BC STARTUPS
Saved by @Massimokris

.@zapier built a $140M ARR business on $1.4M in VC that has become the logic layer of the no-code industry.

But it has the potential to be something even bigger: the Netflix of productivity.

Our report and a thread 👉

 We believe @seqouia and @steadfast got a good deal buying into Zapier at $5B.

We value Zapier at $7B based on:

- 30-50% YoY growth over the next five years
- Zapier’s monopoly status in the solopreneur/SMB market
- 30-40% YoY growth of no-code TAM
No-code is huge and growing, but as @edavidpeterson has written, no-code is about more than tools: it’s about a philosophy that emphasizes interoperability and customizing your software to your needs.

https://t.co/UJY6BRtXwl
.@zapier enabled interoperability by building a solution to one of the intractable problems in SaaS: APIs that don’t talk to each other.

The product took off and hit $100M ARR in just 9 years, comparable to companies that have raised 100x as much money.

https://t.co/0Thk42eRpJ
Zapier was riding an explosion in APIs that started the same year they were founded—2011.

Suddenly, every SaaS business wanted to offer its users extensibility, but not spend time figuring out what integrations to build or building them.

That’s where Zapier came in handy.
With Zapier, companies could write a few simple integrations and immediately be paired up with hundreds, then thousands of other apps.

For them, integrating with Zapier delivered value to their users, but it also provided a new distribution channel.
There’s a parallel here between how companies thought about Zapier and how studios thought about @netflix.

Studios thought Netflix was just another distribution channel.

All the while, it was becoming a hugely influential platform of its own.
Like Netflix, Zapier built a growth engine based on content—specifically, programmatically generated, SEO-optimized landing pages for each new integration on the platform.

Today, Zapier gets 6M+ site visits per month, more than @Deadspin, @TeenVogue or @Gothamist.
To the chagrin of some of Zapier’s partners, Zapier advertises their competitors on those same pages.

Rather than simply a utility to connect two products, Zapier has become an ecosystem unto itself—a marketplace for applications driving discoverability and setting standards.
One of Zapier's big challenges is the rise of native integrations, with companies bringing their integrations in-house via tools like @trayio and @useparagon to improve the user experience.

(See: studios like @Disney building apps like @disneyplus)
For SaaS companies, sending customers away to Zapier to wire up their own integrations is bad UX.

There’s a world where companies, optimizing for activation, build the handful of native integrations that are most valuable in-house and outsource the rest.
In some verticals, companies are taking on Zapier by building automation solutions that do a better job with the JTBD in a specific market, like @AlloyAutomation or @parabolahq in ecommerce, @LevityAI in machine learning, and other “Zapier for X” companies.
Then there’s @airtable, which announced last year that it was building out its own integration platform in a shot across the bow.

It turns out the whole “AWZ stack” is an unstable triad, with all three players converging on each other, directly or indirectly.
But Zapier has a secret weapon—a huge audience for whom they are the #1 destination not just for finding integrations but for insights into productivity and lists of the best tools.
If Zapier flipped Airtable’s strategy around, and built a Zapier-native data store to eat Airtable, they would have a huge preloaded customer base and the ability to enable far more powerful and robust workflows from right within Zapier.
This would be Zapier’s “Netflix” move.

Netflix changed the content game by modularizing TV and movies and getting closer to viewers, and doing so gave them the data they needed to become an original content powerhouse.
Zapier has commoditized its partners. The data they get from them on how their products are used is without parallel. They've started building their own version of original content in Zapier native actions.
Now, Zapier has the opportunity to not just pipe its customers’ data around, but own it, and become a productivity super aggregator.
We go into far more depth in our full report where we break down Zapier’s growth engine, their bear/base/bull cases and the whole competitive landscape for no-code and automation.

Check it out here 👉 https://t.co/0uYru7oEOS

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Andrew Chen
Andrew Chen
@andrewchen
👇Thread.

Published a new essay: The red flags and magic numbers that investors look for in your startup’s metrics – 80 slide deck included!


This was a deck that I created on my (longish) interview process with @a16z. It was a long path, starting with meeting folks at the firm 10 years ago. But the purpose of the deck was to explain how I would use my superpower in an investing context

Here's what I explain in the deck. As investors (whether angel or VC) we're often confronted with an up-and-to-the-right graph. Is it going to go up? Or down?


One solution to forecast these growth curves is the Growth Accounting Framework, where you add up New+Reactivated and subtract churned users. In each time period that gives you the difference in monthly actives.


The problem with this is that it's a lagging metric, not a leading one. We need to go one level deeper and look at the underlying loops that drive these numbers, to understand the quality.
STARTUPS
Jude Gomila
Jude Gomila
@judegomila
1/ If you want to find out what is in the Y Combinator S19 batch, @Golden has compiled (using public signals) a near complete list of truly exciting companies.

