Founder & Partner @ Kanvas | Foster Innovation, Develop Business Strategy, Drive Growth

Katie Nowak

It’s been 3 years without my dad.
Here’s what I'm reflecting on today -

My dad taught me to build a career that I loved.

He did that by taking me to his medical presentations and dinners around the world when I was young.

I remember I joined him at a private investigator meeting in Munich, Germany, and his colleagues were torn over whether or not Dr. Nowak’s 12-year-old daughter needed to sign an NDA to attend. 😂 

In that same meeting, he introduced himself as being from “Day-toi,” instead of Detroit, as everyone else was from various European cities. Lots of laughter ensued, and the whole room suddenly felt warmer, kinder. It was his magic.

Every time I travel internationally for work or step on stage (virtually or in-person), I think of my dad. 

Every time I make a pun or a joke in a meeting (approx 23408 times a day) and see my team light up, I think of my dad.

I wish I could share with him how watching his love of his work, and thus his love of people, all over the world fundamentally shaped who I am today….

…someone who loves what she does.

I often reflect on how I could someday pay this forward to my future family, someday.

How could I involve them in international travel? Have them attend my presentations or panels? Ask them to join me while I write invoices in my office? (That was hilarious - “what do you think, Kate, let’s add an hour, I read fast!!”) … and how might I make each shared moment more fun than the last?

Today, I’m reflecting that I hope to be even half of the role model that he was for me.

I hope this inspires a reflection for you, too - he would love that.

Miss you, dad.

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Innovation Leader, New Venture Designer, Speaker @ Kanvas || Investor @ Altra Venture Partners

If you don’t have a moat for your business, you’re in trouble. 🤯 
A moat is exactly what it sounds like - 

the water around a castle.

If your moat is shallow, intruders can simply walk through it (with some inexpensive rain boots).

If your moat is deep and wide, intruders will have a harder time (requiring expensive speed boats, scuba gear, maybe a small airplane - you get the drift).

In business, moats are imperative.

Here are the two biggest moats to have on your radar:

✨ Technology moats.

A successful tech moat means your cost to deliver drops as you scale, and your switching costs keep rising with every new feature.

The best tech moats are often built via rare talent, intellectual property, budgets, and, historically, time.

Because software is easier to spin-up than ever,

We’re seeing tech moats shift to robotics, complex hardware, and deep infrastructure - things that are still slower, harder and more capital-intensive to replicate.

The harder your tech is to replicate, the deeper your moat!

✨ Distribution moats.

Not a tech person? 

Never fear - distribution moats are one of my favorite angles!

A successful distribution moat means the cost to acquire customers goes down over time, while your stickiness and engagement go up.

“Unique” paid marketing doesn’t go the mile anymore, as most have access to the same ad platforms, targeting tools, and growth hacks. 

Real distribution moats look more like:
+ Being embedded in someone else’s workflow (so ripping you out is painful)
+ Owning a community that actually shows up for you, not just follows you
+ Ecosystem partnerships - my favorite are ones where your “competitors” quietly become your best channels

-

As someone who deeply enjoys all movies/books with magic, this castle analogy makes my heart warm.

I hope that it helps you memorialize how you think about moats in your business.

So, tell us - which of these moats are you most excited about - either in your company, or in the industry as a whole?

Bonus points if you share a moat you've noticed in the wild!

See you in the comments. 😎 

PS - this photo is of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. It is as beautiful as it is hard to pronounce!! It does not have a water-based moat, but certainly has elevation on its side - proving that the best moats often don't look alike.

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Here’s how to cultivate disruptive thinking,
no matter how big or small your biz is 🤯 -

✨ Normalize half-baked ideas.

Make it okay to share 60% thoughts without a 40‑slide deck. 

Help your team shape those threads of ideas into a tapestry!

Then, you can start experimenting with full, organic buy-in from all (or most).

Plus, bringing other minds to the table early helps you see around corners.

✨ Normalize bad ideas!!

"Sacrificial ideas" is my favorite trick to help brainstorm sessions get started.

It encourages team members to participate by removing fear of judgement.

