Reflections from our Philo Founders’ Retreat

It takes a village to raise a startup. That’s why at Philo Ventures we put a strong focus on community: connecting founders with peers, surrounding them with mentors, and building spaces where they can share openly, learn from one another, and grow stronger together as leaders.

In this spirit, we recently gathered our portfolio founders, the Philo Studio team, and friends from Utah’s startup ecosystem for our annual Founders Retreat. Sessions ranged from VC office hours and scaling workshops with successful founders to tactical go-to-market training with GTM experts. We also mixed in curling at the Utah Olympic Oval and comedy improv — some fun challenges that pushed founders to think differently and build agility. The retreat embodied what Philo is all about: giving founders the strategic edge and access to build market-defining companies.

We’re grateful to the leaders who carved time out of their busy schedules to share unfiltered stories, practical insights, and encouragement with our founders — thank you Kat Kennedy, Rob Hennefer, Tanner McDaniel, Owen Fuller, Marc Chenn, Matt Mazankowski, and Taylor Jones. Your generosity is what makes the Utah startup community so special!

‍

Key Takeaways

The retreat was packed with practical, hard-earned lessons. Here are a few of the valuable takeaways.

‍

From Kat Kennedy:

• There are no hard, fast rules in venture—be authentic and find what works for you.
  
• The power law drives returns for VCs; to invest, a VC needs to see a believable path to a massive outcome.
  
• Above all: integrity is non-negotiable.

‍

From Owen Fuller & Marc Chenn on Scaling:

• Leadership isn’t about being harsh; it’s about being strong, clear, and compassionate.
  
• Clarity is kindness. Direct feedback, tough decisions, and visibility as a leader are all part of the role.
  
• Keep your bucket full; find and make time for what energizes you and keeps you healthy.
• Great leadership balances vision, culture, people, and results, ensuring teams are anchored on the big questions: Why do we exist? How do we behave? How will we succeed?

‍

From Matt Mazankowski on GTM:

• Landing your first 100 customers is less about flashy tactics and more about persistence, direct feedback loops, and building / leveraging authentic relationships.
  
• The most successful early GTM strategies are those that relentlessly test assumptions, iterate quickly, and focus on solving real customer pain.
  
  

From ComedyBox:

• “Yes, and…”: In startups and improve alike, success comes when collaborators learn to build on each other’s ideas instead of shutting them down.
  
• “Awooga…”: Creativity comes with risk; learn to recognize your failures then quickly move on. Don’t let the failure stop you from continuing to innovate!
  
• Listen: You can’t build together if you’re only focused on your own next step.

‍

From Curling:

• Having an expert down the lane helps you see what’s coming. Strategy and guidance matter.
  
• Support roles—like sweepers warming the ice—can make all the difference between success and failure.
• Curling may be the most underrated Olympic sport!
  
  

A Founder’s Reflection

At Philo Ventures, we believe no founder should build alone, and there is no better place to build than within the Utah startup ecosystem—with its camaraderie, generosity, and willingness to share. We’re grateful that we and our founders get to be part of it, and we’re excited to continue building within it!

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