Branding. Do Things that Don't Scale. July 2013 One of the most common types of advice we give at Y Combinator is to do things that don't scale.
A lot of would-be founders believe that startups either take off or don't. You build something, make it available, and if you've made a better mousetrap, people beat a path to your door as promised. Or they don't, in which case the market must not exist. [1] Startup advice, briefly. This is a very short summary with lots left out—here is the long version: You should start with an idea, not a company.
When it’s just an idea or project, the stakes are lower and you’re more willing to entertain outlandish-sounding but potentially huge ideas. The best way to start a company is to build interesting projects. On the other hand, when you have a “company” that you feel pressure to commit to an idea too quickly. If it’s just a project, you can spend more time finding something great to work on, which is important—if the startup really works, you’ll probably be working on it for a very long time. How do you beat the network effect? How to launch a new product. Location: CalaCompound, Brentwood, CA Monday, December 22nd, 5:50PM PST.
Word Count: 2,986 Jason’s List Subscriber Count: 11,858 List management: Filed under: Entrepreneurship Republishing: PLEASE DO *NOT* REPRINT WITHOUT PERMISSION Forwarding: PLEASE *DO* FORWARD TO SMART PEOPLE Team Jason, Last Monday we launched a new product called Mahalo Answers ( ). It got a very warm reception from the press, users and the industry (investors, partners, etc). This was the most seamless and well-executed launch I’ve ever been involved in, so I thought I would share what I’ve learned about launching new products while it’s fresh in my mind. What's the best launch strategy for a web startup?