Dr. Marcell Vollmer’s Post

The best product doesn’t win—the best awareness does. Think about it: 👉 Google wasn’t the first search engine. 👉 Facebook wasn’t the first social network. 
They just reached more people faster. 
Focus 20% on product and 80% on getting it in front of your audience. That’s how you win. -- 🔹 We help startups & small businesses grow build audiences on social media. #technology #socialmedia #growth #startups #socialentrepreneurship #saas

Ever heard of a bear hug in VC land? It's not the fuzzy metaphor you think it is! A bear hug is when a bigger company strong-arms a startup into selling itself, often at a premium price. Think of Facebook buying Instagram in 2012. Instagram was hot, Facebook saw them as a threat, so they offered a hefty price tag to bring them into the fold. — But why do big companies do this? A few reasons: 1. Shiny New Tech: Maybe the startup has some killer tech the big company wants. Like a kid who needs the latest gadget, they have to have it, even if it means using some muscle. 2. Squashing Rivals: Sometimes it's about eliminating competition. By buying the startup, the big company takes them off the playing field, leaving them with less to worry about. 3. Market Muscle: Owning the startup can boost the big company's market share. It's like buying all the best toys in the sandbox, so no one else can play with them. ♻️A lot of us have mixed views about this method of acquisition, what are your thoughts on it? #venturecapital #startupecosystem #facebook #LinkedInTopVoice #entrepreneurs

Lessons Learned from Shutting down of Koo Platform -  Differentiate Yourself: Differentiating your product is a key factor. Competing with established player like Twitter without unique value proposition will always make your life tough to survive. -  Identify Your Strengths and Capitalize: It is always important to identify your unique strengths in any form may be in features, addressing niche market or with your exclusive customer’s service etc. Always play on strength and avoid the areas where you have no experience or can lead you nowhere. Use your strength as opportunity to explore and grow. -  No Revenue, No Business: Monetization strategy is crucial for sustaining in the market. Without a revenue generating plan, you can not succeed. It is important to explore revenue models like subscription services, premium services, advertisements etc. Keep reviewing your revenue model and add more ways like partnerships to improve revenue. - Learnings from Failure: Understanding the market and fitment of your product are essential for sustaining in the market. Koo gained many users during Covid and its local positioning but it could not engage users on the platform. It lacked continuous alignment of the user needs and preferences. It is essential to keep evolving with future needs, learn from failures, come up with a new strategy and stay ahead in competition. Neeraj Narang Sejal Narang #Learnings #NeverGiveUP #MonetizeProduct #LearnFromFailures #Entrepreneurs #StartUps #RipKOO

Are all startup founders on Instagram? What's your guess?? 💤 Yes... We found out that most of the startup founders are indeed on Instagram. Not just the early-stage ones, those with just an idea to those running ₹5 cr+ turnover businesses are active on Instagram too! Our recent reel went viral on Instagram 🔥 We got a mind-blowing response on our reel from founders with over 330k+ views, 5000 comments, and 250+ story mentions. We have given 12-months Swipe's premium subscription for free to hundreds of startup founders who commented on our reel and met the eligibility criteria. That's worth more than ₹7.5 lakh giveaway. We are not done yet. We have kept the campaign live till 30th April 2024, so if you haven't commented yet and got your free subscription, it is time you do it now! It was super fun, as I interacted with many founders over Instagram DM's and learned more about their startups. Some had really a creative way to catch our attention. At a point in time, it was too overwhelming to reply to everyone as only two of us were managing this campaign. But we made sure no comment was missed. This was our full-time work, 24x7, day and night. We enjoyed every bit. Their appreciation and gratitude really touched us! We're always here to help them in their startup journey. Here are a few comments by founders on our reel! Have a look. Reel link: https://lnkd.in/g_8dYtZ9 #startups #founders #swipebilling #free #instagram #reel #viral #india Swipe (YC S21)

Ever wondered why a startup attracts millions in venture capital when a traditional business can't? The startup world operates differently, and understanding its dynamics can lead to incredible success. Case in point: Instagram. In 2013, Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion. At the time, Instagram hadn't generated a single dollar of revenue. Yet, its founders, investors, and employees walked out with large paychecks. So how did this happen? It boils down to the potential value of the startup, not its current profitability. Startups like Instagram are acquired for their strategic significance, potential for growth, and the audiences they command. This can be seen in other acquisitions as well. For instance, Google's acquisition of Fly Labs was largely because of the talented team at Fly Labs, and Salesforce's purchase of Quip was to further its strategic goal of building an operating system for sales. Ultimately, the primary goal of venture capitalists isn't to collect profits from a startup, but to cash out big during a liquidity event—an acquisition or IPO—in seven to nine years. This exit strategy can yield returns of 100x or more, covering the costs of many startups that didn't make it. So, in the world of venture capital and fast-scaling startups, profits aren't the only thing to worry about. In fact, they might not even be the most important thing. Do you think this approach to business is sustainable in the long run? Love to hear your thoughts. #Startups #VentureCapital #BusinessStrategy #Acquisitions #Investments #LinkedIn

✨ Let's talk about the power of specialization to reach the right audience ✨ Success like this is amazing to see! I am loving this trend of content moving towards more specialized platforms, aka business content on LinkedIn! It just makes sense! It would be possible, but so inefficient and tedious, to find the same value from scrolling X/Tiktok/Insta. ❌ Generic is OUT ❌ There is so much more value for users seeing only the content subject their looking for, rather than getting redirected to a million other topics through traditional algorithms. Real followings by the right audience / user / buyer.

