“Sometimes debt is like a hiding place, you know, like people, people don't want to make the hard decisions. And so they're just going to throw some more logs on the fire. But reality is you got to, you got to make hard decisions when you're running these kind of companies.”
Oxide and Friends · Hands-On Engineering Podcasts · October 2026
Closing a discussion of venture debt and board dynamics, he says a good board and good lenders are a real asset. He has also seen founders take on debt to avoid facing a problem.
Transcript
We're really lucky. We have really incredible venture capitalists who care about the company and care about the people. Like, again, that's very unique, you know? And then we've got great.
…like you've seen such a broader range because I'm like, of course we've got good investors in a good board meeting. Of course, like politics in a boardroom, like that would be awful. It's like, oh, you've got no idea. Because I'm sure you just seen it all in terms of bad investors, bad boardrooms.
…right? Like we've got, you know, Brian, Steve, and Adam, you guys have years and years and years in your career. I've got now a year of my career in this company, right? And I've invested in the company, you know, back in the day as well. But like, we all have this very strong incentive to do the right thing, to keep the company on the rails. And if we have problems, solve the problems. Like sometimes debt is like a hiding place, you know, like people, people don't want to make the hard decisions. And so they're just going to throw some more logs on the fire. But reality is you got to, you got to make hard decisions when you're running these kind of companies. And, you know, so that, so that's my two cents. But yeah, you know, if you have, if you're listening to this and you're a startup and you have a great board, like, you know, consider yourself very lucky. Keep those relationships going. And, you know, and the same with lenders. Like, lenders are like Steve was talking about, just a very important part of the ecosystem. And if you have a good…
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Yeah, there's definitely, I don't know if this is where you're heading, but since we shed all of the Wicked Child listeners, we can now get into it. Yeah. One was, and this was from a user whose name was I Don't Want This. What is their product exactly? It's a server that is cheaper for some…
What I find wild about this, you're like, I mean, I guess I admire it that you want to ask that question of Hacker News and not like ChatGPT or Claude or Gemini that could literally give you an authoritative answer to that question. Okay, good sourced authoritative answers. No, no, I'd rather not…
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