Building 0-1
A central thesis is that all products are asking things of their customers: to do things in a certain way, to think of themselves in a certain way — and usually that means changing what one does or how one does it; it often means changing how one thinks of oneself.
The best lead generation companies usually have some combination of a distinguished and highly trusted brand and a proprietary channel or value proposition they use to acquire customers that competitors cannot replicate. These companies typically have staying power and defensibility, are highly differentiated, and immensely more valuable than... See more
Marketplaces, Lead Generation, and Brokerages
The downside of lead generation businesses is that they can be a race to the bottom if they're in a crowded and competitive market. The barriers to entry are essentially aggregating supply (i.e. buyers of leads or businesses willing to pay for new customers) so there is little in the way of defensibility. The other downside is that they are very... See more
Marketplaces, Lead Generation, and Brokerages
Turns out no amount of fundraising, press, buzz, amazing employees, and/or cool tech guarantees you product market fit.
Michael Seibelx.comYou and your ragtag team of engineers likely won’t be able to create something that is competitive with any big incumbent product.
However, you can build features, seed content, and brand it in a way that is so obnoxiously relevant for a particular group of people that their only possible reaction is “Well, fuck. You... See more
Nikita Biertwitter.comThere is no ideal pitch deck. The narrative depends on what you’re building—but I really like this one: 1. Vision for the world in 5 years 2. The novel wedge that will get you there 3. How you plan to distribute it 4. What could go wrong 5. What you’ll prove by the time you need…
Nikita Bierx.comOne of our theories is to seek out opportunities where there’s a major change. Major dislocation in the way things are. Wherever there’s turmoil, there's indecision. And wherever there’s indecision, there’s opportunity. So we look for the confusion when the big companies are confused. When the other venture groups are confused. That’s the time to... See more
Rex Woodbury • Seed Investing: The State of the Union
This is the overall promise of your startup. Expert level performance through appropriate use of your software to speed up a defined part of a businesses’ key workflow.
Oji Udezue • Where to fish to land a Unicorn (in B2B SaaS)
AI is like water.
Or more specifically, generative AI applications are like water. We've looked at hundreds of AI companies, and much like bottled water, many of them are the exact same under the hood.
This is just the reality: there will be 100 teams trying to do what you are doing, in the same way you are doing it. True tech differentiation in AI... See more
Or more specifically, generative AI applications are like water. We've looked at hundreds of AI companies, and much like bottled water, many of them are the exact same under the hood.
This is just the reality: there will be 100 teams trying to do what you are doing, in the same way you are doing it. True tech differentiation in AI... See more