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Saved by @ThomassRichards

Today's thread is on the affiliate business model. Many years ago, I used to be an affiliate marketer. If there is any way to get schooled in marketing, becoming an affiliate marketer is probably the best way.

What is affiliate marketing and why should you care?

Read on >>

 1) Affiliate marketing is selling products or generating leads on behalf of other companies and getting paid a commission for those products.
2) Some notable examples you've seen before:

NerdWallet - you read their articles on best credit cards. You click on a link to one of those cards. You fill out an application. They get paid for delivering that lead to the cc company.
3) In https://t.co/kSfWS69ybp - same thing. Any of their financial products -- you fill out an application, and https://t.co/mCrBT43mOj gets paid for that.

But the affiliate revenue model applies beyond financial services products.
4) Wirecutter -- you see a neat product they review or talk about. You click through and buy.

Wirecutter gets a cut of that transaction.
5) The affiliate business model shows up a lot. And there are a lot of marketers who make a living promoting 3rd party products by being really good are driving traffic to these types of offers.
6) Let's start by talking about the challenges of the model.

At a high level, driving traffic to product offers (of any kind) is REALLY HARD. Specifically, it's hard to keep your customer acquisition costs (CAC) low and make enough money off the commission.
7) In particular, a lot of high volume affiliate marketers like to use ad networks to do this. And at market efficiency, this is near impossible.

For example, if I want to promote Apple Macbooks, I only make a commission on a sale, so I can spend up to a certain limit in ads.
8) But Apple, on the other hand, is making a much higher margin off a Macbook sale, so they can afford to outbid me in ads and spend more per sale.
9) In addition, there are probably a TON of other affiliate marketers that I'm competing with to get the sale. It's a brutal game for common household products.
10) Moreover, you only get the commission if the co can link the sale to you. So you get a special prod link to make this work.

But what if the customer clicks your link to the prod & doesn't buy & later goes to that same product pg on a different computer & then buys?
11) You don't get the credit. You don't get paid. That's it. So you could be driving traffic that you don't get paid on.

Historically, if you were also not the last "touch" w/ the customer, you would also not get paid even if the co could see that you had an initial touchpt.
12) One last issue is that typically customers forget the site who referred them to the end product so it's hard to "own" and retain your audience to increase their LTV over time.
13) For all of these reasons, I generally think the affiliate business model is RIDICULOUSLY HARD.

And anyone considering using it for a startup should probably start by being an affiliate marketer for 2 weeks just to learn.
14) That being said there are a few ways I've seen this work really well.

A) You negotiate and have access to unique products. This mitigates competition in customer acquisition channels. You can also discuss higher commission rates.
15) B) You build an audience around something else. And don't really worry about the monetization optimization at first.

NerdWallet -- community for the most honest reviews
https://t.co/mCrBT43mOj -- keeps all your finances together
16) For both of those sites, monetization isn't in your face, and they focus on retaining the user in the community -- keep you coming back to their site so that over time you will buy lots of products.

You have to be really patient.
17) C) Don't use paid customer acquisition channels because you can't afford high CAC. So you need some level of virality or strong patience via SEO as a channel.

VCs btw don't have patience so likely not VC backable at the earliest stages (which is fine but just know that)
18) D) For affiliate marketers -- offer discounts and coupons to be "last touch" on a sale and have high ad budgets to play with to generate a handful of successful campaigns that convert on offers right away.

(This likely doesn't apply to anyone starting a startup)
19) E) Run the affiliate business model in less crowded geographic markets and/or languages.

One of my acquaintances is a successful affiliate marketer & runs ads for offers in Spanish & the competition for Spanish ads a few yrs ago was basically zero. So her CAC was cheap.
20) F) Negotiate with newer products/companies so that you can make the sale on your site to control the whole sales experience + higher commission.
21) This feels like a niche business model, but it actually shows up all the time where you may not have noticed it.

Even Uber or other cos that have referral codes have marketers racking up free rides / credits -- that's affiliate marketing.
22) Lastly - so if you are using the affiliate model as your startup's business model, think about how you can avoid some of the challenges mentioned above to improve your commissions, reduce CAC / avoid competition, and ultimately "own" the end user to increase LTV over time.
If ppl are wondering how can I sign up for an affiliate mktg prog to see how this works? There are lots incl Google Affiliates, Commission Junction, Amazon Affiliates.

