Michael Houck

I write a weekly advice column to help 75,000+ founders build, grow, and raise capital for their startups. Find me on Twitter @callmehouck

Deep Dives

Aug 4, 2026

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5 min read

5 AI-Native Metrics to Track

And how I took a founder 10k TikTok followers in a month

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jul 31, 2026

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6 min read

It Won't Work If You're Not Obsessed

And a simple design thinking process.

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Jul 25, 2026

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6 min read

And Then You Say LFG

Travis Kalanick is back.

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jul 21, 2026

•

6 min read

Ambition Shapes Reality

And the 4 levels of competition

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jul 17, 2026

•

6 min read

Don't Be Afraid To Pivot

And why the seed stage may be dying

Michael Houck

Case Studies

Jul 11, 2026

•

4 min read

Team Over Product

How Burhan Syed got into Techstars with a self-proclaimed bad idea

Michael Houck

Growth

Jul 8, 2026

•

6 min read

Launching JOLT!

And why you should be building your founder brand with video

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jul 7, 2026

•

6 min read

Just Ship The Best Product

And a wrinkle on Jeff Bezos's most famous framework

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Jun 28, 2026

•

3 min read

One Thing YC Looks For

And why your trajectory matters more than your starting point

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jun 16, 2026

•

5 min read

Outcome-Based Selling

And why bad reasons shouldn't stop you

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Jun 13, 2026

•

3 min read

Treat Every No as a Not Yet

And why Alina Su keeps a death clock on her desk

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jun 10, 2026

•

5 min read

Founders Are Happy

And why the biggest risk is not being delusional

Michael Houck

Case Studies

Jun 6, 2026

•

3 min read

$5 Billion Exit from Riding Waves

And why Ratmir Timashev is now betting big on Ohio

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Jun 5, 2026

•

5 min read

Super IC > 10x Engineer

And why you should build what you'd pay for

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

May 30, 2026

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3 min read

Build What You Know

Horse Spot's 4 advantages from being insiders

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 29, 2026

•

5 min read

The Founder's Tax

And a slight twist on a classic framework

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

May 23, 2026

•

3 min read

The Next Elon?

How Emil Barr is front-loading success

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 19, 2026

•

4 min read

Sell Less

And a reminder it comes down to pain endurance

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 17, 2026

•

5 min read

AI For Normies

And why no one cares about your idea

Michael Houck

Growth

How to Turn Your Relationships into Revenue

May 16, 2026

•

3 min read

How to Turn Your Relationships into Revenue

Why Cape's human-first approach stands out in the age of AI slop

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

May 9, 2026

•

4 min read

13 Years Bootstrapped, Then $22M

How AppSignal's co-founders decided to bring on partners after years of bootstrapping

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 7, 2026

•

5 min read

4 Roles of a Founder

And how to become an AI-native startup

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

May 2, 2026

•

4 min read

How To Be Contrarian And Right

And why Keeper.ai is the first compelling "dating" app in years

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Apr 30, 2026

•

5 min read

AI-First Teams

And why the average market cap for unicorns is at historic levels

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Apr 29, 2026

•

4 min read

7 Attributes of AI-Native Startups

Expanding on some ideas from YC

Michael Houck

Michael Houck

5 AI-Native Metrics to Track

It Won't Work If You're Not Obsessed

And Then You Say LFG

Ambition Shapes Reality

Don't Be Afraid To Pivot

Team Over Product

Launching JOLT!

Just Ship The Best Product

One Thing YC Looks For

Outcome-Based Selling

Treat Every No as a Not Yet

Founders Are Happy

$5 Billion Exit from Riding Waves

Super IC > 10x Engineer

Build What You Know

The Founder's Tax

The Next Elon?

Sell Less

AI For Normies

How to Turn Your Relationships into Revenue

13 Years Bootstrapped, Then $22M

4 Roles of a Founder

How To Be Contrarian And Right

AI-First Teams

7 Attributes of AI-Native Startups

Founding Journey

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