#46
Oh, apparently I need to be celebrating small wins (thanks Babs). Post on being a better writer got 136 views. I think this is the first time we broke 100. I havenāt really been following the stats but decided to check that out today. Open rate >50%. I think thatās solid. Thanks to everyone whoās getting some value from these random posts lol.Ā
Straight to business-this might seem lazy, but I think thereās a lot more to talk about regarding PMF. Hereās some extracts on how to get there.Ā
āIn the early days of a product, donāt focus on making it robust. Find product market fit first, then hardenā Jeff Lawson
Again, the process is discovery-based and experimentation is required. There is no value in hardening something that customers donāt want to buy. Andreessen argues that āThe product doesnāt need to be great; it just has to basically work. And, the market doesnāt care how good the team is, as long as the team can produce that viable product.ā If nearly everyone at the business is focused on trying to fulfill product demand instead of āsiting aroundā trying to dream up new feature to create demand, there is almost certainly PMF āĀ but the reverse is not the case.
PMF is not a magic elixir. It signifies an important milestone that is necessary but not sufficient for success. Once a company has PMF it still must find a sustainable growth model and create a moat against competitors and so on. What PMF does do is help prevent businesses from spending money trying to grow a business (often inorganically) in a way that is doomed to fail.
āIn general, hiring before you get product/market fit slows you down, and hiring after you get product market fit speeds you up. Until you get product/market fit, you want to a) live as long as possible and b) iterate as quickly as possible.āSam Altman
What Altman is saying is reflected in what co-founder Jessica Livingston calls the Y Combinator motto: āmake something that people want. If you create something and no one uses it, youāre dead. Nothing else you do is going to matter if people donāt like your product.ā
Andreessen argues that the life of any startup can be divided into two parts:Ā before product/market fitĀ (what he calls BPMF) andĀ after product/market fitĀ (APMF):
āWhen you are BPMF, focus obsessively on getting to product/market fit. Do whatever is required to get to product/market fit. Including changing out people, rewriting your product, moving into a different market, telling customers no when you donāt want to, telling customers yes when you donāt want to, raising that fourth round of highly dilutive venture capital ā whatever is required. When you get right down to it, you can ignore almost everything else. Iām not suggesting that youĀ doĀ ignore everything else ā just that judging from what Iāve seen in successful startups, youĀ can.
āFounders have to choose a market long before they have any idea whether they will reach product/market fit.ā Chris Dixon
Some venture capitalists want to see product-market fit before they invest and leave it to angels to do the investing pre-product market fit. They would rather buy a business with product-market fit than try to predict whether a founder will find it. Key as always is for the venture capitalist to let the founders do the heavy lifting (āYou do not want a venture capitalist who hire a dog and then tries to do the barking.ā). The key point Dixon makes is that founders have control over this by thinking carefully about what theyāre trying to do and why. There is also founder-market fit.
Article Listā What Iām reading (10 articles a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 3360 articles a year).Ā
playerslounge.co: Heard about this company earlier today. If you think youāre really that nice at FIFA, COD, Fortnite and whatever else games, log on and play. You play a game against someone else, if you win, you make money. If you lose, well⦠Put your money where your mouth is.Ā
Africa's tallest building is set to open, and it's designed mostly by women: Yes, the last bit of the title got me. Designed mostly by women. I love it. The team of architects that managed the construction was female-led, with nine of the 11 positions performed by women. Yes.Ā
Robinhood makes second attempt at launching a high-yield account similar to banks: High-yield here means 2.05% interest rate. Wow. Please give me your money and let me manage it ššš. Anyway, PRESSURE TO DIVERSIFY! (S/o Cedric) Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade are not charging for trades. Welcome to business. They came to eat Robinhoodās lunch.Ā
India Startup Oyo Raises $1.5 Billion at $10 Billion Valuation: So they finished their raise already? Lol, meanwhile weāve been on this one deal for a year? Africa Africa.Ā
Cyber Criminals Have Defrauded Companies with Deepfakes: If you donāt know what deep fakes are, youāre kinda behind. If thereās anything that scares me about AI, itās this.Ā Remember the fake Nancy Pelosi video that came out? Yea thatās a deepfake.
Rwanda launches first 'Made in Africa' smartphones: Pretty impressive. Price competitive too. This is the first smartphone manufacturer in Africa. I think I mentioned we need this when I put out the Transsion article. Very timely.Ā šš¾šš¾šš¾
The 3 trends shaping the future of logistics in African markets: Article about companies integrating the rural and city markets making regional logistics more efficient through technology. Solving African problems. Do we need another Uber? Maybe, maybe not. But last mile delivery? Yes, please. Get me on that cap table. Great article by my man Samakab.Ā
VIPs, fried chicken and sexist polemic: Senegalās first KFC: QSRs taking over the continent. Good or bad? But local chicken >>>>processed chicken. Obesity and HBP is about to be a problem on the continent in a new years.Ā Mark it here.
Africaās oil may to stay in the ground to protect the climate: Ah, so what Iām seeing is that the rest of the world gets rich off of oil but Africa should keep its oil in the ground to save all of us? One part of me is saying thanks, but no thanks. Weāre going down together with all our billions. And the other part of me is saying this is an opportunity for us to boost our work in renewable energy.Ā
Tyler Perry Studios, the house āMadeaā built, becomes a landmark for black Hollywood: āLegacy, legacy, legacy, legacy, black excellence baby, you gon' let 'em see.ā Tyler Perry doing the damn thing! And to think he was once homeless. Donāt quit.Ā
Building and Sustaining a Strong Economic Future for Nigeria: Man like Atedo Peterside. This man understands Nigeria. *MUST READ*
Podcastā What Iām listening to (1 podcast episode a day x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 336 podcast episodes). Broadening my experiences through othersā stories.Ā
This Week In Startups: Back to listening to Uncle Jason every morning. Interviewed Catharine from Vice Ventures. Basically, you know how funds have a vice clause from their LPs so they canāt invest in anything related to alcohol š, cannabis šš, sex tech šššā¦basically anything thatās considered ābadā by society (I guess). But these companies can still give crazy exits? Complete whitespace and Catharine is looking to kill it here. Email her at catharine@viceventures.com if you want to pitch anything. But if you donāt, check out the episode here.Ā
Bookā 1 Chapter a dayĀ x 7 days x 4 weeks x 12 months = 336 chapters. Most books have 10-12 chapters, so 1 year = 28 to 33 books. And my book list is nearing 1000 books. Send help š
Back reading the Merchants of Debt. How KKR became your favorite top 2 PE firms. And its not #2.Ā
š±š±Twitter quote of the dayĀ
"A decision canāt change your life if you never make it or take so long to make the decision that the opportunity passes."
Remember folks: āUntil the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.āĀ