Kirk Drage
498 posts
@kdrage
CEO LeapSheep. Scaling radically better support for startups & innovators. Transitioning support models away from lived experience towards data and algorithms.
You can understand customer interest without even building a product. Important lessons in testing here. buff.ly/2nIHQDV
"VC has ceased to be the funder of the future, and instead has become a funder of features, widgets, irrelevances." Peter Thiel / Founders Fund
Instead of selling equity to investors, figure out ways to optimize spend at your startup.
8) This is especially true for companies pre-product market fit. These days, I'm seeing companies hit $50-$100m valuations pre-product market fit. I may look smart if I can get a 10-20x markup here. But, honestly, ANY pre-product market fit can go to 0 if they can't find PM fit
The more technical your pitch, the more you’ll get delegated to executors/users VS leaders.
Technology prediction for the 2020s:
Avoiding sales and marketing because you have a “great product” is a losing strategy.
1/ "Fact check in aisle one!" Which Theranos board members were from Silicon Valley? news.google.com/articles/CAIiE…
SCIENCE: If you don't make mistakes, you're doing it wrong. If you don't correct those mistakes, you're doing it really wrong. If you can't accept that you're mistaken, you're not doing it at all.
If 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿, how do you know if you're on right track beyond conversions? Collect: ✅ head-nod from ICP around specific unmet need ✅ quantitative data re: implications not solving ✅ clear examples/cost how ICP solved in past
