
ЁЯСЗ Thread. New deck getting published this week: "Consumer startups are awesome, and here's what I'm looking to invest in at Andreessen Horowitz." If you want to read it, subscribe to my newsletter here: https://t.co/262t8eh0wf









\U0001f447Thread.
— Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) November 1, 2018
Published a new essay: The red flags and magic numbers that investors look for in your startup\u2019s metrics \u2013 80 slide deck included! pic.twitter.com/w6HRD4o22f
From a metrics standpoint, it's important to analyze the acquisition mix, the quality of the signups, and the platform dependencies. In the deck, I talk through a bunch of the red flags I'm looking for. pic.twitter.com/5eXkLB0aYQ
— Andrew Chen (@andrewchen) November 1, 2018
More from Startups
Led Zeppelin wrote тАЬRock And RollтАЭ in 30 minutes.
The White Stripes, тАЬSeven Nation ArmyтАЭ, 10 min during a soundcheck.
The Rolling Stones, тАЬI CanтАЩt Get No SatisfactionтАЭ, 40min.
Making a startup in 24 hours is perfectly fine.
I really think this idea of starting a starup in 24 hours is bad idea. Gives people thinking that you can do something meaningful in short period of time. https://t.co/l3x2ov33Qn
— Myk Pono \U0001f60e (@myxys) November 10, 2018
I worked on my first startup for 2.5years. It was an events app. Sunk in cost and expectations were so high, that I had to close it, despite getting consistent revenue.
In comparison, I wrote @CryptoJobsList in 2 days. And it's way more meaningful than what I've been doing in my events startup for 2.5 years.
When I let go of my engineering ego and let go of expectations that I need to raise capital and hustle for 4+ years тАФ I started lauching fast and interating fast without any expectations тАФ then I started coming up with something truly meaningful and useful тЬи
12 startups in 12 months by @levelsio
24 hour startup by @thepatwalls
тАФ are great challenges that make you focus on the end product value, iterate fast and see what sticks and ruthlessly kill what does not work.
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Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?
A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:
Next level tactic when closing a sale, candidate, or investment:
— Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg) February 27, 2018
Ask: \u201cWhat needs to be true for you to be all in?\u201d
You'll usually get an explicit answer that you might not get otherwise. It also holds them accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
2/ First, тАЬXтАЭ could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to
- тАЬFeel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- тАЬFeel that weтАЩre in a good place as a companyтАЭ
- тАЬFeel that weтАЩre on the same pageтАЭ
- тАЬFeel that we both got what we wanted from this deal
3/ Normally, we arenтАЩt that direct. Example from startup/VC land:
Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.
Worse over, the founders donтАЩt know what they need to do in order to be fundable.
4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?
To get clarity.
You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.
It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.
5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is тАЬwhat would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?тАЭ
Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.