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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@bellingcat's attempt in their new book, published by
@BloomsburyBooks, to coverup the @OPCW #Douma controversy, promote US and UK gov. war narratives, and whitewash fraudulent conduct within the OPCW, is an exercise in deception through omission. @BloomsburyPub @Tim_Hayward_


1) 2000 words are devoted to the OPCW controversy regarding the alleged chemical weapon attack in #Douma, Syria in 2018 but critical material is omitted from the book. Reading it, one would never know the following:

2) That the controversy started when the original interim report, drafted and agreed by Douma inspection team members, was secretly modified by an unknown OPCW person who had manipulated the findings to suggest an attack had occurred. https://t.co/QtAAyH9WyX… @RobertF40396660


3) This act of attempted deception was only derailed because an inspector discovered the secret changes. The manipulations were reported by @ClarkeMicah
and can be readily observed in documents now available https://t.co/2BUNlD8ZUv….

4) @bellingcat's book also makes no mention of the @couragefoundation panel, attended by the @opcw's first Director General, Jose Bustani, at which an OPCW official detailed key procedural irregularities and scientific flaws with the Final Douma Report:
I woke up this morning to hundreds of notifications from this tweet, which is literally just a quote from a book I am giving away tonight.

The level of vitriol in the replies is a new experience for me on here. I love Twitter, but this is the dark side of it.

Thread...


First, this quote is from a book which examines castes and slavery throughout history. Obviously Wilkerson isn’t claiming slavery was invented by America.

She says, “Slavery IN THIS LAND...” wasn’t happenstance. American chattel slavery was purposefully crafted and carried out.

That’s not a “hot take” or a fringe opinion. It’s a fact with which any reputable historian or scholar agrees.

Second, this is a perfect example of how nefarious folks operate here on Twitter...

J*mes Linds*y, P*ter Bogh*ssian and others like them purposefully misrepresent something (or just outright ignore what it actually says as they do in this case) and then feed it to their large, angry following so they will attack.


The attacks are rarely about ideas or beliefs, because purposefully misrepresenting someone’s argument prevents that from happening. Instead, the attacks are directed at the person.

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