Sojan Jose

🚀 Launching a D2C website soon? Or maybe you’ve already launched but want to optimize for better performance? I've put together a comprehensive #D2C Website Checklist to help founders, brand owners, and tech teams ensure their site delivers the best user experience and maximizes conversions. From guest checkout options and user-specific discounts to affinity-based content, this guide covers key elements that can make a real difference in your site's performance. In today’s fast-paced digital space, a high-performing website isn’t just nice-to-have—it’s essential. Get the basics right, and watch as engagement and customer loyalty follow. 🚀 Drop "D2C Guide" in the comments, and I'll share the link with you! Let’s work together to make every site visit count. 📈 #ecommerce #shopiq #shopify #website #startup #marketing

17

14 Comments

It's YC application season, trying to make it simpler for everyone here. What is YC trying to find/judge through the huge application. As I see it- 1. Is it a big market? 2. Are these the right guys to build in this market?- Founder Market Fit 3. Are they moving quickly enough?- Bias for action 4. Are they validating everything as they move? And can you provide some data/evidence to support this. That's it. No flowery language, no big words. Keep it simple and show them what they want to see.

50

1 Comment

The point of pre-seed tech startup funds isn't to complete the building, it's to pour the foundation. Before you run around calling people frauds (and get sued) understand how the software startup world works 1. You never stop spending on software development/devs 2. Startups always get funded by customers or by investors. 3. Product market fit is not a science it's a process. it's a process that involves design (UI/UX) product managers/requirements, Devs/code, then DevOps, testing, QA, copy/content sales and marketing work. that's 10 + jobs. (and why it's so slow especially if you have a bad hire or two that delayed things)

9

1 Comment

This startup-killing 🔪 mistake has buried all (3) of my co's. 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. With dstaff, Prodex, and $Tides I made the error of building product first, instead of scaling user funnels that create waves of opportunity. Investing in the product first means building blindly, relying on your perspective rather than your intended clients. Instead, I've learned to utilize immediate product feedback by conversing with potential users and continuing to iterate the product live with each new audience member added. I leverage small $ promotion buys to establish initial audience targets, then work on engagement with ideal customers to nurture them into either a social community or newsletter. With each member added I nurture their investment into me and the product to create a conversational cycle, targeting their audience for growth. This labor-intensive flywheel is scaled through a content strategy + email marketing or AI outreach, driving new targets into calls. You can start this today for your company, even if you've already invested in product. The most valuable resource for businesses is distribution, so don't delay building yours today.

1

The SaaS VC bubble has burst. (Great article from Greg below!) The SaaS VC funding winter looks like it's drawing to a close, this will take a while to filter through to Africa, but when the cash comes back things won't be the same. The USA VC investment-to-exit ratio was eight VC deals done for every exit. In Africa, this ratio is twenty-two to one. The majority of VC funds performed poorly making power law investing unsustainable in the West and not even close to commercial in our markets. What will the post-VC markets look like in Africa? VC in Africa serves less than 1% of businesses so it will be business as usual for 99% of the market. Or will it? Africa is a massive and massively underserved digital market. The pace of digitisation has not slowed, nor have the opportunities diminished. The opportunity is as big as it has ever been. B2B SaaS is a proven, commercially viable mainstream market offering high growth and great returns. Going forward this market will be served by private business, private equity, corporates and a new blend of startup studios. These investors will come for long-term sustainable growth. Sanity around business valuations and growth forecasts will mean less hype, fewer bubbles, more accessible equity, higher launch rates and fewer closures. Mandate-driven capital around AI, climate tech and sustainability will still cause some bubbles but these should slow as B2B SaaS models are foundational for many of these models. The opportunity for world domination has not diminished! USA market liquidity will remain high meaning valuations and M&A will be healthy. B2B SaaS remains one of the best non-linear growth engines there is. We are now entering the mainstream economy.

