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

Case Studies

Jun 6, 2026

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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

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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

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5 min read

The Founder's Tax

And a slight twist on a classic framework

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

May 23, 2026

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3 min read

The Next Elon?

How Emil Barr is front-loading success

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 19, 2026

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4 min read

Sell Less

And a reminder it comes down to pain endurance

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

May 17, 2026

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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

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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

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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

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5 min read

4 Roles of a Founder

And how to become an AI-native startup

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

May 2, 2026

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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

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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

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4 min read

7 Attributes of AI-Native Startups

Expanding on some ideas from YC

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Apr 26, 2026

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5 min read

You Are The Pitch

And the top cities for unicorns

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Apr 21, 2026

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5 min read

Seven Days in Costa Rica

And how to join my next founder mastermind in May

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Apr 14, 2026

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9 min read

The GTM Engineer

And why you need 10,000 reps

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Apr 9, 2026

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9 min read

Data Center Building Boom

And why you should spend time on things that compound

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Apr 6, 2026

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5 min read

Positionless Basketball

How to build your death lineup

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Mar 31, 2026

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8 min read

Top 1% Exits

And why you need hyper delusion

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Mar 27, 2026

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9 min read

Founder Leverage Test

And why distribution has always been the hard part

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Mar 18, 2026

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8 min read

Don’t Worry About Being Hated

And showing how tech employment is declining

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Mar 14, 2026

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5 min read

Who's Killing It?

Takeaways from a dinner conversation

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Mar 11, 2026

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7 min read

Agents Are Eating SaaS

And why you should get creative

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Mar 3, 2026

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10 min read

Just Build It

And the acceleration of college-educated job loss

Michael Houck

Two Minute Startup

Feb 14, 2026

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8 min read

The World Rewards Audacity

And why intelligence is getting cheaper

Michael Houck

Michael Houck

$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

You Are The Pitch

Seven Days in Costa Rica

The GTM Engineer

Data Center Building Boom

Positionless Basketball

Top 1% Exits

Founder Leverage Test

Don’t Worry About Being Hated

Who's Killing It?

Agents Are Eating SaaS

Just Build It

The World Rewards Audacity

Founding Journey

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