Dan is the CO-Founder of LinearB, which has raised $71M ($50M Series B in 2022). Dan also hosts the Dev Interrupted Podcast, the most popular show designed explicitly for software engineering leaders.
Today he takes us to December 2021.
Dan and his Co-Founder met and decided to do a clean slate exercise.
They quickly came to a few conclusions…
More competition was coming…
There was a lot of potential for growth…
But Dan started wondering about what differentiates their business from others.
Being at the crossroads
At this moment, Dan and his Co-Founder were facing an intriguing decision:
a) Risk all they’d built for a chance at something more
B) Maintain course in a market growing more crowded.
At this point, he was already excited about option A).
After taking a while to think about this decision, Sam went home and consulted with his wife.
He took into consideration the extra time he will need to work…
The talent he needed to find and hire…
And he took a while to assess both the personal and professional impact of this key decision.
One decision away from greatness
After a month, Sam and his Co-Founder started planning and pitching their idea to investors.
Finally, they made it happen and the impact this decision made on the business was incredible.
In the first 120 days an organisation uses the LinearB platform they see a 47% decrease in the cycle time to get code into production, a 58% decrease in PR pickup time, a 51% decrease in PR review time and a 33% decrease in PR size.
In this episode we discuss,
- The value of validation and due diligence
- The power of coaching in decision-making
- The increased competition and how to stay relevant in a crowded market.
As today’s episode wraps up, we are left with a powerful note on the importance of striking a balance between taking calculated risks and maintaining stability in a competitive market.
Dan emphasises this narrative which plays a great role through entrepreneurial strategy, risk-taking, and the importance of balance, providing valuable insights for anyone in the entrepreneurial journey.
Tune in and listen to Dan Lines as he walks us through a difficult decision-making process that followed a make-or-break moment for his company, LinearB.