Hey — It’s Charlie.

Welcome to the latest edition of Great Startups! Here’s what’s in store:

• The Mentor Trap: Why Great Advice Can Still Wreck Your Startup

• Survey: How Tech workers really feel about work right now.

• Vibe Coding: How to get most of it.

• The $500 Hack: Your Startup Doesn’t Need a Fancy Name—Just a Working Credit Card Limit

• Targeting Made Simple: A step-by-step guide to finding your perfect customer.

• Hidden Startup Debt: The silent killer that’s slowing growth.

Get ready to dive into these power-packed insights for founders and growth enthusiasts!

Resources

• The state of B2B monetization in 2025. (LINK)

• More or Less: The three pricing strategies. (LINK)

• How to fight back against AI tourists (LINK)

• David Politis on doing whatever it takes to stay in the game (LINK)

• Sam Blond on how to generate more demand. (LINK)

ICYMI

• The Browser Company launches its AI-first browser, Dia. (LINK)

• Netflix is getting into short videos with a new vertical feed for mobile. (LINK)

• Snap acquires Saturn, a social calendar app for high school and college students. (LINK)

• The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained. (LINK)

• 1X will test humanoid robots in ‘a few hundred’ homes in 2025. (LINK)

Quick Links

• Ray Dalio built a $14B empire by following core success principles that took him from humble beginnings to founding the world’s largest hedge fund.

• Iman Gadzhi and Pierre de Preux launched a SaaS and hit 7-figure ARR in 9 months by moving fast, using Iman’s audience, and solving a real problem.

• Lenny Rachitsky and Jen Abel on how to approach founder-led sales.

• Carta shares 50 slides packed with insights for founders from 45,000 startups.

• How One AI App Founder Makes $20K+ Monthly—and How You Can Too!

Why Great Advice Can Still Wreck Your Startup

Founders often get caught up in flashy advice from high-profile mentors—but what actually matters is stage-appropriate guidance. If you're still figuring out your product-market fit or landing your first few customers, advice from someone who scaled a 200-person sales team at a big tech company might not help. This post breaks down the common disconnect between a founder’s current needs and an advisor’s past experience, and why aligning the two can be a total game-changer for your growth. The key takeaway? Seek advisors who've done exactly what you're trying to do—at the stage you're in now.

The article offers a framework similar to skill leveling: from basic awareness to mastery. Whether you’re building a podcast or a GTM strategy, each stage needs a different kind of guidance. Founders are encouraged to constantly evaluate where they are, ask mentors for relevant examples, and not be afraid to switch advisors as the company grows. It's not about loyalty to one mentor—it’s about building a flexible support system that evolves with your startup. When you match the right kind of expertise to the right moment, you move faster, make smarter decisions, and avoid costly mistakes. (LINK)

Ok that’s it for this week, We keep refining our newsletter content, just hit reply to let us know what you think about this issue.