Delivering Bad News

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Today, we’re talking about delivering bad news to investors.

I know it’s hard but please don’t delay giving bad news to investors or stake holders. That will only make it worse. Most investors are grown ups, understand the risks and will accept bad news BUT they hate surprises.

If you’re upfront about the problem — who knows — maybe the investor will have some suggestions. And, if you keep them updated, they will get see you face this obstacle. Demonstrating resilience is a great way to get more money from your investors.

Ash Rust

Managing Partner, Sterling Road

Resources

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AI Slop is Ruining Social Media

July 2, 2025

There are now dozens of powerful AI tools that will help you create images, videos and text in ways that were not possible, even just a few months ago. However, the incredible opportunity these tools offer inevitably means abuse too.

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How Hiring Slows Down Fast-Growing Startups

July 2, 2025

Lots of fast growing startups start to struggle as they scale. The reason? Not enough people.

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Meta Finally Nails Hardware

July 2, 2025

After 12 long years of trying, Meta has finally found its hardware platform: glasses. From the beginning of the smartphone era, Meta knew that building their customer’s hardware was the best way to ensure their software, and ads, can be used exactly as Meta intends.

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October 26, 2020

Delivering Bad News

Delivering Bad News

Ash Rust

Resources

AI Slop is Ruining Social Media

How Hiring Slows Down Fast-Growing Startups

Meta Finally Nails Hardware

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