Building 0-1

You 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… Show more

There 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… Show more

A lot of advice I gave this batch was some version of noticing that one thing the company was doing was working, and encouraging them to prune everything else and focus on that one thing. For example, it's reasonable to try 5 different ways to get users, but if one of them works… Show more

Startups often assume their better funded competitors are doing well, which leads to dogmatically chasing/copying #1 if you’re #2+ #2 tries to catch up to #1 by running the same way but faster. It’s often the case #1 is headed in the wrong direction, and now #2+ is too

Turns out no amount of fundraising, press, buzz, amazing employees, and/or cool tech guarantees you product market fit.

Here's a common startup situation. A team busts their ass for months building the first version of their product. It's almost done. Now a big question emerges -- how do you get the first people to use your product? Hmm... If you find yourself at this moment, then you are already… Show more

I've been trying to create a "social network for makers" for the last 15 years with different approaches. I made what was basically WIP multiple times 10+ years ago, but it failed each time. The reason is, that a super early, super small community has different needs from a… Show more

How to de-risk building a social network The components that have the most engineering scope tend to be wholly reusable—such as the friendfinder & invite system. The fastest way to arrive at an app that resonates is to run rapid experiments by only changing the interaction model

A reproducible testing process is more valuable than any one idea. Innovate here first. All things equal, a team with more shots at bat will win against a team with an audacious vision.

The future is self-employed New businesses formed in the US 🚀 2019: 3.5 million 2020: 4.4 million 2021: 5.4 million 2022: 5.1 million Only about 1/3rd of the applications filed in 2021 are for businesses deemed likely to hire employees Majority are self employed Source:… Show more