HEYNS VENTURES
Notes
Three kinds of note. Questions we are sitting with, unanswered, dated when we asked them and revised when something moves. Lessons, which are what questions turn into once the evidence settles them. And a ledger: what we have built toward the future on the thesis page, what it cost, and what it taught us.
01 · QUESTIONS
02 · LESSONS
AUGUST 2026JOB 3.3
Hack, then engineer
Duct tape is correct during validation: fast, cheap, unashamed.
AUGUST 2026JOB 3.4
Autopsies, not graveyards
For a while, my CV carried a graveyard: a named list of ventures that had died, alongside the ones that lived.
MAY 2026JOB 3.4
The pivot conversation happens six months late
By the time a venture asks for turnaround help, the founders have usually known for two quarters.
DECEMBER 2025JOB 2.7
Fire yourself from the recurring jobs first
A founder's week silently fills with recurring jobs: the update, the reconciliation, the chasing, the formatting, the scheduling.
JULY 2025JOB 2.2
'What is the money for?' deserves a real answer
Everyone tells early founders to raise.
MARCH 2025JOB 2.3
Name the fork: exit or yield
Every venture eventually reaches a fork: it scales toward a liquidity event, or it matures into a strong business with a ceiling.
NOVEMBER 2024JOB 3.2
Write your confidence down as a number
Ask a founder how confident they are in their understanding of their customer and you get adjectives.
JULY 2024JOB 2.7
Fractional is not half a person
Early-stage regulated ventures need governance and operating calibre they cannot afford full-time.
MARCH 2024JOB 2.6
Treat the regulator as your first customer
Regulated ventures usually pitch the market first and meet the regulator last, as a hurdle before launch.
03 · LEDGER
DATEWHAT WAS BUILTWHICH LINE OF 2050 IT SERVESWHAT IT COSTWHAT WE LEARNED
No entries yet. The first is written when the first thing is built.
The beliefs these notes sit on are in the thesis. If one lands and you are working the same problem, connect.