Building 0-1
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
A genuine interest in something is a very powerful motivator — for some people, the most powerful motivator of all. [3] Which is why it's what Jessica and I look for in founders.
I think the mistake too many entrepreneurs make is they start companies assuming they have scale. We’ve seen no scale, we’ve seen hyperscale, and what we realized was what we have to do is we have to start with that utility and the best networks. I didn’t realize Chris wrote that post, but I should maybe in the back of my mind that’s what I was... See more
Ben Thompson • An Interview with Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger About Artifact

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
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)
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 best, you should probably pause the other... See more
Jared Friedmanx.comA 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.
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 later stage, larger... See more
Marc Köhlbruggetwitter.com