The hottest Startup Growth Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Business Topics

Making Markets in Time

Pivotal • 330 implied HN points • 25 Jan 25
💼 Business Venture Capital Market Trends Startup Growth Investment Strategies Financial Models
  1. Silicon Valley focuses on 'temporal arbitrage', which is about making money over time by investing at different stages of a startup's growth. This helps investors bridge gaps between early ideas and established companies.
  2. The modern venture capital system divides funding into specific stages, like seed and series rounds. Each investor specializes in different stages, making the process smoother and more efficient.
  3. Success in venture capital often comes from being part of a shared consensus on what makes a company fundable. Investors try to follow trends rather than go against the grain to align with what other investors believe.

Whatever, do the secondary sale

benn.substack • 562 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
💼 Business Venture Capital Startup Growth Employee Relations
  1. If you're a visionary founder who raises a lot of money and then sells shares for personal gain before mismanagement leads to the company's downfall, VCs will prioritize your ability to grow and persuade over your financial choices.
  2. In the world of venture capital, making money often trumps moral values, with investors backing those who are monetizable rather than necessarily 'nice.'
  3. While secondary sales by founders may raise concerns about focus and fairness to employees, making them transparent to the entire company could help ensure accountability and address potential disillusionment.

What Matters Most For Startup Growth? From VP of Growth at Facebook | 37% Of First-time VCs Might Not Able To Raise A Second Fund | VC Remote Jobs

Venture Curator • 199 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
💼 Business Startup Growth VC Funding Venture Capital Investment Trends
  1. For startup growth, focusing on retention is key. Many founders neglect retention in favor of customer acquisition, leading to business failure.
  2. Before pursuing growth tactics, startups should aim for product-market fit. Prioritize retention over growth hacking when the retention curve fails to flatten.
  3. Identifying the 'magic moment' for users, emphasizing tactics for virality, and aligning with the CEO as the north star for growth are essential strategies for sustained growth.

Lemons Ripen Early: Playing the Long Game

The Hard Fork by Marvin Liao • 235 implied HN points • 05 Aug 23
💼 Business Venture Capital Investments Entrepreneurship Startup Growth
  1. In venture capital, bad investments tend to fail early, making way for successful ones later on.
  2. It's important to play the long game, especially in the early stages of investing, to allow winners to emerge.
  3. Success usually takes time and persistence, with at least 2 years needed to see a project through and achieve product-market fit.

From 0 to 10 million users in four years

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 307 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
💼 Business Startup Growth AI Monetization Marketing Strategy Product-led growth
  1. Copy.ai's rapid growth from 0 to 10 million users in four years was fueled by fast MVP iterations, leveraging AI like GPT-3, and a focus on early monetization.
  2. The monetization strategy of starting at $3 per month and then testing higher price points was crucial in Copy.ai's journey towards a platform model with a $49 per month subscription.
  3. Key to Copy.ai's scaling success was a strong growth strategy that included early user acquisition via social media, SEO optimization, and a specialized marketing team dedicated to different channels.
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From seven failures to 10x growth

Kyle Poyar’s Growth Unhinged • 354 implied HN points • 24 Jan 24
💼 Business Startup Growth Product Development Marketing User Feedback Team Management
  1. Growing from 0 to 1,000 users was harder than the next 999,000 for Jam.
  2. Key factors for Jam's success included dogfooding, focusing on high quality, and having few, focused pilots.
  3. Jam's growth strategies involved continuous improvement, strong focus on user feedback, and engaging with the community through events and content.

Decoding Space PR: Lessons from Agencies, Iconic Campaigns, and Crisis Playbooks

Space Ambition • 159 implied HN points • 06 Oct 23
💼 Business Public Relations Crisis Management Marketing Strategies Startup Growth
  1. Different space agencies like NASA and ESA have unique PR strategies. NASA engages with people through social media, streaming platforms, and direct communication to keep the public informed and excited about space explorations.
  2. Crisis management is really important in the space industry. Effective communication during setbacks can build or break trust, as seen in how NASA handled past tragedies compared to others.
  3. Creative PR campaigns can capture people's attention. Whether it's sending messages to the Moon or concerts at space centers, these imaginative ideas can help promote space tech and engage the public.

