Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten’s Post

Reflecting on Koo's Journey: Lessons for Startups As we say goodbye to Koo—the #microblogging sensation giving #Twitter tough #competitive action—it becomes very important to retrospect on the lessons this journey holds for the start-up with big dreams everywhere. Founded in #2020 by Mayank Bidawatka and Aprameya Radhakrishna, #Koo unflinchingly entered the competitive social media landscape, confident in its vision to cater #globally, especially in the non-English-speaking sections. With a strong tech foundation and a user-friendly approach, they began collecting #traction early on, supporting the #organization in cementing its ideas with others and raising $66.4 million in capital from international investors #Accel, #Tiger_Global_Management, and #Kalaari_Capital. But within all this strength, #Koo also fought a hard battle for its survival, struggling under #funds' shortage furthered by a very tough #investment #climate. This carries forth another very important lesson—while innovation and #technology are important, equal importance needs to be treated with constant #financial support and strategic financial #management for surviving and #growing. What it underlines is the understanding of market dynamics and power of incumbency. With the user base and network effects yet to be defined, Twitter is a giant and stands in the way of everyone and their hopes. Or, as Somdutta Singh explains, "People go where the people are." Building a stellar user base requires more than just superior technology; it also demands a deep understanding of user behavior and effective marketing strategies underscored by #powerful community engagement efforts. But more importantly, Koo's shuttering is another one of those stark reminders that inspite of all the unblemished growth and potential, the startup ecosystem is precarious. The attraction of #VC #funding is double-edged. It is an important form of capital infusion, but at the same time, it ensnares the startup in market expectations, investor demands, and an #unpredictable funding #landscape. In sum, the case of Koo is a #story steeped in #value, and it conveys many lessons about the elements of #resilience, #adaptability, and #comprehensiveness in the building of a #business truly for sustainability. It is only through #successes and failures in the industry that entrepreneurs learn and evolve strategies for progress in tandem with market #dynamics. What are some of the lessons learned from Koo's story? Share them in the comments. #StartupLessons #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #TechStartups

not my usual youtube growth post - but its quite funny to me when you look at some of these VC-backed startups, flaunting their flashy HQs, team perks, and splashy ad campaigns, only to find that they’re barely scratching the surface in terms of profitability and slow-growing. They’re burning through cash, all for appearances, while bootstrapped founders out here on linkedin & Twitter (yes i still call it twitter if you do otherwise you're a dork) are doubling down with a skeleton team, lean budgets, and skyrocketing profits. It’s not that there’s anything inherently wrong with VC money—it’s just that the hype often overshadows the fundamentals. Bootstrappers know that to thrive, the focus has to stay on building a profitable, sustainable business that people actually want. While VC-backed founders are making headlines with big ideas and burn rates, bootstrappers are growing fast without the noise. They’re not looking for hype, they’re just looking to win. #vc #startups #bootstrapped

Founders - here's the full span of valuations for US software startups in 2024. Obviously the headlines are full of figures from the right side of this table. Valuations at the 90th and 95th percentiles ("Wild" and "Bonkers", in the technical terms) are more likely to get press and Twitter plaudits. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝘁 • Median figures are quite robust - higher in basically every stage than they were last year and rivaling the peak values in early stages (though of course on lower round volume).    • The Bonkers column looks like we never left 2021.    • The Bonkers column is also full of AI startups.    • The very low figures in 10th and 25th percentiles at Series D reflect some major down rounds over the past 12 months.    •  Unicorns are still being minted (67 new ones in the first 3 quarters of 2024).    • Hardware and Biotech companies tend to lag on valuation in early stages but catch up in later ones.    • Comparison remains the thief of joy! Of course getting a Wild valuation in one round is no guarantee of anything in the next. Companies bounce around these percentiles all the time. Just thought a full view would be more reassuring than the next Fortune headline figure 🙏 Here's to a healthy startup 2025! #startups #valuations #founders #venturecapital More data from Carta available every week to all who subscribe at the link in graphic.