I.e. if you sign up & promote Amazon's products, you will earn a commission of sales:
https://t.co/kDf9PAhhxT

More from Elizabeth Yin

Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Last week, I wrote a thread about generating momentum for startups.

Today's thread is on how emerging fund managers can generate momentum for their fund.

Whatever you do, momentum is so impt to get ppl onboard -- for hiring, for sales, for fundraising.

Read on >>

1) First, why does momentum matter?

Think about it from the "buyer's perspective" -- it is almost ALWAYS better to wait and get more information if you can get the same deal. Right?

More info on a potential investment. More info on a new product. Etc.

2) There are few situations where it's impt to be a first mover.

If you're a product buyer, it could be you have a dire situation at your company that alternatives can't handle.

But if you have a decent alternative (alternative product or alt investment), it's better to wait.

3) That means it's YOUR JOB to create momentum. Whether for fundraising, sales, or hiring.

So with that in mind, how do you generate momentum for fund fundraising?

4) In a prior tweet about generating momentum for startup fundraising, essentially I said to limit your supply (the amnt you are raising) in tranches AND to increase demand by packing in mtgs.

Unfort this doesn't quite work well for funds.
STARTUP , FUNDRAISING
Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
A thread on employee equity in early stage startups -- what are the compensation norms? What every early employee should ask? Some thoughts on whether the structure is fair.

Read on >>

1) First, there are NO NORMS! Hah. I have literally seen everything from giving early employees no equity to giving employee #1s near co-founder level of shares.

But what is more common than not?

2) In the Silicon Valley, if you're hiring your 1st employee, & you've raised NO $$ & are paying very little (e.g $0-$10k / yr or thereabouts), your first employee is basically a co-founder.

And the equity tranche for employee 1 should be closer to a co-founder level.

3) For ex, a friend of mine gave his employee #1 10% (vesting over 4 yrs of course) of the business. This employee was only getting his housing paid for. And this was 10 yrs ago, so it was during the bust.

4) On the flip side, if you have raised some $$ & are paying employee #1 near mkt rate, typically I see around here ppl get 1-5% (w/ vesting).

Caveat - near mkt rate doesn't mean compared to Google or FB salary rates. I mean compared to "normal big cos"
STARTUP
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Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Saturday thoughts on market pull. What is it? How is it different from Total Addressable Market (TAM)? And what ideas tend to have strong market pull?

A thread >>

1) First: "Market pull" != market size.

IMO (and most VCs will disagree!!), market size (TAM) doesn't *really* matter. But market pull DEFINITELY does. For that reason, I've almost never asked a startup about TAM.

Why?

2) First, what is TAM?

TAM is a sizing of how big your market is. A good way to estimate this is - if you can get to all potential buyers and based on how much $$ they are worth to you, how much money can your company make if you took the whole mkt?

3) An example: Say we run an e-commerce site that sells hippo food. TAM in the world:

-1000 zoos have on average 3 hippos = 3000 hippos.
-Each hippo eats $100 worth of food each day
-365 days * $100 * 3000 hippos = $110m per year globally

4) But, we'll come back to this.

Why I don't like TAM - it doesn't take into acct a few things:

A) how hard it is to get customers
B) how much more you can upsell once you have customers
C) how fast the mkt is moving up or down
INVESTING , ALL
Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Today's thread is a continuation on *how* you generate momentum in fundraising.

Here's a rough conversation I had with a founder (called 'C') over the course of days a few months back.

Read on >>

1) C: I'm having trouble raising. VC A and VC B are taking so long to get back to me.

Me: Oh, when did you meet w/ them?

C: 3 weeks ago.

2) Me: Oh, are you mtg w/ anyone else?

C: No, I got busy working. I had all these sales calls to make.

Me: That's the problem - there isn't a reason for them to move quickly. There's no investor at the table.

3) C: But I have all these sales calls to make!

Me: I really don't have a great answer for you here. This is probably the hardest part about fundraising - juggling your actual job w/ your fundraising job, which is full-time too.

4) Me: You need to hand off your sales calls to your co-founder. And then you can do mtgs back to back.

C: Ok...

[some time passes]

C: Ok - I'm ready.

Me: How much do you want to raise and what are you using the money for?
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Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Some gems from @MacConwell of @RarebreedVC in Clubhouse right now:

1) VCs are looking for startups that can get to $100m / yr in rev by yr 7-10.

VCs need this kind of return in order to produce great funds.

