Paige Finn DohertyFounding Partner, Behind Genius · Founding Partner at Behind Genius Ventures

What are some of the lessons M13 Investing Partner Anna Barber has learned from her journey?

3 May 2023 · 1 min

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In this interview excerpt, M13 investing partner Anna Barber, a former founder, shares the core lessons she imparts to the founders she works with. She emphasizes that a founder’s DNA never truly fades and that the essence of entrepreneurship is a learning mindset. Barber advises founders to maintain strong, well‑defined opinions about their product, customers, and go‑to‑market strategy, but to hold those opinions loosely—remaining open to market and customer feedback. She stresses that founders should continuously incorporate feedback, revise their viewpoints, and repeat this cycle, allowing the market to shape and improve their ideas.

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As a previous founder yourself, I feel like that DNA never really goes away. So can you share some of the lessons that you try and impart on the founders that you work with that you learned from your journey?
Yeah, absolutely. You're right, it doesn't go away. And I honestly feel like I'm still really in my founder journey because I think for me, the core of being a founder, being an entrepreneur, is learning, is having a learning mindset. That's probably the main thing that I impart to my founders, just to have a like an open perspective. So one of the things I say is strong opinions loosely held. You have to have a strong point of view as a founder. So you have to have a strong point of view about what your product is, who your customer is, how you're taking it to market, all of those things. But loosely held, meaning the market's going to show you where you're wrong. Your customers are going to tell you how you got it wrong. You're going to be getting feedback all the time. And the best founders take that feedback and they incorporate it to change their own ideas. And then develop a new point of view that's strongly held, and then they change it again.