Building 0-1
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
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…
Nikita Bierx.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.comI'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.comThis 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)
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 in a bad... See more
andrew chentwitter.comNon consensus approaches to picking businesses
Non consensus and right
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
Braden Reamtwitter.comThe hard part about figuring out what customers want is figuring out that you need to figure it out