Why ‘One Step at a Time’ Is Killing Your Startup
The tour's done. I'm back in SF and ready to put you onto the advice I wish I received before coming to the Bay Area.
The tour ended a while ago.
We’re in the middle of interviews for the 2026 batch, and while that process runs in the background, Founders Compass is back to its regular format: weekly insights from SF’s startup ecosystem that helps you get from idea to traction.
This edition covers:
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what you need to do before you even set foot here
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one of the biggest lies you’re told about building your startup
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the trend that currently opens every door
(read till the end for that one).
P.S. If you’ve already had your interview – say hello in the chat and share your experience
I read everything 😉
What I Wish I Knew Before Landing in SF
When I moved here, I assumed I’d figure things out once I arrived.
I was wrong.
SF is far more network and connection-oriented than I expected.
The work that actually moves you forward doesn’t start when you land – it starts in your inbox.
I came here unprepared, and I got hit.
I spent my first weeks walking around like a headless chicken, chasing the right people to connect with.
So here’s what the 2026 ReaktorX batch will be doing before flying to SF
(and you should too, wherever you go)
Reach out to people before you book the flight.
Let them know you’re coming.
Get as many coffee dates on the calendar as you can.
One of the biggest lies you’re told about building your startup
I call it the step-by-step myth.
The fear behind it is always the same:
If we do everything at once, it’ll break. We won’t be able to focus. We won’t do it well.
I hear it everywhere.
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Founders talking to each other: “Let’s finish the landing page first, then start reaching out to customers.”
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Investors talking to founders: “Finish your deck, then go pitch.”
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Designers talking about product: “Stage one is onboarding. Stage two is the next iteration.”
It’s wrong because the point is not to do everything well, it’s to do it decently and fast enough to get momentum.
If you feel in control at every step, you’re moving too slow.
Here’s how it should actually go:
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Don’t finish the landing page, then reach out. Build the page while you’re already talking to customers, because their words will tell you what the page should say.
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Don’t finish the deck, then pitch. Pitch while you build the deck and while you sell to customers, because that’s how you find out what belongs in the deck.
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Don’t ship onboarding, then plan iteration two. Ship the whole app and improve it as you go. Six months in, you’ll throw it away and rebuild it better, but you can’t plan that rebuild today.
Avoid at all costs the “Step by Step Framework”, focus on building with agility instead.
From ElevenLabs to Your Grandma – the Voice Market Is Wide Open
And I’m about to tell you how to use it to your advantage.
Five years ago, if you told me I’d be talking to my computer and it would go search Google for me, I’d have said you were crazy.
Now, I’m seeing voice startups everywhere.
Whisperflow, Granola, Smallest, Lightfield, everyone is using voice to help you interact with your devices, your data and the people in your life.
Most of the world still runs on phone calls.
Call centers, support lines, anyone over 40 still wants to pick up the phone and hear a voice answer back.
People literally walk down the street talking to their phone like it’s a person.
That’s one side.
Here’s the other, that’s most useful to you.
The hype around voice is so high, that anyone building in the space gets invited to rooms that matter.
Now, you might not build a voice startup, but you should still add a voice layer to your product, then use that to get into every voice AI hackathon, event, and meetup you can find.
That’s a wrap for this week.
P.S. We’re building a private community with the strongest ReaktorX applicants, so even if you are not making it into this year’s batch, you’ll still be able to:
1. connect with the other bright minds I’ve come across during the CEE Tour
2. ask me questions directly
So, keep an eye on your notifications.
If this edition was useful, share it with a builder friend, so they stay in the loop with what’s actually happening in the San Francisco ecosystem too.
Until next week, keep building!
Luca S.