# Founders and startups: what operators said this week

Founders on what worked, what failed and what it cost.

Updated 2026-10-29. Source: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/topics/founders

> "founders come in, we're like, look, you are a success for us if you sell for at least 10x what we value you at."
- Rob Walling on Practical Founders Podcast, 2026-10-23, at 28:39. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/2c08fa61bbb2d747

> "We chose not to use operating partners because we don't want to micromanage the founder."
- James Andersen on Buyers and Builders, 2026-10-21, at 41:17. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/5584dfc22a7f34e7

> "The regulators regulate before they innovate... you can't do this... you can't run startups in a limited market where there's a lot of rules."
- Eric Schmidt on In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen, 2026-10-21, at 19:08. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/d98d10f1b834e9cc

> "No funding to start with. And do you look back and say that was great because we bootstrapped it? We kept it small until we'd proved the model"
- Helen Cannon on The Business Leader Podcast with Sir Richard Harpin, 2026-10-21, at 4:05. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/d04e1f90d3c661d6

> "active listening and answering questions directly is something that surprisingly like a lot of founders struggle with"
- Ellie Anselm (as investor) on The Jason & Scot Show - E-Commerce And Retail News, 2026-10-27, at 15:04. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/b9e1712ff1da0ffe

> "We partnered with a specialist in the space and we interviewed thousands of Australians, both prospective investors and existing investors."
- Mark Joachim on money money money, 2026-10-23, at 2:09. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/10ecb0d4bf1d6f55

> "there was already a WhatsApp group chat of investors that had like 40 investors at the time. They were sharing tips about like realtors, property managers, contractors, and stuff like that."
- Lindsay Barrientos on BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast, 2026-10-26, at 7:56. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/5c9e7db046eb29ba

> "momentum in your fund is the momentum in the stock times the weight in the fund"
- Matt Jones on Equity Mates Investing Podcast, 2026-10-23, at 21:04. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/9dff58663dcc0748

> "you would just, if I had five different funds, five different equity funds, I just take my top 10 or 20 holdings, rank all of them and see what the overlap is"
- Matt Jones on Equity Mates Investing Podcast, 2026-10-23, at 24:50. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/2eed1a1d985a7758

> "If you have not maxed out your IRA and 401k, you can do that. With every raise, aim to increase your savings rate."
- Robert Brokamp on Rule Breaker Investing, 2026-10-22, at 9:56. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/2d2bcafd7fb32fd9

> "I want to hear where do you need help, what are the challenges, so I know I have an intelligent investor."
- James Andersen on Buyers and Builders, 2026-10-21, at 55:40. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/a9fdb17ae0e32c6c

> "raising $15 million in four weeks to buy a load of Starlink equipment coming into Australia"
- Neil Jameson (founder of Haifa) on The Founders Fire, 2026-10-22, at 7:04. Listen: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/listen/66c541bf084d9055