Rajeev Behera’s Post

Let me tell you a story... Once upon a time, in the ever-evolving tech industry, a small startup faced a big problem: nobody understood what they were trying to do. So, the founder decided to ditch the buzzwords and pitch using stories. He shared how their platform helped a single mother finally launch her own business, or how it enabled a war veteran to learn coding and land a job. Suddenly, people could see the real-world impact and value of the startup's technology. That's the power of storytelling in tech. Numbers and data only go so far. But a good story? That sticks. It creates an emotional connection between your product and your audience. So, next time you're trying to explain your tech product, don't just list features and benefits. Think of the stories that bring it to life. What problems does it solve? Who benefits? What difference does it make? That's what people really want to hear.

It looks like a spreadsheet, but it’s so much more.   As a startup it’s easy to have your focus split into 1000 different pieces. But really it’s all about looking at your costumer’s needs.   Portfolio company in #PSVTech01, Francis and founders William Axel Pontoppidan and Sune Gynthersen seem to have nailed this already with their FP&A products.   SYBO, the creators behind giga hit, Subway Surfers (among the world’s most downloaded mobile games*), has been partnering with Francis for some time now.   Wonder how Francis has supported their financial team? They have… 👉 Improved stakeholder collaboration, budget variance analysis, and re-forecasting. 👉 Reduced time spent on repetitive and non-value-adding tasks by more than 90%. 👉 Enhanced flexibility and richer insights into both actual and forecasted performance.   It’s truly difficult to underestimate the power of understanding your costumer’s needs in-depth. Big kudos to team Francis for getting it right! #PSV #Tech01 #Founders #Future #Finance #Startup #VC #Venturcapitalism #Collaboration

Jason Lemkin wrote about ‘NRR Zombies’ yesterday and it got me thinking - maybe it’s time for a Zombie apocalypse in SaaS? The last time I went to Websummit in late 2021, my eyebrows were perpetually raised from talking to startups that created products I couldn’t imagine anyone would really need, and yet raised millions in funding - surely part of the zero interest rate phenomenon, that created tons of companies that just didn’t have profitability anywhere on the horizon. Lemkin defines “NRR Zombies” as companies that “are at $2m-$20m ARR or so, sometimes more, aren’t losing money, and have 90%-100%+ NRR and relatively stable GRR and logo retention. So that revenue and cash will keep coming in for years. But they just can’t get any new customers anymore.” In 2021, there were steak dinners. A lot of companies would even *pay* you take a demo with them. Nobody seemed to care about CAC. Everyone was overhiring, buying tools (especially those that were supposed to facilitate growth), throwing lavish events at conferences, that cost them north of $100k to go to. Then 2023-23 hit and everyone started trimming fat. And maybe when we don’t have VCs fuelling these unsustainable growth rates and the buying/hiring frenzy is over - we just don’t need all those tools anymore. I’m honestly surprised that these “zombies” are still doing so well. I know this is not sexy but maybe we really need to rethink growth moving forward.

There's a humbling and adventurous movement called #SixWeekProducts, and Camplight | Your Digital Venture Builder is participating again. The screenshot is about how the strategy looks internally. The team behind that is helping with the go-to-market of a new FinTech venture called Fairlight. How can you orchestrate a product launch in six weeks? Everybody has their own playbooks but the common pattern I see is around: - capabilities - capacity I bet you can launch a product as a solopreneur or as a team. You can launch a product as a "pretotype" or a full-fledged MVP. Hell, people nowadays launch products as a tweet or a simple LinkedIn post that goes viral. For me, the ultimate goal is to launch a product aligned with the capabilities and capacity of the people involved. Whether a no-code solution or something more sophisticated. If you join a #SixWeekProducts movement how do you imagine approaching it? What are your ideal capabilities and capacities involved? #VentureBuilding #Camplight #ProductDevelopment #LeanStartup #GrowthHacking