If we are missing any or you want to help improve the data you can edit the topics.

https://t.co/9QGLiEPsn3


2/ Here is the direct public query if you want to check it out:

https://t.co/aqb8qYN4y9

[Note: no off the record cos are in here unless they have been publicly launched already]

3/ Also, here are 2,000+ other YC companies we have generated information

4/ We used the Golden Research Engine to generate this information, which you can find out more about here and ping me if you want a
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Elizabeth Yin
Elizabeth Yin
@dunkhippo33
Saturday thoughts on funding: Where it helps. Where it doesn't. And how it affects team, success, and PM fit.

This is just my $0.02 after looking reviewing 30k+ early stage startups personally and having led 350+ investments across 2 VC firms & as an angel.

Let's begin! >>

1) Money is great to have in building a startup (for the least dilution and pain possible) That's true and always will be true. 😆

But just like how money can't buy you happiness, it also can't buy you PM fit.

2) PM fit is the holy grail for software startups. (we're not talking biotech - if you have a cure to cancer, I guarantee you everyone wants it).

But for software startups, it's unclear if ppl want your product at your price pt.

3) If you don't find PM fit, in this day and age, you will be able to get some sales. Maybe even say $1m in sales (or more!) per year, and you can still make a living.

But having sales does not mean that you have a repeatable customer acquisition process that can be sustainable

4) As an aside, that is why we invest at pre-seed & don't care about startup traction, because I don't believe traction at the earliest stages suggest PM fit. Traction only shows that a founder can execute (& that's impt too) but there are other ways to assess execution earlier.
STARTUPS
Trista Kempa
Trista Kempa
@tristajaye
For those of you asking me if I bought my wework equity—I did not. But, not because I didn’t choose to buy it. Despite joining the company very early on, I was not offered options. Here’s a thread about what happened and my feelings about it now. /1

I joined wework in 2011 as the ~17th employee when we had 4 buildings. I was 23, naive, and didn’t know what equity or options were—I certainly didn’t know how much it could impact my financial future. When I, and the first hundred or so joined the team, /2

equity options weren’t a part of the deal and I thought nothing of it. As the company grew and we brought in more funding, the executive team decided it was time to allocate equity to its employees. It was mid-2013, about 4 years after the company started. /3

We had ~120 employees and I had been there for ~2 years. I don’t know much about what went on behind the scenes to determine who would get equity and how much, or quite frankly, why they did it at all. /4

In the process, they did a couple of things: First, the way in which they chose to allocate equity, to whom, how much, etc. was… interesting. I’ll get into that more soon. Second, for the people who were given equity options, wework made the choice *not* to backdate. /5
STARTUPS
DHH
DHH
@dhh
20 years ago, I created the Danish gaming site Daily Rush with @mwittrock – inside a startup accelerator called Prey4, complete with fantastical projections of world domination 😂 – but now it's the end, after the proprietor of many years died in 2018.

Daily Rush was the culmination of years of using the web to do gaming journalism. I started Konsollen all the way back in 1995, then ran https://t.co/zsT3ykQcVk for years in anticipation of Id's shooter, then worked at a web portal, then Daily Rush.

This was how I got into web development, project management, organizing, writing, publishing, and how I met lifelong friends. What a wonderful time. But most good things come to an end. We should all be so lucky to see something we help set in the sea brave the waves for 20 yrs!

It's awesome to see the Internet Archive snapshots from all the way back to the early months of the site. Web design anno 2000 😍


The memory lane trip on the Internet Archive goes all the way back to the precursor to Daily Rush, that https://t.co/zsT3ykQcVk site. Here's a snapshot from 1999! Complete with all the news written by yours truly 😄
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@HiteshAwasthi89
#Thread
12 Most Powerful Hanuman Mantras

Hanuman ji is the Hindu God of strength, valor, agility, and wisdom. He is considered as the incarnation (avatar) of bhagwan Shiva. Hanuman ji is the symbol of devotion and dedication. He is the greatest devotee of Prabhu Shri Ram. 1/n


Hanuman ji is known by several names such as Bajrangabali, Mahabali, Maruti Nandan, Pawanputra, Mahaveer, and Anjaneya. Hanuman ji is the son of Bhagwan Vayu, the wind god.

God Hanuman played a prominent part in rescuing Mata Sitafrom the bondage of demon King of Lanka, Ravana.


One can worship Hanuman ji by chanting Hanuman Mantras. There are many different types of Hanuman Mantras, each fulfilling a specific purpose. Hanuman Mantras help to beget the blessings of Mahabali Hanuman for success. 3/n


Let’s explore these powerful Hanuman Mantras one by one. Here’s the list for you:

1. Hanuman Moola Mantra
!! Om Hanumate Namah !!
ऊँ हनुमते नम:

You can chant the “Hanuman Moola Mantra if you usually face problems and obstacles in your life.4/n
#hanumanjanmotsav


However, the Human Moola Mantra is also a very powerful success mantra.