8

Founders of early tech startups can gauge their progress and ensure they are on track by focusing on several key aspects: roles and jobs, runway, resources, and specific milestones or indicators of success. 1. Tracking Progress Customer Acquisition: Number of new customers acquired. Revenue Growth: Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) or Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). User Engagement: Active users, usage frequency, and churn rate. Product Development: Milestones achieved in the product roadmap. Market Validation: Feedback from beta users or pilot projects. Financial Health: Burn rate, runway, and fundraising progress. 2. Essential Roles and Jobs CEO/Co-Founder: Visionary leader, responsible for overall strategy, fundraising, and stakeholder management. CTO/Co-Founder: Leads product development, technology strategy, and engineering teams. COO: Oversees daily operations, processes, and execution of strategic initiatives. Key Early Hires Product Manager: Manages product development, features prioritization, and user feedback. Lead Developer/Engineer: Focuses on coding, system architecture, and technical problem-solving. UI/UX Designer: Ensures the product is user-friendly and visually appealing. Sales and Marketing Lead: Drives customer acquisition, brand awareness, and go-to-market strategy. Customer Success Manager: Focuses on customer satisfaction, onboarding, and support. 3. Runway Financial Planning Burn Rate: Monitor monthly expenses and ensure they are aligned with your budget. Fundraising: Plan fundraising rounds (pre-seed, seed, Series A) based on milestones and market conditions. Budget Allocation: Allocate funds wisely across product development, marketing, operations, and salaries. Contingency Planning: Maintain a buffer for unexpected expenses or delays. 4. Resources Tools and Infrastructure Development Tools: Source control (e.g., GitHub), project management (e.g., Jira, Trello), and collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Zoom). Cloud Services: AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure for hosting and scaling your application. Analytics: Tools for tracking user behavior, product usage, and business metrics (e.g., Google Analytics, Mixpanel). Financial Management: Accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero) and financial forecasting tools. Human Resources Advisors and Mentors: Experienced professionals who can provide guidance and support. Legal and Compliance: Legal counsel for contracts, intellectual property, and compliance with regulations. HR and Recruitment: Processes for hiring, onboarding, and retaining top talent. 5. Milestones and Indicators of Success Early Stage MVP Launch: Develop and launch a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test the market. User Feedback: Collect and analyze feedback from initial users to refine the product. Market Fit: Achieve a Product-Market Fit where a significant number of users are engaged and satisfied.

2

1 Comment

"How do you guys build all this with a 6 person engineering team?" We got this question from a VC who couldn't believe that we have 1000's of customers and over $3M in annual revenue with such a small team! Here's how our 'Eye of Providence' concept makes our startup efficient: I used to build bridges in the USA in a past life, as an engineer. These projects typically cost $500M and spans 5 or more years. They follow what's called a design-build approach, where the design evolves as construction progresses. Much like a startup, where you leap off the cliff and build the plane on the way down. - Many experts join at different times - Each focused on their job - While an all-knowing core team keeps an eye on everything The core team stays constant and they know every little piece. They’re the 'Eye of Providence'—the all-seeing overseers who keep everything on track. They dish out just the right amount of info to make sure every piece falls into place perfectly, even as new experts may come and go. Their steady guidance ensures the whole machinery hums along smoothly, no matter how many moving parts there are. I drew on the same method for building Zoko. It starts with the founders, who do many jobs—design, product, front-end, back-end, sales, marketing As the startup grows, we find the tasks we can give away to a core team. Put the right person in those jobs and build the rest of the team around them. This ongoing sharing of work and teaching the team is key. - Our way has founders doing the task first while the team watches - Then, the team starts doing parts of it, with the founders helping - In the end, the team takes over, and the founders just watch and stay out of their way For Zoko (YC W21), it took about a year to fully give away the engineering roles. This process lets us grow smoothly. The result? - We built a strong system where everyone knows their job - Deliver 2 week sprints, like clockwork - Developed a united company culture There's no right or wrong way to build a startup. But our way has worked fantastically well for us.