Dirty Secret of Successful Startups - "we started as mostly an operations company, software was an afterthought, a way to deal with bottlenecks" - Uber, Airbnb, Reddit, Tinder While every single founder sprints towards LLM/AI, Software only, Automated only teams, Learn how an operations focused mindset can lead to explosive network effects based growth while keeping your tech investment low. Join me for a 2 part mental models investigation session where we'll explore underpinnings of the Cold Start Problem and The Mom Test Book https://lu.ma/v97889ig

👋 Today I'm excited to share a project that has been in the works for a while. Since joining Techstars NYC as an investor, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my own founder journey and how little I knew when I began. Before I started my first company, all I had seen of founders then were the glamorous narratives of unbelievable success. Founders who had sold their companies for millions. Founders who had hundreds of articles written about them. Founders who had raised at massive valuations. Then, in becoming a founder myself, I realized I had no idea about the behind-the-scenes. What it really took, personally and professionally, to take something from 0 to 1. I realized that... Alongside the charismatic, confident founder you see in the media, is the human grappling with imposter syndrome and the constant pressure to perform. Alongside the startup with a high valuation is the string of risky decisions, maxed-out credit cards, and grueling late-night chats. Alongside each polished story, there are real challenges, unsung heroes, and unique highs & lows that make every second of the founder's journey worth it. Or maybe not? We will let you decide. So today, Michelle Kwok and I are launching ⚡️Founder Diaries: a bi-weekly newsletter of unfiltered short stories behind the founders of today. Here, you'll see the real behind-the-scenes of early-stage founder life. And yep, we get personal. Check out our first issue, the story of John Li, Founder of Vimcal, and the journey of how it took two major pivots to hit product-market fit. Subscribe here:

🚀 Exciting Highlights from TechStars Demo Day 2024! 🌟 Had the pleasure of tuning in to 11 phenomenal pitches, and while I missed a few earlier ones buzzing with great feedback, here's a quick recap: Nala - Revolutionizing talent acquisition. Chambr - Turning sales engineers into rock stars. Fundwurx - Making a social impact. Skyblue Analytics - Unleashing a white-label service for investment platforms. Cadena - Transforming the learning platform. Cut+Clarity - Bridging designers and jewelers. PerformVu - Opt for art over Netflix. Wxllspace - Connecting art and real estate. Ćual - The Yelp for Hispanics. Littl - A little help for parents with toddlers goes a long way. Coexist - Elevating shared to-do lists and more for couples. Kudos to the founders for their stellar presentations, packed with crisp and compelling content that leaves you hungry for more! 🌐💼 It's always tough to predict which startups will scale up the fastest, but one standout was the demo video from PerformVu – definitely worth checking out!

All platforms keep asking... what's on your mind, Bala? I just had to have a visual representation to share whats on my mind. On most days, whats on my mind is the journey of the founders we have backed. Their challenges, their struggles, their learning, failures and victories. The constant drum and march of technology which consistently leaves humanity behind and how to bridge that gap or adapt to build a better future is what is on my mind. #Startupthinking #buildingthefuture #founders

We're revolutionary. We've developed a groundbreaking product. We're disruptors. We're glad for you, but what does this mean for us? When companies are too focused on their 'we stories': * Leaning into features and benefits. * Talking about the small ways they outclass competition. * Explaining how they are going to change the world. What do we do, tune out. Why? More on the difference of the impact of 'you stories' versus 'we stories' in the video! --- 👋 Hi y'all, I'm Kris. 🎒 The founder of Zanate Ventures based in Austin, Texas. 🖋 I'm unlocking core stories and crafting content systems to help well-funded companies drive repeatable revenue. 🤝 To learn how we work, check out the links I share in the comments of these posts and the Featured Section of my profile.

It's a must see #unicorn Report from VC Cowboy More unicorns and geographies , more co-founders with diverse backgrounds - but some things didn’t change at all: - 83% of unicorns had co-founders (90% last time) - Average age at founding was 35 - ~70% of founders worked previously in tech - About 40% of co-founders are ‘non-technical’ - ~65% of founders went to school - Only ~20% of founders went to a “top 10 school” - Google, a breeding ground: ~6% of co-founders Link to full report: https://lnkd.in/gX2hDkaq