1/ Read Bloomberg’s autobiography (from ‘97) this weekend. Covers the first 15 years of Bloomberg LP & and how Mike built such a dominant franchise. Written before “lean startup” and modern software startup nomenclature, but lessons sound like something @chetanp would share...

2/ Bloomberg initially focused on a narrow use case: real time yield curve data for bond traders. Today, Bloomberg covers equity & debt markets around the world, offers financials, news, messaging, alternative data & more. But it started with a simple product & seemingly tiny TAM
3/ They “nailed” product/market fit for this use case because they deeply understood their customers. Not only did Mike Bloomberg and the first four employees all come from the industry, but they also built a tight feedback loop w/ their first "lighthouse" customer, Merrill Lynch
4/ When Bloomberg installed the first 22 terminals at Merrill, they embedded themselves with initial users. They visited daily. They had two users who provided constant feedback, helping to rapidly squash bugs and improve the product.
5/ Bloomberg also offered professional services. In fact, their first $100,000 in revenue was from PS. The consulting work helped pay the bills, but more importantly helped the Bloomberg team map their customers' needs and to build relationships across the organization.
6/ As the product matured, one happy customer led to the next. The business grew largely via referral. Bloomberg shares how a sale to the Bank of England led to a sale to the Vatican led to a sale to the World Bank.
7/ Similar customers with identical use cases make for powerful references if a product relieves a pain point. The power of a narrow TAM helps not just with product market fit, but also with GTM.
8/ Bloomberg notoriously doesn’t discount. Mike says: “To publish one price and then negotiate secretly with those you want to favor... that just encourages dissent, uncertainty, and unpleasantness.” Many software companies struggle to maintain list price. Not Bloomberg.
9/ Mike reflects on the tension for a platform btwn offering 3rd party data vs producing content in house. Bloomberg News launched when this was an existential question for Bloomberg, as they began to compete w/ Dow Jones, which they also relied on for much of Bloomberg’s content
10/ This tension is reminiscent of what we’re seeing in 2020: Netflix’s aggressive move into original content, Spotify’s move into podcasts, and many other platform vs. content debates.
11/ Lots of lessons from Bloomberg for building a vertical SaaS business. Start with a specific use case. Iterate quickly w/ customer driven development. Build deep relationships w/ users and leverage happy customer referrals as your marketing machine. Strategically utilize PS
12/ Ensure your pricing model aligns with customer value and is fair across customers. Distribution & content both matter. If you can control both, you’ve got a powerful, deep moat. We’re working hard on this @TegusHQ.
13/ A ton has happened at Bloomberg LP and in the broader financial world in the 23 years since the book published. I’d love to see an update on how Bloomberg LP has evolved, and am always looking for great stories about building successful software businesses. Suggestions?

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मुंबईतील प्रसिद्ध किताबखाना ला लागलेली आग आपल्या सर्वांच्या मनाला चटका लावणारी होती. त्या आगीत सुमारे 95 लाख किमतीच्या 45,000 पुस्तकांचं नुकसान झालं. एकूण नुकसान दोन कोटींच्या घरात गेलं. तरीही किताबखाना पुन्हा सुरू करण्याचं स्वप्न आहे समीर आणि अमृता सोमैया यांचं.
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त्यांनीच दहा वर्षांपूर्वी मुंबईत ही सुंदर स्पेस तयार केली.त्यांच्या जगप्रवासात विविध पुस्तकांनी त्यांना वेड लावलं.अशी एक कम्युनिटी स्पेस मुंबईतही करायची,या ध्येयाने त्यांनी किताबखानाची निर्मिती केली.अमृताचे वडील प्रसिद्ध आर्किटेक्ट जगदीश मिस्त्री यांनी किताबखाना डिझाईन केला होता.

लाईव इवेंट्स, पुस्तक वाचन, काला घोडा फेस्ट्वलचे कार्यक्रम, उत्तमोत्तम पुस्तकं, लहान मुलांसाठीचा पुस्तकांचा स्वतंत्र विभाग ही किताबखानाची सर्व खासियत कायम राहणार आहे.
सध्या तिथे रिस्टोरेशनचं काम सुरू आहे. समीर आणि अमृता यांची मी घेतलेली मुलाखत आणि बातमी शेअर करत आहे.

दोन मार्चला किताबखाना वाचकांसाठी पुन्हा सुरू करायचा समीर आणि अमृता सोमैया यांचा प्रयत्न आहे. किताबखाना कॅफे आता इनहाऊस चालवला जाईल. @JairajSinghR @KitabKhanaBooks @UpadhyayaP12

Mumbai's iconic @KitabKhanaBooks is getting ready to reopen after gutted in fire and hit by the #Lockdown
My story via @timesofindia
Read what Samir and Amrita Somaiya have to say, who created this beautiful community space in #SoBo #Mumbai #Bookstore

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