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We need a middle class for startups
Idea: Make Mittelstands cool in America. Rebrand the US Middle Market. Create a studio and fund to build and buy Mittelstands.
Top posts
Every blog post that took off on Hacker News, ranked by the votes of its best submission. 71 posts.
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What software engineers can learn from the rapid collapse of Fast
What can software engineers learn from the shutdown of the company? Exclusive details.
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I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)
When good ideas make bad business
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I stopped advertising and nothing happened
What happens when you turn off all of your Internet advertising? Apparently, nothing. This post explores how I came to the decision to turn off all ads, and what I found as a result.
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Success and Failure at Pebble
We launched Pebble on Kickstarter 10 years ago today! It was an amazing ride and I learned a lot from the experience. Story time…
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Stripe is PayPal circa 2010
After integrating both Stripe and Paypal I've come to the realization that they are nearly the same, including all the evil.
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$7M lost on Amazon inventory, then bankrupt
Our Amazon journey started in January 2018 when HyperVolt released the first massage gun on the market. We were so careful with this…
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I Listened to 1000 B2B SaaS Sales Calls
For a project I was working on, some of the research involved listening to thousands of sales calls from well known high-growth B2B SaaS companies.
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Someone should probably start a bright home lighting company (2019)
Elevator pitch: Bring enough light to simulate daylight into your home and office.
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I turned down $500k, pissed off my investors, and shut down my startup (2016)
I just did what no startup founder is ever supposed to do. I gave up. It wasn’t even one of those glorious “fail fast and fail forward” learning experiences. After seven months of hard work and two weeks before we were to start ...
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How I took my SaaS from idea to sold in 14 months
I built an MVP in one month and grew the product for a year. But now it’s time to pass the torch. It’s official, I sold Mugshot Bot! Here’s how it all went down.
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Want to found a startup? Work at one first
Research shows start-ups with experienced founders are more likely to succeed, and build more valuable companies too. But if you want to found a company, how do you get that experience? My experience says the fast-track is joining an existing start-up and riding that wave, taking the opportunities that come with…
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Using Rust at a startup: A cautionary tale
Rust is awesome, for certain things. But think twice before picking it up for a startup that needs to move fast.
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Google has a company strategy, not a product strategy
Or, Why Google keeps killing products
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Using ChatGPT as a Co-Founder
In the quest to explore the capabilities of ChatGPT, I decided to utilized it as a startup brainstorming partner. From product description to building the product on AWS and GCP, crafting an elevat...
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Want to Start a Startup, as a Software Engineer? Sell Something Online
When I decided to write and sell my first ebook, The Tech Resume Inside Out [https://thetechresume.com/], I expected to learn about the writing process. How to create a high-quality publication. How to work with editors. Designing a cover and illustrations for the book. And I have, indeed,
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1k True Fans (2008)
This is an edited, updated version of an essay I wrote in 2008 when this now popular idea was embryonic and ragged. I recently rewrote it to convey the core ideas, minus out-of-date details. This revisited essay appears in Tim … Continue reading →
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Co-Founding Considered Harmful
“Hell is other people.” Sartre I’ve come to view the idea that you absolutely need a co-founder as one of the most harmful memes in Silicon Valley. It’
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Solo founder dilemma; CEO or CTO?
Choosing to be the CEO or CTO after raising a seed round.
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Zapier: A $5B Unbundling Opportunity
Zapier has 3M+ users and generates $125M in ARR. At a $5B valuation, its fast-growing horizontal platform is unable to meet the demands of all of its customers. The increase of underserved Zapier customers presents an opportunity.
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VCs are scared when they should be greedy
I originally wrote this essay for The Information, where it was published on July 6, 2022. I've read a lot of the advice that venture capitalists have given founders on the current state of the...
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The great VC pullback of 2022
Are we witnessing a major VC pullback? Is it temporary? What does that mean for startups? Certainly the topic du jour in startup circles. Here’s what I’m seeing
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How on earth I became an entrepreneur
The email landed in my inbox around 10:05/am, alerting us of an all-hands meeting in 15 minutes. “Guess we got acquired”, we all thought. 16 minutes later, we were all laid off. This was February of 2001. I was first alerted of my uselessness in 1995, when ~ fresh out of college ~ I worked ... Read more
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Lessons Learned after $5B of M&A
Learn key M&A insights from $5B in startup exits. Discover 10 proven strategies for founders on building relationships, navigating acquisitions & maximizing deal value.
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Build your fanbase using the K-pop method
Every successful startup needs a fanbase. To build one, learn from the masters.
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