The “Titanic” and “Titanic” Iceberg are central characters in our narrative on uncertainty and avoiding venture failure. But, how—or perhaps more importantly, why—did she really sink? We thought we’d share some of the alternative hypotheses and conspiracy theories through the years…
What are the Growth Patterns for Startups?
Most founders we talk to have a little glaze in their eyes as they share their vision. You can tell that in their mind’s eye, they see their startup as a Unicorn. At a minimum, they can see revenues of $100 million. And that’s great – they should have a lofty and bold vision of what they can accomplish. Without that vision, they are guaranteed not to get there. We wondered, just how likely is this kind of an outcome?
Why A Startup Needs to Launch in An Existing Market Category
If you listen to a variety of startup pitches or work closely with startups, one refrain you often here is – “we are unique, there’s no one else like us.” What appeals to a founder about this idea is that they don’t have any competitors. Instead, this is a hidden debt that we explore in the Marketing Ocean.
So, why do we say being in a market category of one company is a bad idea?
Why Getting to Product/Market Fit can Sink a Startup
The most important job of a startup in the early stages is figuring out product/market fit. Turns out that this is much, much harder than it sounds like. You know the basic story:
- Entrepreneur has a great idea for an unsolved problem to fix
- They envision what they think needs to be done to fix it
- They built that product (BTW – when we say product, it could be either a product or a service)