Here are the takeaways / how to put these numbers in context👇
1/ First, let’s define how SHOP thinks about their business.
Everything boils down to 3 components: (1) Merchants, (2) Partners / Capabilities, (3) GMV.
⬆️merchants with ⬆️capabilities drives ⬆️activity.
This is what Shopify means when they say they're “arming the rebels”
2/ Financial metrics are all growing fast (at 100%+ YoY), but the better way to think about the SHOP is by looking at how fast it’s growing its ecosystem.
- Financials are a TRAILING indicator of the business.
- Ecosystem is a LEADING indicator of the business.
3/ The ecosystem is firing on all cylinders.
- Partner Ecosystem: 45,800 referred a merchant to SHOP over the past 12 months (+73% YoY)
- Apps: 6,600 apps and extended capabilities are available for merchants to leverage
- Users: More than 107 million registered users
4/ SHOP is continuing to innovate by rapidly adding capabilities on to their platform:
- Channels
- Working Capital
- Payments
- Shipping
- Platform Expansion
- Fulfillment
5/ These increased capabilities are being leveraged by merchants to generate more activity
- Gross Payments Volume: $17B (+135% from Q1 2020)
- Merchant Advances and Loans: $309M (+90% from Q1 2020)
6/ More users, partners, channels and capabilities drive exactly what you want to see in a healthy SaaS business:
Expanding cohort curves and net negative churn.
This is jargon for “more revenue in then out.”
The sharper the curve, the more attractive the company.
There’s a lot of bad advice out there on how to pitch your startup.
Last year, I invested $1M+ and heard 200 companies pitch.
Every great pitch I've heard nails 5 ingredients.
In this thread, we'll go through each to help maximize your chances when fundraising
Let's dig in👇
1/ Every pitch should have 5 ingredients:
- Problem: Is this an issue
- Solution: Do you have the fix
- Market: Is this a big enough issue
- Business: Can you make money
- Team: Are you the people to do it
The best pitches nail all 5. Good ones hit 4. Subpar hit 3 or less.
2/ PROBLEM
The problem statement is an explanation of why a set of circumstances is painful for a set of users.
There’s one word in that sentence that is most important: painful.
If your problem is not painful enough, it's a vitamin.
0/ With 320 companies in the latest batch, it’s time YC seriously considers a YC ETF.
Why?
- The whole batch would get funded < 1 week
- Founders can personally de-risk and share in upside
- 1M+ new “outsiders” could get some skin in the game
Here’s how I would do it:
1/ First, let’s level set. What’s an ETF?
ETF = a collection of securities in a single vehicle.
Suppose you wanted to buy shares of all companies in the S&P 500.
Pre-ETF, you’d buy each individual stock.
An ETF let's you buy 1 stock (SPY) to get exposure to all 500.
0/ Over the last 5 years, I’ve had some lucky breaks and meaningful wins.
Growing a bootstrapped business by 8 figures in revenue is at the top of the list.
The “highlight reel” is pretty.
Reality was filled with failure, doubt and misstep.
Top things I wish I knew 👇
1/ Everything boils down to AMA
A: Ability - do you have the skills to pull it off?
M: Motivation - do you have the desire to pull it off?
A: Attitude - do you have the headspace to pull it off?
Strive for situations where each of these 3 are firing on all cylinders.