The Master Beak Wetter: @DavidSacks
He built two unicorns.
He invested in 20 more.
5 of his FRAMEWORKS for startups🧵👇
He built two unicorns.
He invested in 20 more.
5 of his FRAMEWORKS for startups🧵👇
Who is @DavidSacks?
• Stanford, UChicago Law, Worked at McKinsey for 1 yr
• COO of PayPal ($1.5B exit to eBay)
• CEO of Yammer ($1.2B exit to Microsoft), Founder of Craft Ventures
• Investments: Facebook, Airbnb, Palantir, Uber, Twitter, SpaceX, OpenDoor, Lyft
• Stanford, UChicago Law, Worked at McKinsey for 1 yr
• COO of PayPal ($1.5B exit to eBay)
• CEO of Yammer ($1.2B exit to Microsoft), Founder of Craft Ventures
• Investments: Facebook, Airbnb, Palantir, Uber, Twitter, SpaceX, OpenDoor, Lyft
FRAMEWORK 1: Failure is NOT an Option
Being a founder is hard.
Every successful startup ALMOST dies multiple times.
However, if you let yourself think failure is acceptable, you're much more likely to fail.
Burn the boats!
Being a founder is hard.
Every successful startup ALMOST dies multiple times.
However, if you let yourself think failure is acceptable, you're much more likely to fail.
Burn the boats!
FRAMEWORK 2: STOP "doing things that don't scale"
YCombinator is Wrong.
Your goal is to use technology to build things that scale.
The sooner you get there, the better off you are.
YCombinator is Wrong.
Your goal is to use technology to build things that scale.
The sooner you get there, the better off you are.
FRAMEWORK 3: Go Sharp
Focus on a few features for the most desperate customer segment.
PayPal's buy button started with an eBay seller who struggled using checks for auctions.
Once you find it, go all-in on the use case and find ways to turbo-charge adoption.
Focus on a few features for the most desperate customer segment.
PayPal's buy button started with an eBay seller who struggled using checks for auctions.
Once you find it, go all-in on the use case and find ways to turbo-charge adoption.
FRAMEWORK 4: "Crazy" Founders
You can't tell the difference between "good" and "bad" crazy.
Stop trying to.
Founders need to be far more aggressive than the avg person.
You need to be a visionary and run through walls.
It only becomes dangerous when you're immune to advice.
You can't tell the difference between "good" and "bad" crazy.
Stop trying to.
Founders need to be far more aggressive than the avg person.
You need to be a visionary and run through walls.
It only becomes dangerous when you're immune to advice.
FRAMEWORK 5: Cross the Penny Gap
Penny Gap = from initial MVP to first paying customers
It can take 2 months, 2 yrs, or forever.
Questions to ask:
• What immediate pain do you solve?
• Who exactly is the buyer?
• What is the sales motion? Where do leads come from?
Penny Gap = from initial MVP to first paying customers
It can take 2 months, 2 yrs, or forever.
Questions to ask:
• What immediate pain do you solve?
• Who exactly is the buyer?
• What is the sales motion? Where do leads come from?
If you liked this, hit that follow @chrishlad for 2 threads/week on frameworks that help you win.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
