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Learn from this. High Level Strategic planning & market research is often underrated by the Investors & Founders, that is why so many fail. And I can say this d

Learn from this. High Level Strategic planning & market research is often underrated by the Investors & Founders, that is why so many fail. And I can say this definitively because the reasons for failure can often be traced to one of these two reasons: 1) We expanded too fast - the result of poor stragetic planning 2.) The market for our products was weak - the result of of limited or no market research In Beepi case it was reason (1) they expanded too fast. Can't imagine what they were doing with 300 employees, technology should have been used to make them more efficient. Investors are more concerned with college pedigree yet that has not limited failures. They don't know what they need to know until it is over.

mathattack 10y ago
In many cases, you don't really know #2 when you start, and #1 is a matter of timing and funding. I view this as a failure in the Venture funding process. Companies do #1 before validating #2.
- rockarage 10y ago
  Yes you do know #2 when you start. If I'm working on a cure for (name your sickness) you know there is a market. You're doing it wrong if you don't know #2 when you start. Don't be a solution looking for problem/market see: Is Your Product a 'Vitamin' or 'Painkiller?' https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230736 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230736
  - mathattack 10y ago
    Many startups haven't figured out monetization at the beginning, that's why they search for Product Market Fit. If you do MVPs properly, you won't have burned much money on the way.
    - disiplus 10y ago
      sometimes its hard to do a MVP properly, and sometimes doing MVP and getting insufficient or wrong data is also the case. like, here are some people that showed interest in this feature, lets build it, and after you build it you see that you simply did not have enough data. like in A/B test if you stop it to early an you get some screwed data. we had some external company do a FB ads for our company, and indeed we did get a loot of new signups, but after examination we saw that all those signups where garbage. you really need to do it properly, and i dont think thats easy.
    - rockarage 10y ago
      Not figuring out monetization at the beginning is a problem, typically leads to issues see "Inside Medium's meltdownMedium's meltdown", most smart founders have figured it out they are just being coy. If one of your monetization scheme involves selling your company you're not going to announce that to everyone. Monetization is not hard to figure out if you're solving a problem, having no strategic monetization plan early is poor strategic planning.
pbreit 10y ago
It's rare to actually need to expand that quickly. If you've created something so easy to copy, you're in a lousy place. Play your own game, differentiate and expand at a reasonable pace.

mathattack 10y ago

In many cases, you don't really know #2 when you start, and #1 is a matter of timing and funding. I view this as a failure in the Venture funding process. Companies do #1 before validating #2.

rockarage 10y ago
Yes you do know #2 when you start. If I'm working on a cure for (name your sickness) you know there is a market. You're doing it wrong if you don't know #2 when you start. Don't be a solution looking for problem/market see: Is Your Product a 'Vitamin' or 'Painkiller?' https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230736 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230736
- mathattack 10y ago
  Many startups haven't figured out monetization at the beginning, that's why they search for Product Market Fit. If you do MVPs properly, you won't have burned much money on the way.
  - disiplus 10y ago
    sometimes its hard to do a MVP properly, and sometimes doing MVP and getting insufficient or wrong data is also the case. like, here are some people that showed interest in this feature, lets build it, and after you build it you see that you simply did not have enough data. like in A/B test if you stop it to early an you get some screwed data. we had some external company do a FB ads for our company, and indeed we did get a loot of new signups, but after examination we saw that all those signups where garbage. you really need to do it properly, and i dont think thats easy.
  - rockarage 10y ago
    Not figuring out monetization at the beginning is a problem, typically leads to issues see "Inside Medium's meltdownMedium's meltdown", most smart founders have figured it out they are just being coy. If one of your monetization scheme involves selling your company you're not going to announce that to everyone. Monetization is not hard to figure out if you're solving a problem, having no strategic monetization plan early is poor strategic planning.

pbreit 10y ago

It's rare to actually need to expand that quickly. If you've created something so easy to copy, you're in a lousy place. Play your own game, differentiate and expand at a reasonable pace.