Startup Advice
sari and
Startup Advice
be brave, be bold, and learn to say “no” to customers.
Do it in the right way, calmly and in direct conversation, and explain why the no is necessary. But say no and stick to it.
Your business will thank you for it.
Do it in the right way, calmly and in direct conversation, and explain why the no is necessary. But say no and stick to it.
Your business will thank you for it.
Jan Cavelle • 3 Ways ‘Scope Creep’ Can Ruin Your Startup
And what you see internally is what I'll say is razor-sharp focus on reducing cycle time and bias to action and how do we reduce cycle time. I think it's basically the core of it culturally to me is getting people to think about smaller units of time for decision making. It seems obvious but I think you really have to reinforce it culturally. So... See more
Lessons from scaling Ramp | Sri Batchu (Ramp, Instacart, Opendoor)
“It's just to remind people that we don't work in years, quarters, weeks, we work in days. Each day matters and so never put out something tomorrow that you know can get done today. And that bias to action really permeates not just in the product teams but everywhere.”
sam altman: “honestly, i feel so bad about the advice i gave while running YC i’ve been thinking about deleting my entire blog” https://t.co/Ag94dLXUoL
morgan —twitter.com
On building “Flavored” startups
Enterprise software is (mostly) not flavor-based. Sure, there are enterprise fads like the metaverse, but generally speaking, large companies only sign contracts when it feels like there is an obvious commercial advantage to doing so.
Networks are (mostly) not flavor-based. If you’re using an app because of the content created by its other users, it’s not necessarily a guarantee for success, but at least if it fails it probably won’t be because it hit a flavor-based asymptote. For instance, BeReal leveraged a unique flavor of photo sharing to build a network, but people are still using it because they like the way it helps them stay in touch with their friends. If it were just a single-player utility, it would not have scaled in the same way. Another historical example is Instagram versus Hipstamatic. Both had a cool new flavor called “photo filters,” but one had a network and the other did not. Here’s a more recent example: the network is what sets Substack stands apart from its flavor-based competition.
Tech-enabled services are not flavor-based. If you act like a tech company but really do grocery delivery, banking, education, housing, healthcare, or any other real-world service, your competition is mostly not flavor-based because starting this type of business involves a lot of cost and complexity. (Also, some, like ride hailing and delivery, are networks.) The downside is that your cost structure is probably not as great as pure tech companies, but the upside is that you have less competition.
All of these types of products can involve some flavoring to help them get off the ground. The point is not that flavoring is bad. It’s good! But it has a very specific role. Flavor provides an initial product wedge. It’s helpful for standing out initially but doesn’t provide long-term differentiation or durable advantage.
For when someone says “I’ve seen this before, it didn’t work” — D'Arcy Coolican
D'arcy Coolicandarcycoolican.com
We’re driven by an insatiable desire to bring our ideas to life, to make a difference in the world, and to make our own paths to success. As creators, as founders — that’s who we are.
We pour our hearts, souls, and resources into our ideas, fuelled by a shaking, frequently fucking terrified but always determined belief in our abilities and the... See more
We pour our hearts, souls, and resources into our ideas, fuelled by a shaking, frequently fucking terrified but always determined belief in our abilities and the... See more