Julia Schottenstein
Julia Schottenstein is a product lead at dbt Labs, a data transformation company, and an active angel investor in data and infrastructure startups. She first got excited about dbt in 2019 when she was a VC at NEA and decided to make the leap from investor to operator by joining dbt Labs. She also co-hosts the dbt Labs Analytics Engineering Podcast, a show about data trends that impact analytics engineers’ work.
Overlay: Zero-to-One / Founder Skills
To evaluate a startup effectively, you must analyze its leadership, market growth, product uniqueness, and distribution strategy to see where your specific skills can provide the most value.
"You're not going to get a 10 out of 10 on all four dimensions. So when you're joining a company, you also have the benefit of dedicating your time. So try to think if they're weaker on one dimension,..."
Positioning for acquisition is best done from a position of strength by building an enduring company that becomes indispensable or disruptive to a small group of strategic buyers.
"M&A is always about creating plan Bs. And the way I would think about it is for any one company, there's only ever two to three buyers that find what you're building to be extremely strategic. And the..."
Strategy & Positioning Skills
Effective competitive strategy involves asserting your unique advantages while avoiding an overly aggressive stance that might close doors to future strategic partnerships or acquisitions.
"I see a lot of founders get this wrong and they prematurely will shut down a conversation or they won't talk to an incumbent or a potential future buyer because they take too competitive of a stance...."