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Can founders actually avoid the mistakes? Paul Orlando's answer: some, not all, and that's a good thing.
Paul built and runs the USC Incubator, which has grown to over 300 companies. Those companies have raised over $350 million, and 14 have been acquired. He teaches entrepreneurship at USC's Greif Center, co-founded AcceleratorHK (Hong Kong's first startup accelerator), led a cleantech accelerator in Rome, and wrote Why Now: How Good Timing Makes Great Products. He became a founder only after his consulting practice was cut, and he landed his USC job in a meeting he didn't know was an interview.
In this episode of Off Script, we cover:
→ The one conversation that cut his incubator's failure rate by 10–20%→ Why being too early is more dangerous than being too late→ What happened when he gave the same homework before and after ChatGPT→ Why "we should get coffee" means something different in New York, LA, and Hong Kong→ How to stay economically resilient when you can't predict what's next→ Rejection therapy: a 30-day challenge you can start today
📖 Paul's book pick: Erewhon by Samuel Butler📖 Paul's book: Why Now: How Good Timing Makes Great Products
Chapters
00:00 Intro00:25 Who is Paul Orlando?02:02 Forced into entrepreneurship06:15 Can founders avoid mistakes?12:51 Can entrepreneurship be taught?18:22 The coffee meeting that was a job interview22:05 Same homework, before and after ChatGPT33:26 New York vs. LA vs. Hong Kong39:37 Why Hong Kong's culture resisted startups44:43 Why Now: too early vs. too late53:22 What won't change57:22 How to be economically resilient1:04:15 The rejection therapy challenge1:06:40 Lessons from 300 companies1:11:12 Would he be a founder again?1:11:51 Book pick
Be Anomalous is for anyone who didn't fit the mold: real stories and real playbooks from people who took the unconventional path, so you don't have to figure it out alone.
#startups #entrepreneurship #founder #startupadvice #podcast