MKT1 Guide to Channel <> Startup fit

MKT1 Newsletter • 2 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
💼 Business Startup Growth Marketing Strategy
  1. Relying on just one growth channel for startups is a myth. It's better to use multiple channels together like a basketball team for successful growth.
  2. Each startup should choose channels that fit their unique strategy and audience. Testing and optimizing various channels over time is crucial.
  3. Combining different channels can create a more effective growth strategy. Be open to adapting as marketing trends and tools change.

How to (consistently) get 4.8* App Ratings [Storytime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 1 HN point • 30 Mar 24
🕹 Technology App Development User Experience iOS Startup Growth
  1. Consistently achieve high app ratings like 4.8". It's not easy, but it's simple. Understand two key concepts: asking for reviews and identifying 'wow' moments.
  2. Requesting app reviews is crucial. Users rarely leave reviews on their own, so ask for feedback using StoreKit APIs in iOS and strategically place these requests at key points in your app's critical path.
  3. Focus on delivering 'wow' moments in your app, ask for reviews at that peak point. Balancing user satisfaction with review requests on the critical path is essential for maintaining a high app rating.

Kent Beck: Business

Software Design: Tidy First? • 2 HN points • 30 Aug 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Business Ethics Startup Growth Personal Development Financial Strategy
  1. Kent Beck learned from his grandfather that business can be about maximizing benefits for oneself at the expense of others.
  2. Kent Beck initially believed that by creating value for others, nature would provide for him, but he later realized he needed to actively create a path for value to return to him.
  3. Kent Beck's journey taught him that running a business doesn't have to mirror his grandfather's questionable practices; a business can be mutually beneficial for customers and himself.

Why You Should (Still) Join Pinecone

Why You Should Join • 4 implied HN points • 04 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Database Management Machine Learning Product Development Startup Growth
  1. Pinecone has seen significant growth and is actively hiring for various roles in different locations.
  2. Pinecone developed the first fully managed database for vectors, making working with vectors easy and efficient.
  3. Pinecone remains a market leader with a strong team, continuous product improvements, and a growing customer base.

0 to 10 Billion

Venture Prose • 19 implied HN points • 29 May 19
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Venture Capital Startup Growth Investing Ambition
  1. French entrepreneurship has shown significant growth in market maturity and capital raised, leading to ambitious founders and valuable companies.
  2. Venture capitalists are supporting entrepreneurs with high ambitions to create companies worth over $10 billion at exit or IPO, fostering growth and innovation.
  3. Entrepreneurs should surround themselves with individuals who push them to unlock their full potential and think big, aiming for ambitious goals rather than settling for mediocrity.

Up, up and away! A crowd-valuation of Uber!

Musings on Markets • 0 implied HN points • 03 Dec 14
💼 Business Valuation Market Analysis Investment Strategies Startup Growth Financial Modeling
  1. Valuation isn't just about the numbers; it's also about the story behind those numbers. Your personal views and biases will shape how you value a company like Uber.
  2. Different narratives can lead to vastly different valuations. If you see Uber as having a huge market potential, you might arrive at a value much higher than someone who sees it more conservatively.
  3. It's important to update your narrative as new information becomes available. Successful investors often get the narrative right, even if their number crunching isn’t perfect.

The Journey of Veri: How Anttoni Aniebonam’s Vision for Metabolic Health Led to an Acquisition by Oura

The Healthtech Initiative • 0 implied HN points • 20 Dec 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Metabolic health Tech Integration Startup Growth User Experience
  1. Anttoni Aniebonam started Veri to help improve metabolic health after facing personal health challenges from a sports injury. His journey turned into entrepreneurship as he sought solutions for himself and others.
  2. Veri grew rapidly, reaching over 50,000 users and logging millions of meals and glucose levels. Their quick success led to a partnership with Oura, driven by user requests for data integration.
  3. After the acquisition, Veri aims to create similar health features within the Oura platform to continue supporting metabolic health. The goal for both companies is to help people live healthier, longer lives.