a mistake we see many founders make is tackling too large of a vision starting off. you hear the truism that good start-ups tackle large markets, and so you start building a Maximum Viable Product that solves multiple problems or replaces an entire incumbent (ex. "Figma killer")
but the larger the vision, the longer it takes to build, and the more time and money you burn before you can tell whether your product theory is correct
instead i'm a fan of the "right size problem for the right size team" approach - what's an appropriately scoped problem so that a team with your (limited) resources can execute a first-class effort? ex. Amazon's books-only marketplace or Facebook's college photo sharing feature
early on speed is the main advantage start-ups have over large companies - you move faster, ship faster, iterate faster. by going after smaller, bite-sized problems, you can nail them quickly, establish dominant market share, and then expand to adjacent use-cases. over time, Amazon became the everything marketplace, and Facebook became a social network for everyone - but in the beginning they focused on tightly scoped problems that a small team could execute to perfection
but wait - "won't I have trouble raising VC money if my initial market is too small"? for fundraising, you want to articulate the story crisply that your initial product wedge is only the tip of the spear, and there is a much larger vision you plan to tackle over time. you should have a believable roadmap for how to get there. once you do this, most investors should understand the strategy - and if they don't, they probably just aren't the right fit!
but the larger the vision, the longer it takes to build, and the more time and money you burn before you can tell whether your product theory is correct
instead i'm a fan of the "right size problem for the right size team" approach - what's an appropriately scoped problem so that a team with your (limited) resources can execute a first-class effort? ex. Amazon's books-only marketplace or Facebook's college photo sharing feature
early on speed is the main advantage start-ups have over large companies - you move faster, ship faster, iterate faster. by going after smaller, bite-sized problems, you can nail them quickly, establish dominant market share, and then expand to adjacent use-cases. over time, Amazon became the everything marketplace, and Facebook became a social network for everyone - but in the beginning they focused on tightly scoped problems that a small team could execute to perfection
but wait - "won't I have trouble raising VC money if my initial market is too small"? for fundraising, you want to articulate the story crisply that your initial product wedge is only the tip of the spear, and there is a much larger vision you plan to tackle over time. you should have a believable roadmap for how to get there. once you do this, most investors should understand the strategy - and if they don't, they probably just aren't the right fit!
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