The Opening, Midgame and Endgame in Startups

• Best founders time-travel: play all three phases simultaneously, not sequentially.
• Three phases: Opening (idea→PMF), Midgame (PMF→scale), Endgame (infinite vision).
  • Paul Graham = prophet of the opening; Elon Musk = prophet of the endgame.
  • Endgame is never reached — it’s directional, not a destination.
• Sequential play is the failure mode: each phase has a specific trap.
  • Weak endgame story → can’t raise; strong opening → hubris; deep tech → midgame valley of death.
• Archetypes are phase-optimized, not balanced: Stanford AI (opening), Vertical SaaS (midgame), Deep tech (endgame).
• Elite companies maintain opening-phase energy at scale: Clay, RunwayML, Anduril, Scale AI, Crusoe Energy.
• Force all three frames onto every decision: product, hire, and investor pitch.

David Cahn (Sequoia) · 2026-02-11 · Read on sequoiacap.com