A quick look back on the mistakes I made with Haven in the hope it does new founders some good. In no particular order...

1. Only raise venture money if you understand the growth requirements associated with venture money. Ex: SaaS $0-$1.4 ARR w/i 18 months of launching. 70%+ gross Margins. $10B+ IPO.

2. Lots of VCs claim to be venture investors when they're really just family office money looking to play VC and hit 3x returns. Just take out a loan if you want to bootstrap. 100x+ returns only.

3. Don't mix non-VC and VC money on a board. They will expect different outcomes and waste your time.

4. There is no reason for a good founder to raise non-VC money until much later rounds where strategics aren't a conflict.

5. Don't talk to corp-dev: http://www.paulgraham.com/corpdev.html 

6. Angels only belong in pre-seed/seed. Don't add new angels later. They're a hassle. (yes, I'm aware that I'm an angel). *exception: SPVs where a real fund deals with it is fine.

7. Hire more designers & engineers than any other position. Fire anyone who wants to build a large ops team.

8. Don't take non-US based VC money. I'd rather work at a bank than take an Asian or European investor before a C round.

9. Forget international until you're winning at home. Even then...

10. Love the industry you're working in. I love finance & accounting software and empathize with the customers. It's boring for some, but I really do love it.

11. If a board member misses an important call more than once, sacrifice everything to remove them from your board immediately.

12. Value input from customers over everyone else.

13. If you're having a rough day, meet with and listen to a customer. It makes everything better.

14. Raise your bar for talent, customers, and investors. You feel better immediately after firing a problematic employee.

15. Practice insane levels of transparency with the team and investors. Many can't handle it, that's on them.

16. Don't hire anyone who doesn't pickup after themselves or others in an office. Fire anyone that leaves shit on a conference table for others to throw away.

17. Don't make people ask for a raise.

18. Conferences are typically worth it. Ex: B2B ACV > $50k? Conference is $5k to meet 50 people. Close rate 10-20% early stage means they paid for themselves.

19. Advisors are bullshit, ask them to invest (buy shares) and get involved or move on.

20. Time > everything else. My mantra at @OpenEnvoy is "Speed!"

21. People > Customers > Investors. Great people with the authority and support to do their job will build great product, onboard great customers, and that is what investors care about.

22. If you have to have a conversation with an opportunity in an underground sound proof room in Switzerland, it's not a good industry.

Good luck & speed!