AI & I · Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Granola CEO Chris shared his perspective on the inherent difficulty of startups, stating that they are 'knife fights' regardless of whether they are succeeding or failing. He admitted he was unprepared for the intensity of managing a successful startup, likening it to desperately trying not to fall off a surfboard during a big wave.
“startups are like knife fights. and I thought startups were just really hard when they weren't working. Turns out they're really hard even when they're working as well.”
“Turns out they're really hard even when they're working as well. It's just, it's a knife fight, you know, when things are going well or not going well. And I was a bit unprepared for that.”
“it's like as a founder, you're always doing stuff you don't know how to do. It's like, oh, yeah, actually that's been my experience. It's like I'm always just in the space where like I'd stuff I've never done before or it's just more than we've ever uh, like bit off in the past.”