2) And so many companies won't get to this level - and that's not a bad thing - but then it means you should be thinking about trying to get going w company revenue since you can't count on VC backing.

3) someone asked about age and fundraising & do accelerators help?

Age doesn't matter. But just make sure no one is taking advantage of you. And as such, accelerators can help sometimes w that guidance.

4) Someone got a rejection because he had a teddy bear in his room (side note: what investor says that?!?)

Mac says he's been there and has heard that saltiness. But you're going to get a lot of nos. And you gain more leverage w more progress and traction. So just keeping going.
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GREG ISENBERG
GREG ISENBERG
@gregisenberg
Anyone else love a useful how-to?

I put together a mega-thread of mega-valuable how-tos that can transform your startup, career or life

All you have to do is read these 10 how-tos:

How to write a cold email:

- Be short
- Humanize it. Record a 60s selfie video
- Write a cold DM instead of a cold email if possible
- Never follow up by saying “just following up”

How to write copy that isn’t boring (and that sells):

- Don’t write copy, write stories
- Can be long or short, but must take you for a ride
- Focus entire story on the problem the customer has
- Share credibility
- Use inviting, warm words
- Create a clear call-to-action

How to come up with compelling startup ideas:

- Framework #1: X for Y (Robinhood for Canada)
- Framework #2: Anti-incumbent (Anti-Spotify, Anti-Amazon)
- Framework #3: Unbundling of X (Reddit, Facebook etc)
- Framework #4: Ask your community, they’ll tell you

How to sell a company:

- Spend 5% of your energy building allies at incumbents
- Get them excited about what you’re doing
- Make them feel invested and jealous
- Get them to ask if you’d be open to selling
- Profit $$

I've seen this strategy work for $10k-10B size deals
ALL , STARTUP
Joe Speiser \u26a1\ufe0f
Joe Speiser ⚡️...
@jspeiser
The dirty inside secret most first-time entrepreneurs don't know.

14 tools I use to steal from competitors, and build million-dollar businesses.

Housekeeping note:
Don't do anything that destroys your reputation. Copying what works is a simple & practical strategy, but don't cross any boundaries.

In this thread, I'll show you how to steal your competitors' traffic, product ideas, and customers in a 100% fair way.

1. Steal their social media traffic

Drop your competitors' url in https://t.co/n4squ8fjHh

It will tell you what % of their web traffic comes from which social media platform

Looks like this


Generally, this traffic will be from ads and not content. To steal their social traffic, you'll need to steal their ad strategy.

If they're getting their traffic from Facebook...

2. Steal their Facebook ads

Go to Facebook Ad Library and find ads that your competitor has been running for 6+ months.

All of these ads are likely profitable https://t.co/bgqtSOvAe2
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RidiculouslyRichbyAlana
RidiculouslyRichbyAlan...
@Alana_Spencer_
Well what a year - a thread!😅

I can still remember the exact moment lockdown was announced, and my whole business was instantly teetering over the edge of a cliff...

#GoodBye2020 #Hello2021


The turning point was a rather emotional social media post, where I laid myself bare and basically had a bit of a public meltdown. Within minutes, two really important things happened that changed everything...

Firstly, on-line orders started arriving, which took the business in a new direction, and showed me there was light at the end of the tunnel.

Secondly, and just as importantly, messages started flying in from people in similar or worse positions than me and that was the trigger (kick up the backside) I needed to drive things forward.

The fact these people had messaged me, irrespective of their own troubles, was so humbling and inspiring - and I haven’t looked back since.
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Ganesh Nagarsekar \U0001f985
Ganesh Nagarsekar 🦅...
@bharatbetpf
Venture capital open letters be like

(if) can generate free cash - generate
(else) raise capital today
like right now
abhi jake sequoia parter ko uthake cheque likhwa
STARTUP , VC
Florian K\xf6ssler
Florian Kössler
@studentofcycles
1/ "Inflation is dead!"

"We can print as much money as we want!"

"Don’t worry about it, there will never be any inflation!"

Time to take a closer look. 👇


2/ First, a few definitions:

Inflation measures how much more expensive a basket of goods and services has become over a certain period, usually a year.

Looking at the US and Europe the numbers don’t look too bad.

But wait there is more ;)


3/ As Winston Churchill once said:

The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself.”

Over the past decades the government changed the way how to measure inflation several times to give you the expression there is nothing to worry about.

4/ If we calculate inflation the same way as in the 80ies or 90ies, it is at least double the amount!