I can’t believe it. Mayank (Co-founder, Koo) has already started building something new, just a few days after Koo shut down. It is extremely disheartening to see Koo shut down. Mayank and Aprameya (Co-founders of Koo) made a bold attempt to create a global, more inclusive “X / Twitter.” They achieved mind-blowing milestones in the journey. At its peak, Koo had ~2.1M daily active users, more than ~60M downloads, and ~10M posts per month. However, they “failed.” News like this makes you realize how hard it is to build a startup. Founders work extremely hard, sacrifice their personal lives, and leave their “comfortable” full-time jobs only to earn significantly less for a long time. Ups and downs every day. All of this, knowing that they have only a 1% chance to make it big. Reminds me of what Aman Gupta said to Ganesh Balakrishnan in Shark Tank: “Girke khade hone wale ko hi entrepreneur kehte hai” 🙏 #startup

Helpful insight from Peter Walker. Anecdotally, exits in 2024 had a similar pattern. A handful of "bonkers" deals with crazy high multiples of revenue (or no multiple as firm was pre-revenue). But vast majority of exits having valuations that look more like the average from 2009-2019, then 2021. #valuations

Adding more people to a problem isn’t always the answer. The key lies in rethinking the process and adapting to the environment with limited resources. For founders, this is one of the toughest challenges to navigate. This principle extends beyond startups. Twitter is a popular example. People are starting to rethink whole government structures.

💡 At the idea stage of a startup, there are no best, average, or bad founders. You just have founders 🤷♂️ Let me explain. I saw a bunch of Twitter VC chatter about how the best founders do not take advice and that most startup advice is for average founders. But that has not been my experience speaking to hundreds of founders in my role as Global Startup Advocate at AWS. I have seen teams of gifted hackers with tons of promise fail. I have seen founders from best schools and top employers fizzle. I have seen hardened second and third-time founders stumble and fall. But I have also seen nobodies without pedigrees rise up, build something awesome, and succeed. I have seen teams that did not look good on paper defy the odds and create valuable companies. Many VC's have strong opinions about what they firmly believe are the right characteristics of the best founders. But they are simply relying on survivorship bias. When you meet founders though at the very start of their startup journey, they mostly look the same. Full of enthusiasm, passion for the idea, ready to get started 🚀 However biases can easily sway investors towards picking the "obviously" best founders. 🎓 Sometimes this means leaning on pedigree like school and jobs. 🤝 Sometimes this could be social connections and warm introductions. 📣 Sometimes this comes down to presentation, style, and likeability. Little of this really matters though in the early days of a startup because every founder is starting from a base of low knowledge. They wander through the maze of product-market fit taking lots of wrong turns and hitting plenty of dead ends. The best founders that create high-growth and sustainable companies? They are the ones that know they cannot navigate the maze alone. They are coachable, gather feedback, constantly learn, have backbone in their convictions, and know when advice is helpful or not helpful. They lean in on advisors, mentors, peers, and founder communities, but do not just accept advice at face value. They take what makes sense, plot a course, and then get heads down to experiment, learn, iterate, and repeat until they get customer validation. Those are the best founders. #startups #founders #advice

🐦 Troika is now on Twitter! The hustle doesn’t stop, and neither does the journey! 🚀 We’re taking things to the next level by hopping on Twitter to keep you all in the loop with the latest updates, behind-the-scenes action, and big announcements from the world of Troika. 👀 Follow us here: https://x.com/TroikaHub/ Expect more posts, more updates, and more chances to connect with us as we continue building something extraordinary. Whether it’s innovation, creativity, or just good vibes, we’re here to share it all with YOU. 💬🔥 Let’s grow this community together and make some noise! Turn those notifications ON, and join us as we redefine what’s possible. 🌟 #Troika #FollowUs #TwitterFam #Innovation #StartupJourney #BehindTheScenes #DreamBig #TechInnovation #CreativeHub #DigitalCommunity #StayUpdated #FutureIsNow #GrowthMindset #BoldIdeas #NextBigThing

Have you ever thought about how Twitter started from a failed podcasting app? Or how Slack changed from a struggling game into a top communication tool? At Start Spark Ventures, we believe that every failure can lead to something great. We see amazing potential in ideas that didn't work out the first time. • Twitter grew from Odeo's challenges. • Pets inspired Chewy. • Instagram came from Burbn's early struggles. Are you ready to turn your past mistakes into future successes? Let’s connect and see how your experiences can lead to new ideas! Share your story! How has a failure helped you grow? #StartupInnovation #Entrepreneurship #LearningFromFailure #Pivoting #HiddenGems https://lnkd.in/gVMv3A49

found this on twitter today, it's been a while since i actually stopped scrolling to read a plain document... . . . how to start a startup. this simple one pager by paul graham (yc founder), is the best cheatsheet i've seen to building a startup. you don't need fancy #tech. you don't need a huge team. you don't need that swag that you wear to that networking event because it helps with branding. it helps, sure, but it's not a necessity. two highlight from this doc: - #execution trumps everything build it simple, build it good. - frugality really helps the #jugaad is real when you don't have monies (with strings attached) sitting in your bank. #founders what do you think about this cheatsheet? Comment below!