🌲 Mark Kim

Binary ideas

Most ideas are binary.

This goes against the idea of conventional wisdom itself. Conventional wisdom assumes that there is one right answer, but the world isn't that simple. You hear about ruthless founders and entrepreneurs like John D. Rockefeller, but you also hear about emotional and at times doubtful founders like Ingvar Kamprad, the man behind IKEA.

If Ingvar took the conventional wisdom that founders need extreme self-belief to succeed, Ikea may not exist today.

When asked for advice, I think it's better to tailor your answers with caveats and ideally a quantitative measure. This is not unlike how Annie Duke considers "making a bet" as a way to get you to think more rationally about a potential outcome.

For example, I often get questions from founders on how much capital they should raise. The answer that I used to give, which I heard from an investor I respect, is "as much as you need, but as little as possible."

The basis of this idea is that founders who raise too much money end up getting too comfortable. They experiment unnecessarily, take on too many projects, and lose out on a sense of urgency.

While this is certainly true for certain founders, people have different personalities. Some may not necessarily do well with excessive amounts of pressure. A thoughtful and more analytical founder may prefer to try and stick with a particular product, collecting more data related to it, and in turn, improve their decision-making.

It seems unwise to prescribe one advice for all, especially when you may have a sample size too small to be statistically significant. If you're Mike Moritz or Doug Leone, you can be prescriptive.

But for most people, I think it's best to give advice with a caveat. Ask more questions to get a better perspective, read the person, and perhaps tailor the advice in a way that may be more fitting for the person asking the question itself.