Founder Weekly (Issue 436 - May 20 2020)

Founder Weekly - Issue 436

May 20, 2020

Founder Weekly

Welcome to issue 436 of Founder Weekly. We have a packed issue this week. Enjoy it!.

General

Sudden shelter-in-place is exposing massive and exciting white spaces for Founders to build new social products — as we try to find joy in connection.

The technology world used to clearly segment businesses by consumer or enterprise. But those lines have been blurring for quite some time. And the most interesting companies in the world fit neither bucket. They are both consumer and enterprise technology businesses.

Here's How Founders Can Cut Through the Noise.

Clayton Christensen's disruption theory and what it means for the Passion Economy.

As the coronavirus continues to kill thousands each day, tech companies are seizing the opportunity to extend their reach and power.

Musings after a decade spent building SaaS startups.

There is such a thing as a free lunch.

Discover how we went from our SaaS Beta launch to 10 users. You will learn why being obsessed with your business can kill it, why providing value can make magic and how to leverage your Beta to improve your product.

Sporcle's move from bar trivia to virtual trivia is a prime example of the potential of Zoom — and perhaps its competitors — as platforms for third-party developers.

Marketing, Sales and PR

Which numbers should you use? How high should it be? Should it be rounded? This guide has 42 tricks to help you choose the best price.

A deep-dive into the business of content creators.

There are a lot of lessons that you will learn as your rankings grow and as you spend more time on SEO. In this post, Neil Patel shares the hard lessons he learned over the years so that you don’t have to waste time and go through the same mistakes he made. 

In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users. These, of course, are not normal times. In the fallout from the pandemic, most founders and CEOs are in the process of completely revamping their growth models from the bottom up amid new and unpredictable consumer behavior. This episode explores how to think about growth in turbulent times.

We talked to Camille Ricketts to learn how Notion uses the power of being human to win (and keep!) loyal customers, how and why they founded a thriving user community, and lots more.

What is conversational marketing and how can you do it effectively in all online channels? Get all the answers here with examples.

In this post, you’ll find first-hand accounts of how essentially every major consumer app acquired their earliest users, including lessons from Tinder, Uber, Superhuman, TikTok, Product Hunt, Netflix, and many more.

Money and Finance

Only by returning to its roots can the VC industry thrive in the years ahead.

The impact of COVID-19 is being felt by businesses across the globe, including startups. Startup employees with equity are understandably concerned about what impact this will have on their future, which is why we’ve put together a guide to help you navigate these uncertain times so that you can maximize the value of your options. After reading this guide you’ll be armed with a better understanding of how COVID-19 could impact your equity, and what you can do to maximize your value in the face of a global recession. 

A bunch of good practices, courtesy of the great PlayPlay team.

Now that money is on the table, you must choose from whom to take it. Here are some thoughts on what matters, drawn from personal experience.

Startups of the Week

ZeroEyes uses artificial intelligence (AI) gun detection systems with existing on-site security cameras to secure your premises and keep your students, your employees, and your patrons safe.

DrugBank is a curated pharmaceutical knowledge base for precision medicine, electronic health records, and drug discovery.

Decoding the Immune System to Improve Health. Comprehensively mapping the immune system with single-cell biology and AI to power new therapeutic discoveries, accelerate drug development and improve patient outcomes.

A nonprofit that helps you file bankruptcy for free. Bankruptcy can relieve your debt. Our self-service online web app helps you generate and file your bankruptcy forms for free.

Tips, Tools and Services

Similar to Olympic athletes, companies can operate on repeatable processes, or a business operating system, to achieve optimum productivity. Read on to learn how you can build one at your company today.

101 Cognitive Biases & Principles That Affect Your UX.

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