Insights Category
45 articles
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
The MVP landing page as a validation artefact, not a launch page. Four operator disciplines (Ries + Blank/Dorf + Fitzpatrick + Olsen), five demand signals, current Google Search Central guidance and peer-reviewed anchors (Stevenson/Burnell/Fisher 2024; Shepherd & Gruber 2020; Sarasvathy 2001).
Fundraising & Investor Relations
Put four founder-equity decisions in writing before the first outside dollar arrives — split rationale, vesting with cliff, decision rights, dilution plan. Editorial synthesis of Wasserman, Feld & Mendelson, Eisenmann and Carta 2024, with academic anchors in Hellmann & Puri 2002, Kaplan & Strömberg 2003, Yang, Gaulin & Seegert. Educational only — not legal advice.
Fundraising & Investor Relations
Rebuild the growth forecast against four lenses — bottom-up construction, cohort-driven revenue, assumptions labelled with confidence and owner, scenario range not single point. Editorial synthesis of Damodaran, Lean Analytics, Traction and Yang, Gaulin & Seegert’s overconfidence finding.
Fundraising & Investor Relations
Audit every deck slide against three proofs — market, growth, risk. Editorial synthesis of Venture Deals, Damodaran’s Valuing Young Startups, The Founder’s Dilemmas and Why Startups Fail, with academic anchors in Kalvapalle et al. 2024 (Academy of Management Annals), Teece 2010 and Shepherd & Gruber 2020.
Score every candidate North Star Metric against four checks — real value, movable inputs, causal chain to revenue, honest measurement. Editorial synthesis of Lean Analytics, Hacking Growth, Continuous Discovery Habits and the Amplitude North Star Playbook, with peer-reviewed anchors in Shepherd & Gruber (2020) and Sarasvathy (2001).
Brand, Positioning & Category Design
Match the motion to the buyer, not to the deck. Four decision factors (ACV, buyer complexity, product-usage clarity, time-to-value), operator anchors (Bush, Olsen, Ellis/Brown, Croll/Yoskovitz), OpenView PLG Index reference and peer-reviewed evidence (Shepherd & Gruber 2020; Sarasvathy 2001).
Growth Models & Unit Economics
Growth loops are the strategy, funnels are the measurement — in that order. Four decision factors (retention shape, network-effect proximity, unit-economics stage, measurement literacy), operator anchors (Ellis/Brown, Chen, Croll/Yoskovitz, Bush, Balfour) and peer-reviewed evidence (Shepherd & Gruber 2020; Sarasvathy 2001).
Brand, Positioning & Category Design
SEO for a new category: meet the buyer at the query they already run. Four query surfaces (problem-first, alternative-anchored, category-borrowed, workaround), current Google Search Central helpful-content guidance, peer-reviewed anchors (Shepherd & Gruber 2020; Sarasvathy 2001).
Brand, Positioning & Category Design
Programmatic SEO as a proof surface, not a page factory: five moat tests, four operator disciplines (Traction + Paternoster + Nambisan + Lean Analytics), current Google Search Central guidance and peer-reviewed anchors (Nambisan 2017; Shepherd & Gruber 2020; Sarasvathy 2001).
A four-stage startup marketing strategy (customer discovery → validated learning → traction → fundable growth) anchored in Shepherd & Gruber 2020, Sarasvathy 2001, Bocken & Snihur 2020 and operator books, with Google Consent Mode and GA4 → BigQuery as the measurement stack.