Competition. Fundraising. Outro.
Don't compete. Monopolize.
Rule #1 in competition: don't do it. Never go up against market forces. Find a small group of particular people concentrated together, served by few or no competitors. Competitive markets aren't where big profits live — create new markets. Get the hobbyists. Start small and monopolize.
Lecture 08 of 08 · Taught by Ali Sina
"99% of startups die from suicide, not murder. Worry about your internal problems."
COMPETITION — Build a monopoly via: Proprietary technology · Network effects · Economies of scale · Branding. Start with smaller markets — easier to dominate. First mover vs Late mover both work — what matters is you never stop innovating.
FUNDRAISING — Venture capital is a game of outliers. 4000 want funding → 200 get funded by top-tier VC → 15 reach $100M revenue. VCs invest in strength, not lack of weakness. The first check is the hardest. The bar for each round is higher.
ONION THEORY OF RISK — Raise capital to peel away layers of risk: Team risk, Product risk, Technical risk, Launch risk, Market acceptance, Revenue risk, Sales risk, Growth risk. Each round = milestones achieved = risks eliminated.
OUTRO — Universities can't teach how to be good startup founders. Learn powerful things in college. Be a polymath like Da Vinci. Don't let schooling interfere with your education. Passion comes first. Find your zone by doing what you love.
Take these to heart.
- 99% of the time, ignore competitors. Especially when they raise money or make press noise. Don't worry until they're beating you with a real, shipped product.
- Bootstrap for as long as you can. Be so good they can't ignore you.
- Always have multiple plans — one of which is NOT raising. The person who wins negotiation is the one most willing to walk away.
- Raising money isn't a milestone. The real milestones: prove concept, complete design specs, prototype, finance, ship beta, ship real thing, achieve break-even.
Your homework.
- Complete: Pitch Deck · Executive Summary · Business Model Canvas
- Make a list of all the risks your startup faces — and your plan to counter each
Insolar — no compete, monopolize-able, big fish small pond
We don't compete. We've done our homework and focus on executing our game plan. 0% has to do with what other companies are doing. We're creating something an order of magnitude better than the next big thing. 18 months old — but traces of a monopoly already in the DNA. Going after a niche slice of a market expected to double in five years. Financed through Round Z — Forkaia's private investment arm.