Houck's Newsletter

A weekly newsletter designed to help you build, grow, and raise capital for your startup.

Founder

House Capital

House Capital is a venture fund to invest in early stage companies in the New Silicon Valley.

Co-Founder

launch house

Launch House is the membership community for the New Silicon Valley. Our mission is to help ambitious founders level up and live better.

Ghost Financial

Board Member

First Round Capital

Mentor

Airbnb

Product Manager, Airbnb Plus

Uber

Product Analytics, Uber Eats

TherapyNotes, LLC

Software Engineer

My last startup raised our Series A from a16z. Now I write a weekly newsletter to help 25,000+ founders build, grow, and raise capital for their own.

Houck's Newsletter is the leading free resource for advice on how to build a startup in 2023.

I write about:

→ Fundraising
→ Growth & GTM Strategy
→ Finding Product-Market Fit
→ Leadership & Management
→ Founder Psychology
→ Product Strategy

And much more.

I've also cofounded a pre-seed venture fund, been a product manager at Airbnb, and was part of the early team at Uber Eats.

Startups are our best way of improving the world as quickly as possible. But building them successfully requires a new, unique way of thinking.

Follow me for daily posts about startups, and join the 25,000+ founders reading my newsletter via the link in my bio.

The best startup advice is scattered all over the internet 
 
But I've spent 3 years logging the best Twitter threads on fundraising, growth, and more 
 
Now I'm sharing my database with 300+ threads tagged by topic 
 
Grab it here → https://lnkd.in/eyQ4Fj69

Michael Houck

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GPT-4 will make startups 10x more productive 
 
But it's so new — 99% of founders don't know how to use it 
 
Here are 9 ways GPT-4 can help your startup move faster: 
 
- Write code 
- Manage your inbox 
- Keep up with news 
- Record meetings 
- Be an exec coach 
- Create content for SEO 
- Handle customer success 
- Create legal docs 
- Data analysis
 
I wrote about some specific prompts and learnings yesterday 
 
Here's the full piece: https://lnkd.in/ejjW77fu

Cofounded an a16z-backed community of founders. Follow me to learn about startups and venture capital.

GPT-4 will help create many new unicorn startups 
 
I curated a searchable database of 500+ VCs and angels actively investing in AI 
 
It has detailed info on check sizes, past investments, and even emails where possible 
 
If you drop a comment below I can send it over 
 
(Must be following me so I can DM you)

Want to learn more about startups? 
 
I used ChatGPT to summarize over 1,300+ articles and blog posts from: 
 
→ Y Combinator 
→ Marc Andreessen 
→ Paul Graham 
→ Sam Altman 
 
And 20+ more startup leaders 
 
Then I put all the summaries in a database 
 
And now I'm giving it away for free 
 
You can grab it here: https://lnkd.in/e-MSRKJi 

Some personal news: 
 
After 2.5 years, I'm stepping back from Launch House 
 
Brett's staying on to lead the business in a new direction 
 
Here's what's happening and what I'm doing next: 
 
In 2020, I booked an Airbnb in Tulum and convinced 18 other early stage founders to come live with me 
 
I never imagined it would lead to the journey it did 
 
The next 2 years were punctuated by countless incredible moments 
 
Many have become core memories for me 
 
My favorite: getting the news a16z wanted to lead our Series A... on my wedding day! 
 
And Launch House got a lot of attention from day 1 onwards 
 
But the most fulfilling part for me was meeting and helping early stage founders 
 
Like myself, most enter the startup world with few connections 
 
We created a place where they could quickly build true community 
 
And we were blessed that a group of incredible builders joined us 
 
The team we put together is world class 
 
This morning they got the hard news that some are being let go 
 
If you're hiring for growth, sales, ops, or partnerships please DM me 
 
They won't be on the market for long 
 
So, why leave? 
 
Earlier today Brett sent out a message to our community letting them know about the changes 
 
You can read it in full (link in the replies) 
 
My current focus is to continue our mission in a new way 
 
I want to help more early stage founders build, grow, and raise capital for their startups via my newsletter 
 
And grow it into a personal holding company 
 
But my head is already buzzing with new ideas 
 
So I'm also going back to my roots of when I built machine learning models at Uber 
 
And exploring some new startup ideas in AI 
 
I'll share more about that journey as it develops 
 
Because, you know what they say... always be launching 
 
Lastly, thank you to our investors 
 
They've supported us through good and hard times and have been great partners 
 
Can't say enough good things about working with Andrew + a16z, Jesse + Flybridge, and many others who've had our backs without fail 
 
Founding Launch House changed my life and outlook in many ways: 
 
→ Gained more optimism for the future 
→ Built deep, authentic relationships with driven people 
→ Internalized that incentives run the world 
 
It's hard to feel bad when that's the outcome

GPT-4 will help create many new unicorn startups 
 
I curated a searchable database of 500+ VCs and angels actively investing in AI 
 
It has detailed info on check sizes, past investments, and even emails where possible 
 
Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/e4nDqMPW

Startup CEOs have 3 jobs: 
 
1. Make sure there's always enough money in the bank 
2. Hire top tier operators for the right roles 
3. Keep the vibes good 
 
That's it. That's the job.

PS. come join over 23,000+ founders who already get tactical advice to help build, grow, and raise capital for their startup in their inbox each week 👉 https://www.houck.news

2012: Facebook acquires Instagram for $1 billion 
 
2023: Instagram generates $1 billion in revenue per week 
 
Name a better acquisition.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor. 
 
- Elon Musk

The startup ecosystem is one of our best ways to create a better future

It represents millions of future jobs, and economic security for many

Root for it to succeed

Life is too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful. 
 
- Jeff Bezos

The best founders embrace uncertainty and ambiguity

The number one topic in my group chats this week: 
 
AI-driven existential dread 
 
Since AI has made creating software 1000x faster and cheaper... 
 
Are human founders obsolete? Are all startups destined to be built entirely by AI? 
 
Not exactly 
 
I wrote about 8 ways to create a defensible startup in a world with AI 
 
Full post: https://lnkd.in/eqjHvmuP

People don't care about what you say, they care about what you build. 
 
- Mark Zuckerberg

What's the difference between a good advisor and a bad advisor? 
 
And how can you tell, before you give them equity in your startup? 
 
I wrote a guide on how to find, vet, and work with advisors 
 
Yesterday I sent it 15,000+ founders 
 
Read it here:

Plus see my recommended standard offer to advisors

Open article: Good Advisor / Bad Advisor | Houck's Newsletter by houck.news

Good Advisor / Bad Advisor | Houck's Newsletter

Paul Graham said that startups don't need to raise venture capital 
 
But most founders I know think it's always necessary 
 
What other options do founders have? 
 
 
Yesterday I broke down 10 different ways founders can raise money 
 
I shared it with over 18,000+ founders 
 
Read it by clicking the link under my bio

You've missed the best podcast episodes about startups 
 
But I'm sharing my database of 6,600+ episodes 
 
Including the best ones from MFM, 20VC, Lenny's Podcast, and some you may not know 
 
I also included summaries for many of the episodes via ChatGPT 
 
Today I'm sharing it for free — drop a comment if you'd like me to send it over

Above all else I want you to think for yourself and decide: 
 
1. What you want 
2. What is true 
3. What to do about it 
 
- Ray Dalio

What's your favorite podcast about startups?

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