After all... their ideas couldn't be worse than my sacrificial one, right?? 😂 

Team members also will look to me to see how I set the tone in the event of a "bad" idea. If I handle it well and use it to promote openness, they feel safe. 

Intellectual safety = more ideas.

Plus, sometimes a strong reaction against an idea is just as strong of a catalyst (if not stronger) than a strong reaction for an idea. 

If you get curious about the “why" behind your reaction to ideas, you can learn a lot about your own strategy.

✨ Protect weird bets from normal governance.

This is for you, my corporate innovators!!

Ring-fence a small % of time/budget where different rules apply: different success metrics, different timelines, different approval paths. 

Key word - small. Rightsize the time/budget for your company and stage... and make sure there are clear gates between idea stages (and investment).

✨ Reward learning velocity, not just performance.

Ask...
+ “What did we invalidate this week?” 
+ “What did we change our mind about?” 
+ ...and of course, "Why?"

Disruptive thinkers are constantly updating their mental models.

✨ Don’t focus only on senior leaders.

Some of the sharpest disruptive ideas come from the people closest to the work, or newest to the team, with a fresh outside-in perspective. 

If only VP-level ideas get oxygen, you’re optimizing for politics, not breakthroughs. 

✨ Decide in public.

When you kill or greenlight a risky idea, explain why. Show your reasoning. 

That’s how people learn what’s truly valued vs. what’s just slogans on the wall.

This is huge for team morale, no matter how big or small you are!!!

-

As I wrote these out this morning I realized...

...at the end of the day, disruptive thinking is only as strong as the culture of innovation that you promote internally. Let me know if you'd like to read more content on that front. 😎 

In the meantime -

Which of these resonate most with you? What would you add to the list?

See you in the comments, as always!

—
I'm Katie Nowak, an investor, innovation leader, and new venture designer sharing examples & lessons weekly. Follow me + hit 🔔 to stay tuned.

Co-Founder of The Venture Mentoring Team, Entrepreneur in Residence at Florida Atlantic University’s School of Business, founding member of The New World Angels investment group, member of the Enterprise Florida SBIR/STTR Steering Committee, past member of the Florida Atlantic University Technology Transfer Advisory Team, Founding Director of Mentoring at Florida Atlantic University's Tech Runway Accelerator, and judge for the Cade Prize for Innovation, FAU's Business Plan Competition and the U.S. Department of State TECH-I International Business Plan Competition. Guest Speaker on entrepreneurship at Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University and Broward College.

Bob Nelson

This is excellent and very grounded advice. We see this exact pattern all the time with early stage founders. Strong tech but unclear ICP, soft yes signals, and pilots that never convert into real traction.

This is wise guidance for the founders we work with at the The Venture Mentoring Team. Traction is the signal, and tightening GTM early saves enormous time, money, and frustration later. Appreciate you sharing real trench lessons that founders can actually apply.

Co-Founder & CEO at The Venture Mentoring Team

Helping Founders fix “Sales Physics” & build fundable GTMs | 3x Exited | Raised $50M | Author of “Pitching Pitfalls”

I had a startup where we returned 7X in 2 years. I also had one where we left a big hole in the ground.

The difference? Sales Physics.

Most seed-stage pilots don’t fail because the tech is broken. They fail because the GTM was "off."

You know the symptoms: ❌ A target customer (ICP) that's too broad. ❌ A pipeline filled with "BS" opportunities. ❌ A mountain of unpaid pilots that never convert.

The "yes" you think you got was actually a "maybe."

This doesn't just hurt—it wastes your precious time and your scarce funding. In this market, Traction is the only signal that matters for your next round.
I built a 1-page GTM Sales Sanity Check so other founders don't have to learn these lessons the hard way.

It audits the 5 Pillars of Sales Physics you need to survive the "messy middle."
I'm giving the full PDF away for free this week to help you audit your real state of play.

Want the PDF?
Comment "AUDIT" below and I’ll DM you the link immediately.

P.S. I call these "Trench Lessons" because I learned them the hard way. I'm sharing the full playbook in my new book, Pitching Pitfalls—check the link in my Featured Section. 📖

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