4 ms·
It's counter-intuitive because the Silicon Valley mantra, if not dogma, is to venture where no one else has headed yet. It would be much easier to fundraise if
by achillesheels 6y ago
It's counter-intuitive because the Silicon Valley mantra, if not dogma, is to venture where no one else has headed yet.
It would be much easier to fundraise if people saw competition as a healthy barometer for entrance. Google and the search engine is a famous example.
- danielmarkbruce 6y agoI'm not sure this is a SV mantra. Plenty of companies with products in spaces with lots of players get funded by very good VCs. Stripe. Zoom. Snowflake. 50 other data analytics companies. Arguably Airbnb. Lots of CRMs.
- achillesheels 6y agoI guess that’s what makes them good VC’s ;)
- danielmarkbruce 6y agoI guess so. IIRC somewhere Ben Horowitz talks about the fact that you are just going to have to face competition? I (and I guess others) often try to think of "new" ideas when anecdotally "better mousetraps" seem to have a better track record.
- achillesheels 6y agoI long ago rid myself of any conceit in originality in going to market. There is much more security in aiming at large and compounding markets with such a wedge as this company. The difficult part is in convincing investors who are looking to party. Quite simply: you can't.