Box’s CEO says these are the 3 things startup founders should do — and it includes a reading list
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Aaron Levie, 40, cofounded the cloud-storage giant Box in 2005.
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Levie said reading books like “The Innovator’s Dilemma” will give founders an edge over competitors.
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Founders have a limited window to leverage the AI boom and start a great company, he added.
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Aaron Levie, the cofounder and CEO of cloud-storage giant Box, said founders need to build strong teams and ride disruptive trends to launch successful startups.
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Levie was speaking to participants at startup incubator Y Combinator’s AI Startup School, which ran from June 16 to 17, when he was asked for advice on building a startup. Levie’s remarks were published on Y Combinator’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.
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The 40-year-old said there were three things startup founders should do to be more effective.
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First, Levie recommended that founders read three books: “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen, “Crossing the Chasm” by Geoffrey Moore, and “Blue Ocean Strategy” by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim.
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“If you do what’s in those books, and you are going after the B2B market, I guarantee you, you will be 10 times better off than any other startup that is just starting from scratch,” Levie said.
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“You will have a way to think about markets, disruption, what incumbents are vulnerable, and which ones aren’t. If you really deeply internalize them, you will be so much better off,” he added.
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Second, Levie said that founders should try to assemble an “incredible founding team” to deal with the challenges that come with running a new business.
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“I know solo founders, that will happen for sure, but just try and grab one friend. They could be the least technical friend of all time,” Levie said.
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“Just be in the grind with somebody because you’re going to have more fun. You’re going to see through more difficult times together. So have a team that you really are excited to work with to kind of get through anything,” he added.
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Third, Levie said it was important for founders to identify disruptive forces like AI and develop business ideas that can leverage them.
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“If your market is not truly transformed by AI, don’t touch it. It’s just not worth it because you’re going to be fighting against a headwind that is just unnecessary to fight against,” he said.
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Levie said founders have a limited opportunity to start a great company within “two or three years from now” amid the AI boom.
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“Be ambitious because these windows don’t come for more than 10 to 20 years. So I would exploit that, take advantage of that,” Levie said.