10 Takeaways from QED's 16th annual CEO Summit

It's hard to believe a week has already passed since our annual CEO Summit in Washington, D.C. As I reflect on a terrific three days with our founders, here are the themes that resonate with me the most.

• A fine balance

Many of our founders are on an arête, a sharp, knife-edge ridge in a mountain range that becomes steeper and narrower. I used the imagery of Crib Goch in North Wales' Snowdonia National Park, or 'Eryri' to the Welsh. There is a steep fall to the left (those companies growing too slowly) and a steep fall to the right (those companies growing too quickly, overspending, and losing focus on unit economics). Finding this balance on their arête is key for companies.

• Navigating uncertainty

I think the sun is coming out. It's better than it was a year ago. It doesn't mean it's great, and it doesn't mean that we should get all excited and giddy and not lose sight of the lessons that we've learned, but it's getting better. The volatility in venture capital should never ever be underestimated. The violence is inherent in the system, for those that saw the video I shared from Monty Python and the Holy Grail earlier this week.

• Surefootedness

The word of our Summit was ‘surefooted.’ We're moving forward, but we've got to make sure we plant each foot really carefully. Focus on unit economics, get the team right, be really intentional, don't build your overheads. I believe you can bend the arc of probability of success by having great people around you and having great investors. 

• The power of vulnerability

Have the courage to do what's right and to take the risks in a careful and thoughtful way. Have the courage to lead your team in a way that is vulnerable. We held a closed-door session on mental health and vulnerability and I remain convinced that this was one of the most impactful sessions of the Summit each year.

• Taking the positives from the struggle

I think about the Sigmund Freud quote, "One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful." The last years have been tough, but I believe many people will eventually look back on them in a nostalgic way. It's the struggle alongside people that you care about that often is the most important.

When I look back on my Capital One days, it's not the time that we knocked the cover off the ball with earnings or we did the IPO or we were voted best place to work. The times that I look back on most fondly are those where it was a small bunch of us and we were struggling for oxygen and we were trying to figure it out. We felt a sense of camaraderie, a sense of momentum and a sense of we're all in it together and we're going to crack the code.

• The Rule of 40

QED’s Head of Growth Chuckie Reddy moderated a terrific conversation about balancing growth and profitability. I was struck by the conversation on the Rule of 40 or the Rule of 50 and some of the tradeoffs around that and where the sweet spots might be. The focus on the intentionality of getting to profitability is key, and we are seeing across the ecosystem that investors are asking for a mix of 30 percent revenue growth plus profitability.

If you remember the Morgan Stanley data he showed, no investor wanted profitability at the expense of growth, and few thought that significantly higher growth rates (think 50 and 60 percent) paired with profitability would result in higher multiples. As your company matures, target 30 percent revenue growth, always consider the cost of marginal growth and be mindful of profitability as you approach a financing or liquidity event.

• Words matter

My conversation with Ric Elias was a special one for me. He's such a free thinker, such an iconoclast. After the session, somebody said to me, "I laughed and I cried and then I called my wife." It emotionally moved people and opened up the aperture to how we think about ourselves and I think that's fabulous. I may share some more thoughts from my our conversation another day, but one that sticks out the most is, “I don’t need to be right. I choose to be happy.” Words matter, and the framing of his mindset here is something a lot of entrepreneurs can learn from.

• You can effect change

When you're having moments of self-doubt, remind yourself that you can really make a difference. That was the closing message from Daniel Vogel and it resonated with me deeply. I truly believe QED can positively impact the lives of one billion people on this planet through democratizing access to financial services. Similarly, each and every founder at our Summit can make a difference through their own business.

• Darwin is back

You’ve heard my co-founder Frank Rotman talk about Darwin returning from his holiday and bringing a sense of normalcy and perspective back to the ecosystem. But how do you know when your company is on the right path? I enjoyed the conversation about gaining consensus to land the plane and about coaching founders about what a win actually looks like. As someone said, you sometimes need an intervention from people who can see the pattern recognition and talk to you in a Socratic way to get you to see the business for what it is.

• Take the right people on the journey

Community remains essential. Founders relish the opportunity to be around other founders and that is one of the things we try to facilitate each year at our Summit. We try to do this with our Monday activities – the bike ride, the hike and the sightseeing tour – as well as in the agenda for the Summit itself. We added more breakout sessions from a year ago and we built in extra unstructured time for impromptu meetings. The initial feedback is that the interactive sessions are the most popular, so we’ll look to expand on those in 2025.

QED is in a privileged position to be able to host an event like this and bring so many of our leaders together. We can't do what we do without the trust of our founders, the unwavering support of our LPs or the dedication of our team.

The applause at the end of the conference was a testament to the hard work, successes and vulnerabilities of our CEOs as much as it was about the agenda and the content.

These founders have weathered an incredible storm over the past few years but they have emerged on the other side. Now the focus turns to surefooted growth as they weather the violence inherent in the system. The onward journey back will be littered with new challenges, but a surefooted approach and support from trusted advisors will leave them in good stead to meet the vast fintech opportunity in front of them.

Write them, and fintech, off at your own peril.