the only laws are laws of physics

I tell every student cohort this on day one, because they’ve spent twenty years being told to stay in their limits by professors, parents, placement cells. The only laws are laws of physics. Everything else is a suggestion. Including the rules I set.

Any time a human makes a rule, ask if it’s logical. Does it need to exist. Most rules are soft. You don’t know how soft until you push, and there’s very little downside to pushing.

A founder I work with was pitching at a big conference and the organisers kept him on “regular stage” with no confirmation on the main slot. He was going to wait politely. I told him to message them: I have a meeting request from a tier one fund at the same time, am I in the top ten or not, if yes I’ll cancel the meeting, if no I won’t. They confirmed him that day. These people were asking us to speak for free because we didn’t pay for a sponsorship. That’s how desperate everyone is. Push.

Same founder was scared of a VC’s veto clause in a side letter. The fund would never use it. One screenshot of them blocking a founder from taking a better investor and their fund is dead. Nobody kills you. The worst case is a stinker message. Get used to stinker messages from bigger people.

Asking is a founder trait. I run cohorts for months and get zero asks. No intros, no help, nothing. You’ll be surprised how often you get exactly what you ask for, and how rarely you get what you didn’t.

This applies inside too. A cofounder who hasn’t submitted numbers for three weeks and nobody’s yelling at him. A contractor who negotiated himself from 21k to 33k. Don’t be the nice guy. You can be kind. You cannot be taken for granted, because everyone who isn’t emotionally invested in your company will take exactly as much as you let them.

the call where i said it best

A founder asked a US VC if he’d invest if the founder moved to the US. The VC had said “you’re too far away”. I told him to ask directly: if I move, will you invest? The answer was no. So the location was never the reason. Now he knows, and he’s not calling himself the problem anymore.

do this this week

Find one rule you’ve been obeying out of politeness. An event slot, a form, a “we only do x”. Push on it once.

the line to remember

the only laws are laws of physics. everything else is just a suggestion.