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We're in a tiny market (we're like the strava of paragliding) and are expanding into growing markets (if a person attached a gps tracker to it, we'll show it's

We're in a tiny market (we're like the strava of paragliding) and are expanding into growing markets (if a person attached a gps tracker to it, we'll show it's movement and tell the story). Long-term we are creating a new type of media. It is so difficult to get a clear concise story to an investor about the path of growth of all of these things. Reading stuff like this by YC, helps us realize/believe we are on the right path. Any advice on how to approach and spell out the future? Would it been better if uber had come out and said "today we are about black cars, but tomorrow it is cabs and then the movement of any goods"? Would investor have gone for that? I think many would have said "yeah right, like you're going to take on the taxi market. Oh, and if you want to see the future of outdoor sports, check out https://ayvri.com https://ayvri.com

akharris 8y ago
Figuring out a clear story to tell is part of the challenge. We've noticed that founders who are better at doing this generally build better products and companies. So I'd look at this as a test: can you tell your story in a way that connects?
- pedalpete 8y ago
  We can, but I find people look at what we have today and make the assumption that this is all we do. When we are already in other markets that most people don't realize. When we explain these other markets, they say "wow, you're spreading yourself thin". So it's, yeah, we have a tiny market we focused on, these are the things that are coming up in the future, we have some growth in them now, they'll be huge later.
mbesto 8y ago
> It is so difficult to get a clear concise story to an investor about the path of growth of all of these things. 1) Don't get money from VCs. OR 2) If you do want to get money from VCs, then you need to basically "extend the truth". Do not talk about the "how are you going to get there" in your deck, just talk about what the eventual vision is and what its going to look like. Make sure to put in a bunch of buzzwords (serious). By way of background - I learned this the hard way pitching a niche endurance sports website to VCs and got clobbered by VCs for not aiming high enough. PS - your tech is seriously cool...big outdoor endurance junkie here, I've used/seen it before.
tixocloud 8y ago
Communication is about 80% of the battle. We were previously working on some cool technology but having since been on the commercial side of things, I do see the lens that VCs see. Many shiny objects - explain what makes you a winner in layman terms. It’s been helpful to get someone non-tech to vet our messaging somewhat.
Kagerjay 8y ago
Your paving an unvalidated market, so there is inherentally higher risk involved. I think what your outdoor sports ayvri is interesting, but it has a few fatal flaws IMO - Like prezi, there's just way too many animations that it gets dizzy watching things after awhile. People still use powerpoints today for a reason. People just want the story, the meaty content - You can get the same value of your long video from just looking at a map. That map takes a few seconds to look at. - If you added images in the mix, it gives a better context of the bigger picture at large. Learn how storytellers use pausing to greater effect. You can interject with pictures here - Increase plane height of which everything is viewed at, leaving it in an isometeric view mode. You need less animation transitions - You should really check out how racing video games (cars, tour de france, etc) portray their map in the HUD - The market segment you are targeting doesn't have a lot of money to throw around, compared to AR/VR military spending simulation training. The "toy markets" blog is essentially saying think big, but continuously grab the lowest hanging fruit and penetrate hard

akharris 8y ago

Figuring out a clear story to tell is part of the challenge. We've noticed that founders who are better at doing this generally build better products and companies. So I'd look at this as a test: can you tell your story in a way that connects?

pedalpete 8y ago
We can, but I find people look at what we have today and make the assumption that this is all we do. When we are already in other markets that most people don't realize. When we explain these other markets, they say "wow, you're spreading yourself thin". So it's, yeah, we have a tiny market we focused on, these are the things that are coming up in the future, we have some growth in them now, they'll be huge later.

mbesto 8y ago

> It is so difficult to get a clear concise story to an investor about the path of growth of all of these things. 1) Don't get money from VCs. OR 2) If you do want to get money from VCs, then you need to basically "extend the truth". Do not talk about the "how are you going to get there" in your deck, just talk about what the eventual vision is and what its going to look like. Make sure to put in a bunch of buzzwords (serious). By way of background - I learned this the hard way pitching a niche endurance sports website to VCs and got clobbered by VCs for not aiming high enough. PS - your tech is seriously cool...big outdoor endurance junkie here, I've used/seen it before.

tixocloud 8y ago

Communication is about 80% of the battle. We were previously working on some cool technology but having since been on the commercial side of things, I do see the lens that VCs see. Many shiny objects - explain what makes you a winner in layman terms. It’s been helpful to get someone non-tech to vet our messaging somewhat.

Kagerjay 8y ago

Your paving an unvalidated market, so there is inherentally higher risk involved. I think what your outdoor sports ayvri is interesting, but it has a few fatal flaws IMO - Like prezi, there's just way too many animations that it gets dizzy watching things after awhile. People still use powerpoints today for a reason. People just want the story, the meaty content - You can get the same value of your long video from just looking at a map. That map takes a few seconds to look at. - If you added images in the mix, it gives a better context of the bigger picture at large. Learn how storytellers use pausing to greater effect. You can interject with pictures here - Increase plane height of which everything is viewed at, leaving it in an isometeric view mode. You need less animation transitions - You should really check out how racing video games (cars, tour de france, etc) portray their map in the HUD - The market segment you are targeting doesn't have a lot of money to throw around, compared to AR/VR military spending simulation training. The "toy markets" blog is essentially saying think big, but continuously grab the lowest hanging fruit and penetrate hard