249

13 Comments

40 questions for pre-PMF founders

42

2 Comments

Startup decks vs Business plans. It's accepted that a startup needs a deck. Dax Dasilva of Lightspeed Commerce made an important point on 20VC. Writing a business plan - including financial projections - is an important step. It requires discipline. It provides a rigorous framework for thinking deeply about the problem you're trying to solve. Harry Stebbings countered that he doesn't even want to see a deck since it's all dreams. We spent a lot of time and energy on our business plan with the expectation that we would show it to no one ever. The business plan was part of our roadmap for the company. We researched customers - including having 50+ conversations. We wanted to understand them: their background, their interests, their presence on social media. We also wanted to understand how they were evaluated by leadership and how integrated they were with the business of the company they were protecting. We researched pricing both with potential customers and other products in our industry to find out if OpEx or CapEx was a better fit. How did they buy today? How would they like to buy? We did market research to understand the verticals and map the right entry point - we were wrong but that doesn't reduce the value of the research. We looked at competitors in depth to understand what they were seeing that we weren't. Dax is right. This is an invaluable document that should be updated every year - the company is changing, the market is changing, there's more feedback about price and ICP. It's not for sharing with the outside world. It's a map for driving forward. Decks won't get you investment - VCs invest in people. We make decks but we know they don't tell our story. The deck is a calling card. Dax and Harry are both right. https://lnkd.in/e25M82xY

15

1 Comment

AirChat is so cool! Feels like that’s how SM should always have been. Talking over Texting! The default input is voice which is the most intuitive way to create content. The default output is text which is the most effective way to consume content. It's nothing like before. The only thing missing is my own voice today.🤒 I’m speechless, literally & metaphorically. How’s it in your experience? Or you need an invite? Comment below.😁💙 #entrepreneurship #startup #product #technology

44

25 Comments

Actively looking for a cofounder for Max Deduct, my bookkeeping app for side gigs. 10x easier than Quickbooks and built for the next generation of entrepreneurs, which is to say everyone, because everyone has a hustle these days. What this app needs is someone with amazing UX skills who can learn the domain, look at a screen that needs to be built, and intuitively sketch out what must be done. If that someone happens to be a CPA, have a background in finance, or be local to Tucson, that would be even more ideal. No contractors, I'm looking for the real deal long haul. We're on a mission to address every early entrepreneur's greatest fear: finances. Bring your ambition, your empathy, and your fight.

19

2 Comments

Noisy push notifications cause 71% of all app uninstalls. Enter the 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 that puts an end to this problem ↓ A common advice in startup land is to "scratch your own itch"... That's exactly what Sam and his cofounder did ✅ Sam built a start-up powering 150M notifications/month. By starting a new category called "notification infrastructure" 📲 He invited us to his New York office to show us exactly: → How they validated their idea before quitting their jobs → How they closed their first customer in 2 weeks → Why he doesn’t believe in optimizing for short-term decisions → How they lead a new category that formed around them → And the tactics they use to reach 2.5M end-users This is the crazy story of Knock ⤵

71

11 Comments

In startup land these milestones are pretty sweet. No3 will be the one that changes the way you see the world - trust me. [1] Your first ever sale [2] First sale that doesn't involve you [3] First sale from a structured repeatable process that u can scale. [3] is a massive milestone. It changes everything. #business #startups #entrepreneurship #milestones

2

In 72 hours, my domain rating went from 0 → 23 and ranked #1 for its branded keyword. I remember @dannypostmaa said "Every developer should have a side project with a high domain rating to rank any new project on Google" So when I launch a new startup, I add a backlink to my 25+ sites. ShipFast has a 67 rating. @IndiePageApp has 58 (you can use it too btw). 3 days later, I'm #1 on Google. Built your own launchpad! A free pSEO project is a great way to get started. Here's what I know: https://lnkd.in/gJX7sYz5

