This year, VC fund, First Round capital surveyed 869 founders for their annual “State of Startups” report.
One of the chief takeaways? Most entrepreneurs seem to wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to thinking about the well-being of their companies — but reality doesn’t always match perception.
25% of founders admit they’ve made the mistake of letting their burn rate get “too high” while growing their business. Yet, “curbing burn rate” is only a moderate priority for 55% of respondents.
And, nearly 60% said their board was all male. That said, admitting there’s a problem is the first step. We’ll see if next year’s stats look any different…
Guess they never read this damning First Round article or CBInsights’ slightly more favorable ballpark of about 1%.
Starting a company isn’t for the faint of heart, and it takes a certain level of “blind ambition” to weather the storm of startup life.
Instead, consider this more of a PSA not to let indomitable optimism keep you from course-correcting when you see an iceberg.