It’s a Kaarya Siddhi Mantra.

It is highly advised that all those who usually face obstacles and problems in their life should chant the Hanuman Moola Mantra. 5/n
#hanumanjanmotsav
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Brian Armstrong
Brian Armstrong
@brian_armstrong
1/ Productivity tip: when I keep procrastinating on something I often trick myself by saying, "ok just work on it for the next 20 minutes" or some short period of time, "and then you can chill/relax guilt free" and give myself some treat (sugar, netflix, etc)

2/ Usually at the 20 minute mark (sometimes I set a timer) I'm so engrossed in what I'm doing that I don't want want to stop and end up working on it for the next hour or two. But getting started seems to be the hardest part.

3/ Key to this: you have to actually be ok with stopping after 20 minutes and being guilt free if that's how you feel. So it's not a trick, i have the option every time, I just often don't want to use it once i'm in the zone.
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Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
WHO ARE VALAKHILYAS?

Valakhilyas are 60000 Rishis who are thumb-sized. They were born to Kratu and Kriya. Rig Veda says that they sprang from the hairs of Brahma.
They move in front of Surya dev’s chariot as Sun moves daily and
shine like brilliant lights due to severe tapasya.


Tamil literature says that the main task of Valakhilyas is to prevent human beings from being scorched. They absorb the excess heat from the sun by travelling in front of him. They, in turn, get energy from Skanda and Ma Durga. The food of Valakhilyas is only wind.
@SriRamya21


Once, Rishi Kashyap performed a yagna and invited all the Devas and Rishis to help him. Indra brought a whole mountain of trees for firewood. The Valakhilyas were hardly able to lift anything but leaves. Even when they were moving leaves, they fell into rain water puddles.


Indra made fun of them. So they cursed Indra saying that his slayer would be born as the son of Kashyapa. When Indra apologized, they modified the curse that the son shall be initially an enemy of Indra, but later will become his friend.


This son born later to Kashyapa was Garuda. He flew to Indraloka to get Amrita and defeated Indra.
Later, he restored amrit vessel to Indra and was honoured as the King of birds and as the mount of Sri Vishnu.
@JumbuTweeple @artist_rama
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Aditya Todmal
Aditya Todmal
@AdityaTodmal
A Thread on the Boss himself @Mitesh_Engr

Mitesh Sir's Positional Option Selling 101:

• How to find direction
• Which options to sell
• How to deploy capital
• Exit criteria
• What ROI he targets weekly
• What % risk he takes

Done with the help of @niki_poojary


How @Mitesh_Engr Sir finds the direction?

• Daily charts S/R
• 75 min charts S/R
• Intraday trend
• Always play directional
• Never trades in strategies


Which options to sell in weekly expiry according to @Mitesh_Engr?

• Weekly candle High/Low
• Sell 1% away options from those
• Exit when levels breached


Position Sizing by @Mitesh_Engr Sir.

How to deploy your capital?

• First sell 20%
• Pyramid the next day
• When to exit
• What to do when view goes wrong
• What to do with idle capital


Some important tweets of @Mitesh_Engr Sir

• What Data to look at
• ROI for safe players per month
• Max risk per day
• Gather knowledge and play directional
• Never play strategies
OPTIONS LEARNING , ALL , MPLEARNINGS
\U0001d54d\U0001d560\U0001d56a\U0001d552\U0001d558\U0001d556\U0001d563
𝕍𝕠𝕪𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣...
@V0YAGERTWEETS
Ｇａｕ Ｍａｔａ Ｉｎ Ｖｅｄｉｃ
Ｃｕｌｔｕｒｅ

It is said that the one who bears the dust thrown from the hoof of Gaumata on his head, as if taking a bath in the water of the teerth sthalam and getting rid of all sins.


Ved and all other Hindu scriptures venerate the cow. The Vedic dictionary, Nighantu, gives amongst other synonyms of 'Gau' [ or cow] the words 'Aghnya', 'Ahi', and 'Aditi'.

Yaska the vedic decoder and commentator on Nighantu, defines these as-

Aghnya —— the one that ought not to be killed
Ahi —— the one that must not be slaughtered.
Aditi —— the one that ought not to be cut into pieces.

These three names of cow signify that this is an animal which should not to be put to tortures. These words appear frequently throughout the Veda in context of the cow.

But in due course the falsehood of killing cows spread far and wide and they became even more deep rooted when western scholars with their half baked knowledge of Sanskrit transliterated these interpretations of commentaries of Sayanacharya ,
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