135

18 Comments

📈 Maximizing ROI: How Custom Mobile Apps Drive Revenue Growth for Products and Startups 📱 In today's hyper-competitive landscape, maximizing ROI is a top priority for products and startups alike. Enter custom mobile apps—the secret weapon driving revenue growth and propelling businesses to new heights. Here's how: 1) 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: Custom mobile apps offer a seamless, tailored experience that keeps users engaged and coming back for more. From intuitive navigation to personalized content, every interaction is designed to delight customers and drive conversions. 2) 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: Custom mobile apps open up a world of monetization possibilities, from in-app purchases and subscriptions to advertising and sponsorship opportunities. With the right strategy, apps can become lucrative revenue streams in their own right. 3) 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Behind the scenes, custom mobile apps streamline operations, reducing overhead costs and boosting efficiency. Whether it's automating processes or facilitating communication, apps empower businesses to do more with less, maximizing profitability in the process. 4) 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Custom mobile apps provide valuable insights into user behavior, preferences, and trends. By leveraging data analytics, businesses can make informed decisions, optimize marketing efforts, and tailor offerings to better meet customer needs—all of which contribute to increased revenue generation. 5) 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: A well-designed custom mobile app is more than just a revenue generator; it's a powerful tool for building brand loyalty and fostering long-term customer relationships. By offering exclusive content, rewards, and personalized experiences, apps keep users engaged and coming back for more, driving repeat business and boosting lifetime customer value. 6) 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: As businesses grow and evolve, so too can their custom mobile apps. With scalable architecture and ongoing updates, apps can adapt to changing market dynamics, new technologies, and evolving customer expectations, ensuring long-term relevance and sustained revenue growth. From boosting sales to enhancing brand loyalty, custom mobile apps are a game-changer for products and startups looking to maximize ROI and drive revenue growth. Ready to unlock the full potential of your business? Let's connect and discuss how a custom mobile app can take your revenue strategy to the next level! 💼🚀 #MaximizeROI #CustomMobileApps #RevenueGrowth #BusinessSuccess #Innovation Have you experienced the revenue-driving power of custom mobile apps firsthand? Share your success stories and insights in the comments below! 👇

4

#Simplicity is not a priority for product owners and product managers. However, the simplicity of using a product can be the reason why your current users recommend it and bring new customers for free. Fewer features mean faster, simpler (and usually cheaper) development. The fewer different integrations, the lower the likelihood that the system will fail, which leads to improved quality. The best products require fewer people for testing and support, have fewer bugs, and a lower churn rate. What do you think, how important is the simplicity of using a product for its success?

18

2 Comments

🚀How Perplexity Founder Aravind Srinivas Built a $1B Startup in 2 Years🚀 Aravind Srinivas never imagined he would one day be the co-founder and CEO of a rapidly growing AI startup valued at $1 billion. But that’s exactly what happened when he and his co-founder Dennis launched Perplexity AI in December 2022. The Genesis of a Passion Arvind’s journey to founding Perplexity began in his native India, where he grew up with a deep fascination for algorithms and programming. This passion led him to win a machine learning contest, which spurred him to dive deeper into the field. Eventually, he pursued a PhD in AI and deep learning at University of California, Berkeley, a decision that would set the stage for his future success. A Pivotal Moment A summer internship at OpenAI in 2018 became a turning point for Arvind. “I went to OpenAI and I felt really bad because people were so much better than me,” he recalls. “It was a big reality check that I could improve a lot more in programming and first principles thinking.” This humbling experience motivated Arvind to double down on his AI research, dedicating his time to understanding large language models (LLMs) like GPT-1, which had just been published. Building Perplexity AI This deep dive into LLMs ultimately led Arvind and Dennis to found Perplexity AI, a conversational search engine aiming to revolutionize how people find information online. “Perplexity is trying to build a future where you can just come and ask a question, like how you would ask a friend, and that AI replies to you with the answer, complete with corresponding citations,” Arvind explains. Exponential Growth Perplexity’s unique approach, combining LLMs with robust search capabilities, resonated with users. The company launched its product on December 7, 2022, and has since experienced exponential growth. In just one year, daily queries skyrocketed from 2,000–3,000 to over 3–4 million. Overcoming Challenges Building a product as technically complex as Perplexity has not been without its challenges. Arvind describes the process as “orchestrating” various components to deliver a seamless user experience. “That’s why this is a hard thing to build. Even for a big company, playing the orchestra is hard.” Focus and Execution Arvind’s approach to these challenges has been to relentlessly focus on execution and quality. “We are still a small team, around 30 people. When you have fewer people, you can only do fewer things. So, you spend a lot of time thinking about what to do. And once you’ve decided, you just do it.” This focus on doing a few things exceptionally well is a key part of Arvind’s startup philosophy. “The best strategy for startups is to focus on very few things, even just one thing, because there’s not much time. As a startup, you’re supposed to move fast and have very few shots at failure.” Pic: Ken (Advisor at the Bay Area Founders Club) with Aravind Srinivas (CEO of Perplexity AI)

41

4 Comments