Weekly đ„ 25: What trillion-dollar companies can teach your startup
Welcome to another edition of our newsletter! Youâll receive practical startup advice straight to your inbox every week.
In this weekâs edition, we discuss
- What startups can learn from trillion-dollar companies.
- The key pillars to starting a business.
Letâs do this.
Building a 15-person or a 1.5 million-person company? Read this
Amazon grew from 1 to 1.5 million employees. The startup Lucy Rothwell co-built grew from 1 to 15 employees. While the two journeys seem miles apart, there are game-changing lessons that apply whether youâre building a million-dollar or trillion-dollar company, including,
- Failure Is Par For The Course â You canât hide from the âHigher risk; higher rewardâ spectrum, but you should make a conscious strategic decision about where you lie on that spectrum.
- Know when to innovate versus replicate â Millions of people have come up with fantastic ideas in this world, and millions of others have iterated on those ideas to develop even better ones. Successful startups know when to do which.
- Rush hiring at your peril â you may not be able to compete with big companies on salary, but you can offer things that corporates often canât. Take your time, and find the right people.
- Know when to build vs buy â learn the difference between a core competency and a commodity, identify your productâs true value, capitalise on it, and outsource the rest.
đ Go in-depth here: Dear Startup, Love Trillion-Dollar-Company
đïž From refugee to raising over $100 millionđïž
This week on the pod, we were joined by Lloyed Lobo, the co-founder of both Boast.AI and Traction.
Boast.AI has raised over $100m, and Lloyed sits on the board after previously being President. Traction is a community of entrepreneurs that is 100,000 strong.
To build these kinds of organizations when he grew up in a warzone where he had to drive through what the locals called death valley to get to the shops is nothing short of remarkable.
Listen/watch: Happiness Vs Success From The Refugee Who Raised Over $100 Million
The key pillars to starting a business (and staying the course)
Starting a business can be super overwhelming. Kelly Reeves can attest to that â sheâs founded five companies. Each has had its challenges and rewards, but there are common threads that she applies every time:
- Step 1: Build it â When markets are down, there is a tremendous opportunity to serve those markets. Itâs been destroyed. You can be a part of the rebuilding process. Bodies are always needed â start building.
- Step 2: Market it â Start getting the word out 21 days before the launch (youâll need a longer runway if you are audience-building from scratch), and do a gradual build with posts and emails increasing in frequency as you get closer to launch.
- Step 3: Sell it â For a sub $999 price point, you can go for a landing page with a payment link (or a platform that provides this). For anything higher, start scheduling those sales calls.
And remember, you donât have to have the cake fully baked to sell it. You can sell it, then bake it. If you gain interest, get building. If it falls flat, you might be selling something no one wants.
đ Dive deeper here: The 3 Key Steps to Starting a Successful Business
Sweet Tweets: The A.I. chatbot edition
Till next week,
Team EH
