Every investor loves asking about a company’s moat. The basic idea is straightforward - what makes you unique, such that another company won’t ultimately eat your lunch by replacing - or even just imitating - your product? In speaking with other founders and with investors, I've heard (and, admittedly, given at some points) many bad … Continue reading How to protect a castle
Category: Early-Stage
Dating a founder
If you had told me in high school that I would ever dare try to give dating advice to anybody, I not only would have laughed you out of the room, but would have grown terrified at the prospect I might, in the future, become so very out of touch with my limitations as to … Continue reading Dating a founder
Uncommon Advice for Aspiring Founders
There’s loads of advice out there for aspiring founders, with much of it repeated ad nauseum. Don’t get distracted. Ship early and often. Read the Hard Thing About Hard Things. You know, the standard stuff. The problem is that reading this advice rarely causes it to truly sink in. There’s a big difference between knowing … Continue reading Uncommon Advice for Aspiring Founders
Building a culture of respect
It's at this point common wisdom, at least within the tech startup community, that diversity is not only good but necessary to be successful. As a founder myself, I can say this is true on a number of levels. The most obvious is that it is crucial to have a wide range of perspectives - … Continue reading Building a culture of respect
Early Advice 1: Solutions in Need of Problems
The single most common piece of advice I’ve heard about startups is to make sure that you’re solving a real, meaningful problem for someone. It’s easy to think of something cool but useless; much more valuable to think of something mundane but genuinely impactful. This is good advice. But the problem is, it’s really hard … Continue reading Early Advice 1: Solutions in Need of Problems
The Entrepreneur’s Journey
Welcome to my blog. I’m Mike Pappas, the CEO and co-founder of Modulate. I’m writing this blog for two related reasons. I want a journal to document my thoughts - both professional and personal - as I continue learning how to develop and lead a startup to success.I want to share my experiences and perspective … Continue reading The Entrepreneur’s Journey
An Entrepreneur's Journey 