What Startup Founders Need at This Moment: It Starts with a Very Cool Head on Your Shoulders

Fred Destin, founder of London-based Stride.VC, has been in the venture business for more than two decades, and what he sees now in the startup investment world is not surprisingly a substantially tightening economic picture. Startup valuations are falling by 30-50%. Volume of deals getting done are down by 30-50%. “Half of our portfolio’s (business) pipeline is doing ok, the other half is getting obliterated, and it’s true for almost every company,” Destin says. “The good news … startups are kind of designed to perform fairly well in environments of chaos. “We have a lot flexibility. Not only in operations, but in strategy.” Destin has seen his companies immediately change their messaging to respond to changing conditions. He has seen startups quickly narrow their product focus, and shift toward markets that are showing continued growth, if not increasing traction. “I think startups are quite uniquely positioned to do well in an environment like this,” he says. “But as a founder you need to have a very cool head on your shoulders right now.”