Welcome to the 9th edition of our weekly newsletter Good Reads by Malpani Ventures. Every week, we share select blog posts that resonate with us.
One of the biggest advantages in today’s world is an information edge, and we believe that edge should not mean the difference between success and failure for founders. Freely sharing information is paramount towards access for all, and this newsletter is one way of helping bring the right information to the right people at the right time.
Most of our portfolio is early stage between pre seed and seed, inching towards product market fit, and hence what we share is reflective of the fact.
The Minimum Viable Testing Process for Evaluating Startup Ideas
https://review.firstround.com/the-minimum-viable-testing-process-for-evaluating-startup-ideas
Gagan Biyani writes against the case for a minimum viable product (MVP). While the MVP aims to build a very bare bones, simplified version of what an end product may look like, he prefers minimum viable testing (MVT). MVT aims to test specific assumptions that are essential for a business model to succeed. In this post, he shares a 3-step MVT process, provides examples of Maven & Sprig and more information on what to do after the MVT.
Why VCs Push Companies to Burn Too Fast
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/3X-why-vcs-push-companies-to-burn-too-fast
The incentives of VCs & founders are misaligned. VCs will encourage companies to grow fast, burn faster, and fail fastest. Why? Because VCs spread their bets in 20-25 companies in a portfolio, and know that only 2-3 may provide outsized returns. A VC deck we saw mentioned “we aim for large outcomes only” and while that is good for the VC, it may not mean the same for a company. VCs also want companies to fail and move out faster, so that they can focus more on the companies that are growing and can be one of the 2-3 that can be eventual winners. This is a good read for founders in today’s reality.
Community ≠ Marketing: Why We Need Go-to-Community, Not Just Go-to-Market
Within all the gyan being peddled in the startup ecosystem today, this post truly stands out. In today’s world of intense competition and me-too products, the odds of a company standing out are low. At the center of every company is a customer who buys because they like the product, and want to belong. All they seek is a community, and we’ve seen communities rewarding companies be it Apple, GoPro, or AirBnB. This post is a refresher for those wanting to (and should) build a community around their business. Because it takes a community to raise a company.
Tweet that stood out
Until next time!