Steelhead | Revenue & Trends

The hottest Substack posts of Steelhead

And their main takeaways

Understanding why customers care or don't care about a product's value proposition is crucial for building an actually robust business with a compelling value proposition.
The absence of information (what people don't do or say) is just as important as what they do, highlighting the importance of understanding why customers behave as they do.
By combining the Customer Development framework with a deep understanding of why, entrepreneurs can build a good product, orient business functions correctly, and operate with greater capital efficiency.

Think about your budget in terms of probabilities to set realistic yet ambitious goals.
Different mindsets like aggressive, conservative, or balanced can impact how budgets are set.
Getting alignment among key stakeholders like the CEO, CFO, and Board is crucial in budgeting.

The name 'Steelhead' for the substack comes from its connection to the challenging, yet rewarding nature of startup building and investing, similar to the difficulty of catching a Steelhead fish.
Erik Zahnlecker's newsletter will focus on topics related to company building and investing, drawing from his personal experiences and industry trends.
Starting a business or investing is tough and often comes with a low success rate, but the potential rewards can be significant for those who persevere through the challenges.

Raising more private capital pre-IPO shows a weak positive correlation with larger enduring public market cap.
Companies that raise more private capital pre-IPO tend to have slightly higher growth rates post-IPO.
There is a weak/negligible positive correlation between raising more private capital pre-IPO and greater enduring sales efficiency.

Building a business around a 'Central Record' can lead to large opportunities and sticky products by interconnecting various solutions around a central data structure.
Tossing out common startup advice to focus on one thing and instead creating a 'Compound Startup' around a Central Record can differentiate a company in a market filled with niche solutions.
Startups focusing on Central Records benefit from being well-positioned to expand, have stronger bundling economics, and offer integrated solutions that are harder for customers to replace.

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Advertising serves to match supply and demand, with the value shifting to those who can effectively manage this in a world of abundant supply.
Meta and Google have thrived in digital advertising by being widely used and investing in technology for targeted ad delivery.
In the face of changing privacy concerns, companies should focus on leveraging first-party data, mastering customer engagement, exploring new advertising channels, and building strong brands to thrive.