strategy
Track delight debt alongside technical debt. Monitor the small things you're not doing—the loading animation, the empty state, the error message personality.
sarah guo // conviction • Tweet
This clarity cascades through everything. When software feels intentional, users assume the infrastructure, security, and roadmap are too. Your product gets judged in seconds, your website in one. That first impression becomes a permission structure for everything else.
The effects multiply. Linear's waitlist converted massively because every pixel ... See more
The effects multiply. Linear's waitlist converted massively because every pixel ... See more
sarah guo // conviction • Tweet
How I would choose my next startup idea:
1. It must be a product in a growing market. Startups can take years or even decades to fully develop, don’t risk creating an amazing product just to have the user base dry up.
2. The value of the product must increase over time. For example, as you upload more to a social media platform and make more friends,... See more
1. It must be a product in a growing market. Startups can take years or even decades to fully develop, don’t risk creating an amazing product just to have the user base dry up.
2. The value of the product must increase over time. For example, as you upload more to a social media platform and make more friends,... See more
David Park • Tweet
Businesses in a Box - Create New Entrepreneurs
Consider opportunity for thousands of hard working IQ-100 people to make $1M a year and build equity vs. being converted to 1099 workers
Part of the genius of the United States is people want freedom, they want destiny control. Everyone wants to be an entrepreneur (so much so that when they aren't, for n
... See moreThis essay explains why we chose the harder path—to build a full-stack AI investment bank to compete with the large incumbents, rather than sell SaaS directly to them. The thesis is simple: M&A will always matter, but legacy banks are structurally unable to run AI-native workflows, and therefore will be unable to capture the full upside.
The Bull Case for an AI-native Investment Bank
Dogfood religiously. Use your product the way customers will. Feel the sharp edges. Most teams test features; taste-driven teams test feelings. When something hurts, fix it. When something delights, double down.
sarah guo // conviction • Tweet
On the other hand, a dark software company would start with a hyper-specialized use case, say small law firms in the US. Rather than start with a wedge product like invoicing, a dark software company would launch with multiple products on day one, like marketing tools, project management, time tracking, invoicing, payment acceptance, payroll, etc.
N... See more
N... See more
Dark software
Polish beats features. The product that looks finished gets tagged as "enterprise-ready"—even when it's not.
sarah guo // conviction • Tweet
'Small Business' Platforms - Enable Mainstreet to Fight Back
The story was to simply crush small businesses with big efficient machines of tech; but tech is now understood and distributed enough for the little guys with brands and customers to fight back.
Mainstreet has been systematically under-appreciated and unloved by venture capital. The only ti
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