Startup Systems
systems that power startups
Startup Systems
The first thing to do when thinking about starting a project, before you invest in systems design, infrastructure or fancy tools, is to practice getting some customers. And the second thing to do is to find out what it’s like to delight or disappoint those customers.
Customer traction is just about the only thing all successful organizations have in... See more
Customer traction is just about the only thing all successful organizations have in... See more
Choose your customers
17% of employees who quit do it within the first month of a new role.
Why?
They were sold on something different than what they received once they got started.
Startups move fast and sometimes it’s unavoidable, but when this happens there’s a huge loss of trust. Employees may never take you at your word again fully.
The best you can do is to be... See more
Why?
They were sold on something different than what they received once they got started.
Startups move fast and sometimes it’s unavoidable, but when this happens there’s a huge loss of trust. Employees may never take you at your word again fully.
The best you can do is to be... See more
Michael Houck • What Do Top 1% Startup Employees Want?
How to build a system of information-gathering to get an ROI on time spent
From the Forte Labs Newsletter:
How to read this newsletter:
You'll always find different topics and different content formats (e.g., video, blog posts) in this newsletter. That's intentional.
But for some, that can feel a bit overwhelming.
I want to assure sure: You absolutely
... See more
Little decisions compound and then anchor systems.
Our commitment to defending sunk costs keeps those systems long after they’re no longer serving a purpose.
There isn’t nearly enough emphasis on repeatability . As you move your way up through the different levels of product-market fit, what you’re really unlocking is repeatability — across demand generation, product development, customer satisfaction and unit economics. A startup hasn’t reached the upper levels of product-market fit until it has... See more
The 4 Levels of PMF
At a big company, you're trained to get it right and get it out. You can’t risk experimenting on your customer base. When you're at a small company, you don't have any product-market fit, so you have to get it out, then get it right.
How to Scale Yourself Down
I tell founders to think about the problem they’re solving, specifically my LUV framework:... See more
- Large: Is the problem you’re aiming to solve large enough—customers, users, spend, etc.?
- Urgent: Is the problem urgent to your users/customers—will they be interested in a new offering, change their way of solving this problem today?
- Valuable: Are people
Lenny Rachitsky • Your startup idea probably isn’t venture-scale
Conventional hiring processes are designed to recruit the most skilled people to fill a specific role at the right price. The experience can feel dehumanizing — it’s laden with unwritten rules, negotiation, posturing, and indirect communication (if you’re lucky) through recruiters.
The process, at its core, is a transaction of resources. It’s not... See more
The process, at its core, is a transaction of resources. It’s not... See more
Sharan Bal • Hiring Humans, Not Resources
Think about how different an accounting software for tattoo shops would look compared to Quickbooks.
Or how you could integrate pool-party motifs into a CRM for pool cleaners.
All of which would set your brand apart from the get-go and take you from being one of many to being the one and only.
B2B SaaS doesn’t have to be boring and you can create an... See more
Or how you could integrate pool-party motifs into a CRM for pool cleaners.
All of which would set your brand apart from the get-go and take you from being one of many to being the one and only.
B2B SaaS doesn’t have to be boring and you can create an... See more