follow the physics

startup operations violates the physics of organization.

  • slow = indisputable bad, doing = always good

  • the begining = do, never over think

  • micromanagement = bad

  • talent market = mostly efficient

  • predictable plans = impossible, bad

  • tools = unquestionably good

startup advice does not know there is a physics of organization.

startup advice is a supermarket of facts without a foundation.

i'm danilo, a former greylock, khosla, and yc-backed founder.

when i raised $25m out of college as a solo founder, i

  • had no one i could fully trust (incentives)

  • was flooded with advice

  • had no rigorous foundation to filter.

so, i completed a phd on physics of coordination

and built sound-swim for founder/thinker friends to buildstudy

if you…

  1. interested in ‘strategic thinking,’

  2. know that ‘strategy’ and ‘thinking’ are not understood,

  3. think we’d get along (i only work with folks i’d invite to the land)

i offer the highest signal-noise ratio conceptual co-founder* service on the planet.

‘there is no one like danilo.’

- founder of startup building new city

‘i feel (conceptually) outgunned.’

- co-founder of $75b marketcap company

‘he’s unlimited upside and unlimited downside.’

- my series a investor

frequently (and infrequently) asked questions

  • q: how can i see some of your work?
    some highlights: coordination theory of everything, the goal of your platform, american business logic, person trust system. the 20th century, a new data paradigm, minimum viable definitions of life, creativity, risk, complexity and god.

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  • q: what is a conceptual co-founder?
    a: i am a thought partner to challenge/refine thinking w. evolving challenges, process creation and general decisions (both personal and professional). i of me like a conceptual co-founder whose approach is like karl weick's what theory is not, theorizing is.

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  • q: how do you view the theorizing process?
    a: ideas rarely emerge as fully developed theories. much of what is considered theory in organizational studies is an approximation.

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  • q: why do weak theories emerge?
    a: lack of variety and superficial efforts (e.g. theory is loosely attached to raw data). others, however, represent a work-in-progress, pushing towards stronger theories.

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  • q: what does a typical working arrangement look like?
    a: ongoing email/texts threads, supplemented by 1:1 calls lasting one-three hours every week(s) based on the tempo of the challenges. sometimes folks bring in colleagues. there is usually no deliverable but occasionally, i’ll produce a doc.

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  • q: who is your consulting model best suited for and what’s cost?
    a: solo founders with $5m+ raised. a requirement for who i work with is that is has to be someone i’m going to invite. engagements start at 7k/m for 3 months.

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  • q: are you a grifter?

    a; i too once thought that this type of work seemed like grifters, but having worked with a bunch of people about their personal goals etc, they should totally pay people to tell them “obvious” things and non obvious things. people do miss obvious things in plain sight & it costs A LOT.

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  • q: why aren’t you applying your own ideas to running your own company?
    a: i am. as per the law requisite variety, alexander’s notion of life, and chaos theory, i created the initial conditions, found the right co-founder and the co (it’s a dao of dao’s (and how could it be anything else based on what i do?)) is off the races. being a friend, partner, bringing people together and setting initial conditions for complex operations is the intersection of my impulsion/interest.