I listen to startup podcasts so you don’t have to.
:"Even successful companies were very close to failure at least once in their journey."
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- Expect and prepare for periods of hardship.
- Use challenges as learning experiences.
- Persistence and adaptability are crucial for success.
:"Leanness as an edge... how constraints sometimes can... lead to creativity."
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- Embrace constraints to drive creative solutions.
- Lean teams can be more agile and focused.
- Resourcefulness becomes a competitive advantage.
:"There was a point where he had 17 days of runway... failure was very much top of his mind."
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- Persistence is key during critical times.
- Securing bridge funding can provide lifelines.
- Even thriving companies have faced similar challenges.
:"Try to ask yourself what problems... customers have that may be small but unsolved, and how can you approach those."
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- Reassess your product based on customer feedback.
- Be open to shifting focus to meet demands.
- Small, unsolved problems can present big opportunities.
:"Find something that customers want, but nobody else is actually solving."
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- Engage with customers to uncover niche pain points.
- Pivot focus towards unique solutions rather than competition.
- Use market knowledge to identify gaps.
:"He’s now back to the old valuation... His revenue is like 3 times higher than it was at peak before all this happened."
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- Focus on fundamental metrics like customer demand.
- Improve operational efficiency during lean periods.
- Resilience can lead to renewed success as investor interest returns.
:"He had to cut from 350 people to 87 employees. His valuation went from half a billion to 15 million."
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- Stay focused on product-market fit despite investor sentiments.
- Make tough decisions to align costs with new realities.
- Retain and motivate core leadership during downturns.
:"He added all of the people... but he wouldn't message them directly... All that was doing was just getting the connection going so that they were more likely to see his posts."
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- Connect with key individuals without immediate pitching.
- Increase visibility by appearing in their feeds.
- Build relationships through consistent, valuable posts.
:"You have to find this delicate balance between writing stuff that's interesting... but also stuff that's actually interesting to whoever your ICP is."
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- Craft content that resonates with your ICP.
- Avoid focusing on virality if it doesn't attract your target audience.
- Build meaningful connections that convert to leads.
:"He just absolutely crushed it on LinkedIn, like he just made LinkedIn such a huge lead magnet for him."
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- Focus on creating engaging hooks to capture attention.
- Capture and share insights from daily interactions consistently.
- Engage with your target audience to turn cold leads into warm leads.
