Only two types of startups exist: technology-led and culture-led
(a short thread on this mental model)
🔥 It's also the 7th chapter of my book https://t.co/iLfMb0xhnD
1/ There are two ways an entrepreneur can fail:
a) launch a product that nobody desires;
b) launch a product that people desire but with no significant advantage over established competitors (hence give no strong reason for a customer to switch away).
2/ These two failure modes have their analogous success modes:
a) culture-led startup success where a new desire is discovered and fulfilled;
b) technology-led startup success where new technology is used to fulfill an existing desire.
3/ Let’s explore culture-led startups first.
They are the ones in which the entrepreneur is able to observe a pattern of new derivative desires that didn’t exist before.
Such trends are very hard to spot because initially they can be mistaken either as fads or insignificant.
4/ However, an entrepreneur who has good observation skills is able to connect the dots from diverse sources to grow his conviction about a cultural shift just when the market is