This is what Facebook's early days looked like in 2005 😳 Just a year earlier, 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg launched "The Facebook" from his Harvard dorm room with one vision: 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. By the end of 2004, they had already hit 𝟏 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬. Fast forward to today: 𝟑 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬. $𝟏𝟐𝟓 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞. 🚀 Startup life is rarely glamorous in the early days, but this is what the 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐌𝐅 looks like. Oh, and the founding team’s net worth? It’s reportedly 𝟏𝟎𝐱’𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒. hashtag #startups hashtag #entrepreneurship hashtag #venturecapital

The main value of your initial idea is that, in the process of discovering it is broken, you'll eventually come up with the real idea- Paul Graham. Don’t worry if the first idea isn’t perfect; treat it as a stepping stone. Each iteration brings you closer to the final blueprint. Take Slack, for instance. It started as an internal tool for a gaming company. When the game failed, they pivoted to create the platform we know today. Samsung began in groceries and dried fish, then innovated through textiles to become a tech leader. Twitter started as a podcast platform before evolving into a social media giant. Instagram was initially a check-in app, and YouTube began as a dating site. These companies iterated and refined their concepts until they discovered their true potential. Remember, it becomes clearer when you overcome inertia and launch out! So, after doing the necessary analysis, take that leap and launch your idea, knowing that the initial model might not always be the one that works. The key is to start, learn, and keep evolving! #DataFusion #Businessanalytics #LaunchYourIdea #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Startups #BusinessGrowth #Iterate #BusinessStrategy #KeepEvolving #DataDriven #GrowthMindset #LearnAndGrow

what is #exit in case of startups? It typically refers to a strategy where the founders, investors, or early stakeholders leave the business, usually by selling their shares or ownership stake. This can happen in several ways, such as through an acquisition, a merger, or an initial public offering (IPO). An exit strategy is important for investors and founders to achieve a return on their investment and to plan for the future of the business. Here are a few common types of exit strategies for startup businesses: 1. **#Acquisition:** The startup is bought by another company. This is often an established business looking to expand its product offerings, acquire talent, or eliminate competition. For example, when Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, it was an acquisition exit for Instagram's founders and early investors. 2. **#Merger:** The startup combines with another company to form a new entity. This can be beneficial for both companies by pooling resources and market presence. 3. **#Initial Public Offering (IPO):** The startup goes public by offering shares on a stock exchange. This allows founders and early investors to sell their shares on the open market. For example, when Uber went public in 2019, it allowed early investors like SoftBank to realize a return on their investment. 4. **#Management Buyout:** The management team of the startup buys out the investors' stakes to take full control of the business. 5. **#Liquidation:** Although less favorable, sometimes startups may not succeed and need to sell off their assets to pay back investors and creditors. #learning #education #entrepreneurship #terminology

Founders - $hit happens 💩 → Use the $hit to bounce back Startup life is hard, no matter the stage The deal you thought was going to happen, didn't Many times you'll get to the end of your runway → Feels like MASSIVE failure → The $hit has hit the fan → Startup life becomes a complete $hit show → Feel me STOP. 🛑 The setback, is a setup I've been there a hundred times → Put your feelings to bed → Resurrect your faith → 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 🚀 → My BEST breakthroughs have happened in these moments → The greatest startups have experienced these moments → You are NOT alone, EVERYONE goes through this → It's normal → So dig in! 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 that bounced back from the brink: → Apple: Back in the late '90s, Apple was nearly 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵 and on the edge of bankruptcy. → Airbnb: They had a rough start, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘅𝗲𝘀 to keep the lights on. → Netflix: In 2011, Netflix made a big misstep that almost sunk the company. The company lost around 800,000 subscribers, and its stock price plummeted by nearly 77%, 𝘄𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 of dollars in market value. → Tesla: Tesla hit a major financial crisis in 2008. The company was burning through cash and 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 from running out completely → X (Twitter): When Elon Musk took over Twitter, the company faced a significant financial hit as advertisers pulled away. It's estimated that 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 $4 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 in ad revenue during this period. → Slack: They started as a gaming company called Glitch, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳. They pivoted to the internal communication tool they had developed, and Slack was born. What do these stories teach us That with persistence And a dash of innovation You can turn near-failures into MASSIVE WINS. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 — 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 The perceived failure can be the manure for our growth Keep pushing forward, founders! Need help, reach out. Like this? Follow Gerald Duran for daily Startup and VC advice, and sometimes — a kick in the nuts. → 𝗣𝗦 ... CanaGlobal's Startup Incubator is currently interviewing founders for our next cohort. Visit our site for the details. #startups #founders #venturecapital #entrepreneurship