confidence errors, and they cost more than the rookie kind.
Founders
The Repeat-Founder Advantage: What the Funding Data Supports
Kenji WatanabeSecond-time founders raise more, faster, at better terms — the data is consistent. Whether they succeed more is a question the data answers more quietly.
Founders
How Investors Actually Diligence Founders
Kenji WatanabeThe formal checklist is the deck and the data room; the real diligence is references, cofounder dynamics, and how the founder handles the questions they cannot answer.
Founders
Founder Vesting: The Four-Year Schedule and Its Exceptions
Kenji WatanabeVesting is the term that keeps co-founders at the same desk for four years — and the exceptions, from acceleration to repricing, are where the real money moves.