Deep Dive: Shutting down a startup, doing right by your team, and founder identity with Stevie Cline (VC at Vol. 1 Ventures)
Deep Dive with Stevie Cline (ODF4) — managing partner at Vol. 1 Ventures — on shutting down startups, founder identity, and the long arc of ambition. Prior to VC, Stevie was a partner at a major law firm and her blog Highly Regulated covers regulatory and compliance in tech and is read by tens of thousands of subscribers each month.
Today’s conversation is rare but vital — we spend much of our time talking about the challenges around shutting down companies. While I spend most of my time writing about how to build towards success, the stark reality is that most companies fail. Shutting down your company is incredibly painful but it’s particularly lonely — you often feel like you have limited support and guidance.
That’s why Stevie and I felt it was so important to record this episode. We hope this episode is a resource to every founder in the years ahead that makes the decision that it’s time to move on. It’s packed with personal stories from Stevie, tested tactics, and best practices.
We also spend some time talking about startups, identity, and the long arc of ambition. Contrary to what you might expect, I found this to be an inspiring and entertaining conversation — I think you will as well.
Are you exploring starting a company? We’ve got a program for that!
ODF has helped 1k companies get started and go on to raise over $2B. Applications for our IRL cohorts in San Francisco are now open. Learn more and apply at beondeck.com
- Stevie on X/Twitter and her newsletter Highly Regulated
- beondeck.com
- On Deck on X/Twitter
- Julian on X/Twitter and blog
- Podcast episode archive and show notes
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