A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
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Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#2Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this.
I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset:
1) Do something that only works if you're huge
2) Raise lots of capital based on the idea that you will one day be huge
3) Use that capital to become huge enough that your thing actually works
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#3Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this. I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset: 1) Do something that only wo…
I was wondering about this too. Why does this product only work if you're huge? It sounds like something you and a programmer buddy could have started as a side project and grown organically.
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#4Sounds like you should be the platform and let content creators in. Pay them commission on sales and you can QC anything coming in until you can afford to pay someone else.
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#5Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this. I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset: 1) Do something that only wo…
Reminds me of DHH's talk about having just a "nice italian restaurant" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#6Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this. I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset: 1) Do something that only wo…
As a general principle I pretty much agree with your comment. But, in this case, the post is throwing around figures like 7K readers per week. That just isn't a lot for just about any sort of content creation that needs to pay its own freight. These days I'd be really skeptical about just about any business model built around selling content to individuals.
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#7Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this. I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset: 1) Do something that only wo…
I was wondering about this too. Why does this product only work if you're huge? It sounds like something you and a programmer buddy could have started as a side project and grown organically.
VC's are only interested in high growth startups. That means they'll have to pass up on a lot of good ideas such as OP's. The whole thing boils down to power law that guides investment. VCs are hoping that out of 10, at least 1 would be a super-duper hit (think facebook, google) that'll offset the losses of the other 9.
In short - go with "disrupting" world-changing ideas to the VCs. If your idea is good, but not great, you're better off finding money on your own and growing it organically.
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#8Why didn't the fundraise work? Maybe because your business model doesn't appear to be working at your current scale, you're not scaling fast enough to make it work any time soon, and you didn't seem to have any clear plan to change this. I don't mean to be harsh, it sounds like you gave it a shot and it went pretty right. But you got caught up in the unicorn-chaser Silicon Valley mindset: 1) Do something that only wo…
To scale, I think you need to go either organic or mechanic:
- mechanic is scalable with more resources. Throw in more computers, programs and get more output immediately with a much higher rate compare to human
- organic is good but it take time. If you need quality work of human, it doesn't scale easily. It's possible to grow slowly with low cost.
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was wondering about this too. Why does this product only work if you're huge? It sounds like something you and a programmer buddy could have started as a side project and grown organically.
VC's are only interested in high growth startups. That means they'll have to pass up on a lot of good ideas such as OP's. The whole thing boils down to power law that guides investment. VCs are hoping that out of 10, at least 1 would be a super-duper hit (think facebook, google) that'll offset the losses of the other 9. In short - go with "disrupting" world-changing ideas to the VCs. If your idea is good, but not gre…
Wouldn't an investor want a "diverse portfolio" divided between low yield low risk (such as OP pre-unicorning) and high yield high risk such as you mention?
Re: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Hardbound Update
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
VC's are only interested in high growth startups. That means they'll have to pass up on a lot of good ideas such as OP's. The whole thing boils down to power law that guides investment. VCs are hoping that out of 10, at least 1 would be a super-duper hit (think facebook, google) that'll offset the losses of the other 9. In short - go with "disrupting" world-changing ideas to the VCs. If your idea is good, but not gre…
Wouldn't an investor want a "diverse portfolio" divided between low yield low risk (such as OP pre-unicorning) and high yield high risk such as you mention?
I'm not sure there is such a thing as "low risk." Most small businesses fail even if their attempts at "disruption" begin and end with selling pizzas to the local college students.