Strategy & Portfolio
Velocity
The speed of execution across product development, hiring, and fundraising — used as a qualitative signal of a startup team's operating rhythm and competitive edge.
In startup contexts, velocity refers to how fast a team moves across all dimensions: shipping product, closing deals, hiring, running experiments. High-velocity teams compress decision timelines, run more experiments per month, and create compounding learning advantages over slower competitors.
Velocity is distinct from busyness — a team can be extremely busy while moving slowly. Velocity is measured in outputs: features shipped, customers closed, hires made, decisions committed to.
In Practice
During Stripe's early years, the Collison brothers were famous for 'Collison Installation' — they would personally integrate Stripe into a customer's codebase during the sales call rather than scheduling a follow-up. This velocity approach set the tone for Stripe's execution culture.
Why It Matters
Early-stage VCs often cite velocity as one of their primary signals during evaluation — more than the idea, they're betting on a team's ability to learn and execute faster than competitors. A mediocre idea executed at high velocity often beats a great idea executed slowly.