I think running an early-stage startup requires making the organization predictable, prioritizing the business, moving quickly, building a values-aligned team, and managing cloud costs so the company can extend its runway.
On 2023-02-07, I wrote that a leader’s first task is to increase predictability for subordinates and, as a result, for the organization as a whole. I did not specify how to achieve or measure that predictability.
In a post dated 2024-09-02 about a CTO’s first 100 days, I argued that business always outweighs technology: a CTO should understand the business side as well as, or better than, fellow founders. I recommended rapid development and growth followed by iteration and refinement, because iteration is necessary, not optional. I also advised hiring for shared values and vision, not just technical ability; I said solutions to 99% of problems are available and teams need to tackle challenges together day after day. I intentionally left tech-stack decisions unanswered because they are not the most important decision and new CTOs can overemphasize them while overlooking other startup challenges. I said the advice came from real experiences, while acknowledging it might not fit everyone, and invited CTOs and software engineers to share challenges for a future post.
On 2026-08-21, I offered help to AI startups struggling with cloud costs: GPU credits for AI training and inference, exchanging unused cloud credits for needed cloud resources, and cloud-spend optimization to stretch runway further. I highlighted the risk of GPU-heavy workloads consuming resources while credits go unused, or an initial AI model costing more than the credits received. I invited interested startups to DM me or email praveen@awign.com.
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