Am I a killer?
Over the past few weeks I've been meeting with investors. It's taught me a lot and given me plenty to think about, including the question of whether or not I'm a 'killer'...
Good morning friends of OPENFORMAT,
A few weeks ago a fellow co-founder said to me that meeting with potential investors would be better for building resilience than any coach you could pay for. What I’ve learnt over the past few weeks is that yes, this is in some ways true. But so is generally working in Web3.
Whether it’s potential investors, possible partners, or curious friends who love a debate; working in a space like this is challenging and full of polarising views and opinions. But when has working in an emerging space not been?
“Right now, it is OPENFORMAT against the world. You need to find your friends”
This is what one (incredible) advisor told us a couple of weeks ago and the comment has really stayed with me.
I had a lot of expectations going into our first round of potential investor meetings. Luckily for me I am in the rather unusual position of walking into these meetings with my co-founders who are experienced on both sides of the table - as investors in multiple businesses and as the creators of start-ups who have taken investment. It is a unique and privileged position.
But it still doesn’t mean you know what’s coming though as one thing I have already learnt is just how wildly different every meeting is and you genuinely don’t know what is coming. I left one meeting pondering how I could become friends with the completely awesome female I had just spent an hour speaking with.
Killer Instinct?
Another time I was sat in an alley drinking an espresso being told…
“You’re not a killer, but you will be in a year. We look for killers.”
I’ve thought about this a lot since that conversation.
Am I a killer?
Do I want to be?
What does it even mean?
I told an ex client, now friend, about this and he actually laughed out loud hysterically and said “he clearly doesn’t know you.” What?! I genuinely didn’t know whether to be happy or sad by this reflection.
I’m still figuring it out…
Cut the jargon!
As part of these conversations I’ve been reminded of the importance of language. It is so easy to fall into an echo chamber of conversations and find yourself talking in jargon without even realising you’ve done it. A conversation a couple of weeks ago resulted in someone saying to me:
“What even is an SDK, I am not trying to be an asshole but I am so sick of Web3 jargon.”
The fact that an SDK (software development kit) has nothing to do with Web3 made the lesson to me here even louder.
We need to simplify.
We need stories.
We need to talk about what’s possible without talking about the technology.
Sounds obvious. And we’re working on it.
Hope…
As well as the very welcome and in all honesty needed challenge that I do believe comes with the territory and will only make us, and me, better, I have also been inspired by the hope and belief expressed in recent conversations with potential investors, partners and users.
I had a call last week with a senior and highly experienced IT leader. This leader spoke to me a lot about fear. Fear of AI, of uncertainty, of change, of unintended consequences (something we discuss constantly here and will share more about soon). A lot of this was in the context of their role, their business, their industry.
But some of it was also in relation to their family, their children.
Then we talked about hope.
The hope of what could be possible, of how things could be changed with enough effort, accessibility, love and enough imagination… We’ve had many conversations along these lines over the past few weeks when speaking to people about what we’re trying to do and why we’re trying to do it.
We’ve got a long way to go. The pendulum swings on a day by day, sometimes hour by hour basis between resilience building and awe-inspiring, but it’s all part of it and we’re starting to find our friends.
See you soon,
Sarah