Pam Kostka (former All Raise CEO, 2 IPOs + 3 acquisitions) — 'Endurance is a design choice, not a reward for good intentions'

Pam Kostka — multi-stage LP, former All Raise founding CEO, two-time IPO and three-time acquisition operator — posts a reflection from Leah Solivan's Unprecedented Lunch with Eric, distilling two design ideas: best practices destroy value far more often than we admit, and trust is infrastructure, not a value in a culture deck.

“Two ideas worth designing in from the earliest days. The first: best practices destroy value far more often than we admit. We adopt them because someone labeled them best, then stop asking whether they still earn their place. Adoption isn't validation — "everyone does it" is how value quietly leaks out, one unexamined convention at a time. The second: trust is infrastructure, not value in a culture deck. The companies that build it into their operations and governance from the earliest days, for teams, customers, and shareholders alike have a competitive advantage. In the AI era, where authenticity is cheap to fake and expensive to prove, that's not soft. It may be the last durable advantage there is. Endurance is a design choice, not a reward for good intentions.” — Pam Kostka on LinkedIn