Pieter Kemps’ Post

Pieter Kemps

3d

Relationships between spouses have some clear characteristics: - Transparency is key to build trust. To build something that is enduring - You need to answer to someone about key decisions you make - It’s not about you. You’re now responsible for other people and not just yourself - Money can be a huge deal breaker if you don’t plan to use it wisely together - Authenticity matters a lot. No matter how hard you try to dress up, your true colours will always show up eventually. - Goals can only be achieved if you both run in the same direction Would you agree? Now read this again. But now as a founder. And think about your co-founder. Is it the same? I bet it is.

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Pieter Kemps

1mo

A Chaos Monkey   "If only we would have had a Chaos Monkey."   That is what many startups are wondering these days. "Then we would have been prepared."   For the current market turmoil. Demand going down. Uncertainty going up. Valuations dropping.   But what is the Chaos Monkey?   The original Chaos Monkey was a software tool developed by Netflix engineers to test the resiliency & stability of their Amazon Web Services (AWS) stack. It simulates failures by randomly 'unplugging' virtual servers, databases, etc. It was named for the way it wreaks havoc like a wild, armed monkey set loose in a datacenter.   Why would Netflix let loose a dangerous monkey in their datacenter? Because they realised that you never know what happens. What will hit you. And when. The Chaos Monkey helped Netflix to 'design for failure' and to always, always be prepared.    Think of the Chaos Monkey as a smart mechanism to stress-test a system. Or a company. And that's why many startups now wished they had a Chaos Monkey. So they would have been prepared for today’s tough market.    Fortunately, there are still many things you can do. Be decisive. Realise that simplicity scales, complexity doesn’t. That speed of execution is one of the greatest business strategies. And that your entire business should rally behind three simple objectives: drive revenue, preserve cash, and reduce risk.   Right now, the chaos is real. When this is behind, think about creating your own Chaos Monkey. So you’ll always be prepared.   Amazon Web Services (AWS) Netflix #startups #resilience Sequoia India Sequoia Southeast Asia PS. The picture below was taken on stage at the AWS Summit in Bangalore, July 5th 2013, just 2 years after the Chaos Monkey was born at Netflix 

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Pieter Kemps

1mo

He was just staring into the void.  For two and half hours straight. Doing nothing but staring into the void.  We were flying back from Saigon to Singapore and I was busy being busy: working, reading, watching. But whenever I looked over, my colleague was just staring into the void.  He wasn’t doing nothing.  He was thinking. Deep, long, intentional thinking.  I thought about this last week when a friend told me he was trying to slow down. Not doing less, but bringing in slowness. Slack. Time to think.  I thought about this when a founder just told me he blocks out one day a week where no one can book meetings with him. Just to create time to think. After all, he explained, “My main role as a founder is to think.” It looks like after COVID, everyone is rushing again. Rush back to the office. Rush back to work. Rush to meetings, events, travel. Everything fast.  But at times, slow is good.  At times, just stare into the void. cc. Surge Shailendra J Singh Kunal Shah Aakash Kapoor

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Pieter Kemps

1mo

For the last 3 years or so, the main meeting room in our office, the ‘boardroom’, has been called Federer. After all, he embodies so much of what we all aspire: ambition, performance, endurance, humility. This week, sitting in that meeting room felt ever so special. His retirement. End of an era. Then seeing him at the Laver Cup, tearing up, holding hands with Rafa, adressing his wife in the audience…what a legend! I hope we can all get a bit of Federer each time ‘we meet in Federer’

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Pieter Kemps

1mo

"Pieter, you are clueless. I wish I were negotiating with someone else'." Wow. Did she really just say that? What was happening here? We were in Istanbul meeting with the amazing Hande Cilingir, Founder & CEO of Insider. We had had breakfast that morning on the Bosphorus. Got lucky and spotted some rare dolphins in the waters. We had completed our initial diligence and had made an offer to invest. And were now negotiating the term sheet.  The Insider team had been extremely hospitable. Had shown us around the city. The atmosphere was super collaborative and friendly. Then she suddenly calls me clueless.  I was taken aback. But the smile on her face made me pause. So rather than an emotional knee-jerk reaction, I calmly asked:  "What do you exactly mean with 'clueless'?  Her reply: "Well, your face doesn't give me any clues. I have no idea what you are thinking." Ah. That's what she meant. A pokerface... It had felt like an insult. But she wouldn't do that. I had come to know her as incredibly smart, determined, and authentic. And so indeed, it was more like a joke. Maybe even a compliment. All good. This is how conversations often go off the rails, especially when we negotiate across language and culture barriers. My mother tongue is Dutch, hers is Turkish. We both get things wrong every now and then.  What can you do?  Assume good intent. Clarify before jumping to conclusions. And practice your pokerface for the moment someone calls you clueless ;-) PS. This was in 2017. Since then Hande, Serhat Soyuerel at the rest of the Insider team have expanded to 25+ markets and 100's of employees, and raised over $150M.

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