Should You Build What Customers Ask For? (The Real Answer)

Should You Build What Customers Ask For? (The Real Answer)

Jack Altman is the Managing Partner of Alt Capital, a $275 million early-stage fund, and the co-founder and chairman of Lattice, which is used by more than 5,000 companies. In this interview, Jack talks about the pressure founders face to chase revenue early, how customer demands can pull teams off course on their roadmap, and how to avoid traps that stall real growth. 00:00 - Introduction 01:19 - From Operator to Founder 04:44 - Developing Lattice & Finding Product-Market Fit 07:20 - Balancing Customer Requests & Company Roadmap 09:28 - Selling the Product & Raising the Bar 13:48 - Co-Founder Dynamics & Early Team 16:26 - Lessons Learned from Startup Accelerators 18:05 - Managing Hirings & Investors at an Early Stage 23:19 - Building the Machine as CEO 26:27 - What's Different from Then to Now 💡 Are you a founder building the next big thing? Join Speedrun, the startup accelerator designed to help founders move fast with capital, mentorship, and top investors. 👉 Apply now: https://speedrun.a16z.com/ 📲 Follow us for more insights: X (Twitter): https://x.com/speedrun LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/a16zspeedrun/ #a16z #speedrun #altcapital #startup