Founder Weekly (Issue 644 July 10 2024)

Founder Weekly - Issue 644

July 10, 2024

Founder Weekly

Welcome to issue 644 of Founder Weekly. Let's get straight to the links this week.

General

Mike Maples, Jr., co-founder of Floodgate, is a prominent early-stage investor known for backing companies like Twitter and Lyft. In his book "Pattern Breakers," he discusses what sets transformative startups apart, highlighting three elements of breakthrough ideas, the importance of unique thinking and actions, and the roles of storytelling and healthy disagreeableness. He also advises founders on avoiding common traps and applying these principles in large companies.

The article argues that AI infrastructure startups face significant challenges due to intense competition, rapid innovation by incumbents, and the difficulty of differentiating themselves in the enterprise market. It suggests that these startups need to focus on specific niches, secure substantial funding, or consider acquisition to succeed in this demanding landscape.

Adriaan and Iron bootstrapped Simple Analytics, a privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative, to $384k in annual revenue by leveraging strategic SEO, viral marketing on Hacker News, and a product-led growth model. They emphasized simplicity, privacy, and strong positioning to attract indie hackers, developers, and enterprises, aiming to reach $1 million ARR through continued SEO efforts and a freemium model.

A primer on the GenAI smartphone opportunity.

Marketing, Sales and PR

Y Combinator Group Partner, Pete Koomen, led his startup, Optimizely, to $100M ARR. In this video, Pete breaks down the enterprise sales funnel and shares his top tips on how a technical founder can start closing real deals for their startup.

The article discusses Dovetail's growth strategy, emphasizing systematic optimization of key levers through rapid prototyping, testing, and iteration rather than relying on long-term planning. It highlights the importance of addressing unmet needs of potential paying customers, continuously adding new acquisition channels, and building a versatile product that caters to various customer types and industries.

Money and Finance

Initial data from Q2 2024 shows modest increases in median valuation and round size across much of the U.S. venture ecosystem.

Why the canonical startup advice of "make something people want" doesn't apply to fintechs, who are ultimately in the business of pricing risk and "selling money".

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