Building 0-1
How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas | Startup School
youtube.comA 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.
We are an exceptional software development team. But, we now also need be an excellent customer development team. That’s why, in the first section of this doc, I said “build a customer base” rather than “gain market share”: the nature of the task is different, and we will work together to understand, anticipate and better serve the people who trust... See more
As you build newthing you will discover that building a newthing is a strange act where the harder you go about trying to do it, the harder it becomes. It will resist direct force and control. The more you relax and allow it to speak through you, however, the easier it will be.
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
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.com
Q: Is it better to target a small market or a large one?
In the clip below, Peter Thiel (billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of PayPal and Palantir) describes his framework for evaluating markets:
“It’s always a big mistake going after a giant market on day 1. That’s… Show more
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
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