added by sari · updated 2y ago
How to Build Curation Businesses
- When it comes to class size, the tradeoff is "signal" vs "utility". Signal itself has utility, but there are diminishing returns to it. You want to increase utility as much as possible without sacrificing signal. In other words, admit enough people to provide the value, but not enough to kill the signal.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Indeed, if you’re building a curation business, the main (if not only) moat you have is brand. Your biggest specific vulnerability is alumni NPS — if it’s strong, the business is unbeatable; if it’s weak, the entire edifice is at risk.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Indeed, the genius of the YC credential that it's tied to their winners, not their median outcomes. It's less that you'll be impressed with the average company — it's more so that "1 in X startups will be the next Airbnb."
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- The last time a new university cracked the top 10 was over 100 years ago, whereas most tech businesses get disrupted every few decades or so.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Give someone their start or otherwise be an inflection point. Believe in them before others do and they'll be immensely grateful. If you create the turning point in their career or personal growth, they’ll remember you forever.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Focus too much on utility (get too big), and you kill the signal. Focus too much on signal itself without bolting on utility, then it becomes like Harvard — people know it has no purpose other than the signal and that itself weakens the signal. It becomes a bubble.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Utility pulls you in the direction of expanding size. The more people there are, the more total opportunities there can be. Filter pulls you in the direction of less. The more people there are, the less likely the quality of the average person.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- On Deck has been building the accelerator for X infrastructure over the last two years.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago
- Curation businesses — universities, bootcamps, accelerators — are incredibly powerful.
from How to Build Curation Businesses by Erik Torenberg
sari added 3y ago