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Stop Building Unicorns. Build Camels. | Why Everything You Learned About Startups Is Wrong
Manage episode 524659790 series 3706305
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFX51PL3
I need to confess something.
I spent 30 years as a Fortune 10 systems architect—designing the very extraction machines hollowing out our economy. Monday morning, I helped a client fire 10,000 people. Friday afternoon, they hired my firm back at triple the cost. The CEO got a $20M bonus. The stock went up.
I was building sophisticated lies. So I burned it all down.
In this conversation, I reveal:
→ My contrarian 5-step formula for building enterprises that survive (2008, COVID, and whatever's next)
→ Why "lean startup" is building on quicksand—and what to build instead
→ The real reason 90% of startups fail in two years (hint: it's theater, not business)
→ Why I hire farmers, not hunters—and why patient capital beats VC money
→ The Cambodian proverb that changed everything
Don't build unicorns. Build camels—enterprises that endure deserts and storms.
The question isn't whether you'll be successful. It's whether your success will matter in 50 years.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro: The Truth About "Faking Success" in Business
02:26 Soul Searching: From Corporate Layoffs to the Killing Fields
03:30 The 5 Principles: Why You Should Build a Camel, Not a Unicorn
08:59 The VC Trap: Why You Don't Need Investors to Start
13:13 Silicon Valley’s Bias & The Farmer Mindset
15:33 Book Reveal: "The Gods Must Be Crazy II"
17:31 The Exponential Age: From Y2K to Generative AI
22:22 Adapt or Die: Why You Must Embrace AI Workflows
23:26 The AI Energy Crisis: Data Centers & Power Consumption
28:01 The Manufacturing Shift: How the US Lost IP to China
33:21 Can Manufacturing Return to the US? (The Role of Robotics)
36:13 Financial Health: Solve Real Problems, Forget the Exit Strategy
39:21 Connect with Saji Madapat
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► 📚 The Gods Must Be Crazy! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFX51PL3
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goodtogreat/
💬 Drop a comment: Are you building a unicorn or a camel?
#Entrepreneurship #StartupAdvice #BusinessStrategy #SiliconValley #Leadership
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