🚀 How Not to Screw Up Your Startup – Hard-Earned Advice from VC Andrew Ackerman
In this episode of Stash Cast, Andrew Ackerman is back with raw, practical startup advice drawn from 70+ investments, 100+ coached founders, and two startup exits. He shares the real reason most founders fail—and what he’s doing about it with his new book A Novel Approach to Startups.
📘 This is not your average business book. Inspired by The Goal, Andrew’s novel delivers startup lessons through story, making it easier to remember and apply when it counts.
🔍 Insights:
Most startup education fails because it’s boring, disconnected, or delivered out of order
Cold emails to VCs almost never work—they signal laziness, not hustle
Startups are enterprise sales: the same planning, targeting, and positioning applies
Great storytelling outperforms slides and spreadsheets when teaching real-world business skills
Your co-founder matters as much as your idea—get that decision wrong and everything else crumbles
✅ Key Takeaways:
Focus on warm intros and building investor relationships early—not just when you need funding
Cold calling works (if you do the research); cold emailing does not
Don’t pitch—ask great questions. The best meetings are conversations, not monologues
The right investor is a long-term partner, not just a check
Every founder should be spending 20–80% of their time fundraising—depending on stage
Learn to teach your processes: if you can teach it, you understand it
🔔 Subscribe to Stash Cast for more honest conversations with founders, VCs, and operators building the future.
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