5/ But there is more....

The Chapwood Index reflects the true cost-of-living increase in America. It reports the unadjusted actual cost and price fluctuation of the top 500 items on which Americans spend their after-tax dollars in the 50 largest cities in the nation.
STARTUP

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Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
BANASHANKARI AMMA, NEAR BADAMI (KAR)
#bharatmandir #navratri2021

Originally built by Chalukyas in 7th century. Devi Banashankari was their family deity. This image of Banashankari Amma was installed by Jagadekamalla I in 630 AD.

Later renovations were done by Marathas.


Once, a demon Durgamasur was troubling the people of this area. Answering the prayers of Devas, Ma Parvati emerged from the yajna fire as Banashankari and killed Durgamasur.
This area has rich forests of coconut, betel nut and other trees.
@GunduHuDuGa


It is said that during a severe famine, Devi provided vegetables and fruits to the people of this area.
Hence, she is also worshipped here as Shakambhari.
In the annual festival called Banashankari jatre, a Rath yatra takes place and Devi moves around the city in the chariot.
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Elon Musk\u2019s Meme \U0001f171\ufe0fot
Elon Musk’s Meme 🅱️ot...
@theMemesBot
why do I hear boss music
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dan spaceman
@ohlaika
I'm gonna do my other star wars thread tomorrow, which will primarily be me yelling at a @RowanKaiser-shaped strawman for calling the First Order and The Resistance "cosplayers who the rest of the galaxy has to deal with"

the deal w/the New Republic, the First Order, and the Resistance is very weird and complex and I actually take issue with how Story Group frames the actual conflict.

pre-TFA stuff is presented as a "cold war" between the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire that form the First Order, which 100% makes sense.

But they frame the First Order's attack on the Hosnian system and the subsequent battle that takes place across TFA and TLJ as a full on war when it's very clearly a coup. A war implies at least equal standing, but the First Order completely wrecks shop and takes over the galaxy.

ok never mind I'm fucking doing this now.

The First Order fleet we see in TLJ is *not* the entire fleet of the First Order (I don't even think Starkiller Base was their main base of operations honestly, it couldn't have been considering they were operating out of Wild Space)
CULTURE
Suhas S. Hardutt
Suhas S. Hardutt
@HarduttSuhas
Chennakeshava Temple, Somanathapura, Karnataka.

This temple, not to be confused with the Belur Chennakeshava temple, was built during the Hoysala period by a Hoysala general named Dandanayaka Somanatha. The temple dedicated to lord Vishnu was consecrated in 1258.


Dandanayaka Somanatha established a village named Somanathapura on the banks of river Kaveri. He sought the permission of King Narasimha III, to begin construction of a grand temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu that would also showcase the might of Hoysalas.(1)


The temple rests on a high star shaped platform (jagati) with 3 sanctums (garbha griha) making it a trikuta, set in a square matrix oriented along the east west and north south axes.(2)


The western sanctum is dedicated to Kesava, the northern sanctum to Janardhana and the southern sanctum to Venugopala, all are forms of lord Vishnu.(3)


The sanctums share a common community hall (sabha mandapa) with many pillars. Above each of these sanctums rise the 16 pointed star shaped tower called vimana or shikara.(4)
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Pegasus of Dharma
Pegasus of Dharma
@HarduttSuhas
The BATTLE OF PAVAN KHIND (13 July 1660)

300 MARATHAS against 10000+ ADIL SHAHI TROOPS

A Sparta style last man stand at a mountain pass which ensured Shivaji Maharaj's safety.

Valour, loyalty and sacrifice!


Baji Prabhu Deshpande was one of the most able lieutenants of Shivaji. He sacrificed his life defending Shivaji in a heroic last stand known as the "Battle of Pavan Khind" in which his force was hugely outnumbered.(1)

In this battle he became a martyr, but managed to halt the enemy forces for several hours, which secured Shivaji’s safety and victory on another front. Without this heroic last stand Shivaji’s glorious career may have been cut short.(2)


Baji Prabhu was senior to Shivaji. In the beginning he opposed Shivaji being from a rival Maratha clan, but realised that Shivaji stood for national resurgence. Henceforth he became a friend and loyal supporter of Shivaji.(3)

In 1660, Shivaji was trapped in the fort of Panhala, under siege and vastly outnumbered by an Adilshahi army led by general Siddhi Jauhar.(4)
HISTORY