Oz Merchant

Oz Merchant

Board Advisor to several startups and Managing Director of Founder Institute NC, the world's largest pre-seed accelerator, Oz has helped many founders move from 0 to 1. He continues to do so with his latest venture, Futureproof.

The Promotion Trap: Why Your Top Performer Might Fail as a Manager

Bootstrapped, Seed-Strapped, or VC-Backed? How to Fund Your Startup in the AI Age

From Burn To Build: How Smart Founders Flip The Script On Startup Survival in Just 7 Steps

Value Creation vs. Business Model: Which Comes First In A Startup (And Why You're Probably Thinking About It Backwards)

Fake Numbers, Real Confidence: Build The Pre-Revenue Model Investors Love

Why Your First Hire Should Be A Generalist With These 5 Critical Traits

Run Rate Is Not a Crystal Ball (But It Can Still Be a Darn Good Flashlight)

Don’t Forecast Blind: Why Pricing and Business Model Come Before the Bottom-Up Plan

Can I Expense That? A Founder’s Field Guide to Spending Ethically

Stop the Bleed: Why Saving a Dollar Beats Earning a New One

Cash Flow vs. Profitability: The Startup Founder’s Survival Guide in 4 Steps

3 Critical Reasons Why FinOps Beats RevOps for Startup SaaS Founders (And It’s Not Even Close)

Financial Model

February 20, 2025

Why Most Startup Financial Models Are Wrong (And How AI Can Fix Them)