Alex Ghiculescu's Newsletter

Alex Ghiculescu's Newsletter draws upon firsthand experiences from building Tanda, covering lessons on SaaS sustainability, team management, and innovation in the tech industry. It explores themes of entrepreneurship, the importance of collaboration, the impact of technical and business decisions, and maintaining agility in a startup environment.

Entrepreneurship Startup Culture Software Development Team Management Innovation Technical Debt Software as a Service (SaaS)

The hottest Substack posts of Alex Ghiculescu's Newsletter

And their main takeaways

The 3 Horizons for strategic planning

33 implied HN points • 19 Mar 24
💼 Business Strategic Planning
  1. A 3 Horizons plan is a tool used for strategic planning to align views of the future and inspire big thinking within a company.
  2. The 3 Horizons consist of H1 to protect and grow, H2 for opportunities to capture, and H3 to create the future. Each section focuses on different aspects of company development.
  3. 3 Horizons are not time-bound and should be reviewed annually to update them as the company's vision evolves. Success is measured by whether the plan is actively used in decision-making.

"The next Silicon Valley" will be in Northern California

270 implied HN points • 07 May 23
💼 Business Technology Startups Entrepreneurship Innovation Economy
  1. The idea of creating the next Silicon Valley is popular but often misses the mark, leading to wasted efforts and resources.
  2. American university culture of studying away from home fosters entrepreneurship and collaboration, providing valuable lessons for business success.
  3. Silicon Valley's success was built on a focus on building great products and making money, rather than just creating jobs or regional innovation.

The Greenfield Project Trap

169 implied HN points • 16 May 23
🕹 Technology Development Software Projects Challenges Engineering
  1. Working on greenfield projects may not be as great as perceived because they lack real challenges.
  2. Legacy code and requirements are what make software development interesting and ignoring them can lead to project failure.
  3. Seek out technical challenges that come with real constraints, as they create value for customers and are opportunities for growth.
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The Curse of Success

101 implied HN points • 05 Jul 23
💼 Business Technology Companies Productivity Profitability Culture
  1. The impact of early success is crucial for technology companies - it can set them up for a long time.
  2. Adding more employees may not always lead to increased output - breakthroughs early on matter a lot.
  3. During a downturn, companies that are culturally ready to work hard and create great things will succeed.

Some upcoming events, and some stories to go with them

33 implied HN points • 23 Apr 23
💼 Business Events Startups Networking Entrepreneurship
  1. Upcoming events in Brisbane include speaking tours at River City Labs, QUT, and a Workplace Innovation Hackathon.
  2. Events will feature Q&As, stories from the past, chances to meet younger versions of entrepreneurs, and opportunities to network.
  3. A variety of venues such as Cohort on the Gold Coast will host events for networking and sharing entrepreneurial experiences.