Deep Dives

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

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

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

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

Deep Dives

May 30, 2026

•

3 min read

Build What You Know

Horse Spot's 4 advantages from being insiders

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

May 23, 2026

•

3 min read

The Next Elon?

How Emil Barr is front-loading success

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

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

Deep Dives

Apr 29, 2026

•

4 min read

7 Attributes of AI-Native Startups

Expanding on some ideas from YC

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Apr 21, 2026

•

5 min read

Seven Days in Costa Rica

And how to join my next founder mastermind in May

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Apr 6, 2026

•

5 min read

Positionless Basketball

How to build your death lineup

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Mar 14, 2026

•

5 min read

Who's Killing It?

Takeaways from a dinner conversation

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Feb 10, 2026

•

7 min read

Hands & Feet

And what human-computer interaction looks like in the future

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Jan 31, 2026

•

8 min read

You're Leaving Millions on the Table

How Schematic raised $4.8M to help you grow faster

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Dec 7, 2025

•

7 min read

10 Curated Guides From Y Combinator

Worth revisiting time and time again

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Nov 29, 2025

•

5 min read

Where We Go Post-LLM

And if OpenAI is secretly doomed

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Nov 22, 2025

•

12 min read

5 Lessons From Two IPOs

What I learned from the billionaire founder of Figure & SoFi

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Nov 16, 2025

•

5 min read

3 Reasons You Can't Find Your ICP

A little startup puzzle with three solutions

Michael Houck

Founder Psychology

Oct 25, 2025

•

6 min read

Startup Ideas Are Like Waves

And why founders should never have a scarcity mindset

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Oct 18, 2025

•

6 min read

The Hottest Market In Startups?

How HireHarbour is carving out marketshare despite competition

Michael Houck

Growth

Oct 5, 2025

•

8 min read

Don't Fall Behind On GEO

And why I'm launching a GEO service for startups

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Aug 3, 2025

•

6 min read

Are IPOs Broken?

Figma's big day left billions on the table

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Jul 26, 2025

•

7 min read

Astronomer's Response is a Masterclass

Here's how they truly nailed crisis PR and changed the conversation

Michael Houck

Deep Dives

Team Over Product

Launching JOLT!

One Thing YC Looks For

Treat Every No as a Not Yet

$5 Billion Exit from Riding Waves

Build What You Know

The Next Elon?

How to Turn Your Relationships into Revenue

13 Years Bootstrapped, Then $22M

How To Be Contrarian And Right

7 Attributes of AI-Native Startups

Seven Days in Costa Rica

Positionless Basketball

Who's Killing It?

Hands & Feet

You're Leaving Millions on the Table

10 Curated Guides From Y Combinator

Where We Go Post-LLM

5 Lessons From Two IPOs

3 Reasons You Can't Find Your ICP

Startup Ideas Are Like Waves

The Hottest Market In Startups?

Don't Fall Behind On GEO

Are IPOs Broken?

Astronomer's Response is a Masterclass

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