The founders I work with know I think about John Coltrane a lot. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how he transformed jazz with a harmonic progression known as “Coltrane changes.”

Popularized on his 1960 album “Giant Steps,” Coltrane changes are characterized by rapid and frequent modulations between key centers. Breaking the mold of traditional jazz improvisation, the complex progressions challenged musicians to explore new scales and patterns to navigate the changes. They influenced the evolution of jazz as we know it today.

What does any of this have to do with starting a business? In a year like 2023, a lot.

In the business world, 2023 was a year when companies had to go back to basics and adapt their strategies to a volatile macroeconomic environment.

For founders, that meant rethinking the way they were building and growing. It meant seeing cash on the balance sheet as a static object — the thing required to stay alive. It meant making tough personnel choices, thinking hard about who was indispensable and choosing expertise over loyalty. In an uneasy market still awaiting the full impact of AI, it meant doing everything necessary to ensure their product’s place as a must-have and not a nice-to-have.

For investors, too, it was a year of extremes. On one hand, you had the AI frenzy, with everyone rushing to create the next great AI company. On the other hand, many would-be entrepreneurs remained on the sidelines, either because they had been burned by crypto or thought fundraising would be too difficult.

I’ve tried to be a voice of reason in my conversations with founders. Adaptability is essential, and startups are a marathon, not a sprint. We can look at past downturns and say they give rise to some of the best companies and leaders. In the same way, “Giant Steps” challenged musicians to innovate to keep up with Coltrane’s rapid changes.

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