[This is an edited version of a talk I recently gave at a MOI Global event.] I’d like to share some of the lessons I learned from being a startup founder, and how these can be applied to investing: Lesson 1: I’m a better investor because I was a founder As Warren Buffett famously said:…
Tag: Marketing
Why I created a Facebook page
Inspired by Rolf Dobelli’s book, I stopped using Facebook six months ago. Mainly because I was addicted, and also because the constant social comparisons and the instant gratification treadmill became toxic for me. (I’m still using Messenger/WhatsApp for one-one-one contact.) The downside of leaving Facebook was that I lost a distribution channel for my content,…
Why You Should Go Hyper-Niche
Since the agricultural, and more recently the industrial revolution, specialization has been one of the key drivers of human economic progress. It allows for a unique win-win situation: You focus on what you do best. I do what I do best. Then we trade. In total, we produce better and more things, which keeps increasing…
Podcast Ads 101: How to Succeed with Podcast Sponsorship
My own experience shows that sponsoring podcasts can be very effective in driving awareness and sales. I have bought many things triggered by podcast ads, including supplements, clothing and even a new mattress. Here are the success factors that made those sales happen: A trusted hostPodcasts are very personal, and loyal listeners spend countless hours…
Growth Hacking 101
Usually, marketing focuses on getting new people into the door. Online marketing is great, because you can measure conversions. But that is not enough. If you take a closer look at your metrics, you may discover that up to 90% of your signups / downloads / free-trials don’t get active. Your bucket has holes. So…
Calculate your customer lifetime value
How to calculate the customer lifetime value of your internet business: Use a simple cohort analysis Take e.g. 1000 users that signed up 24 months ago, sum up the total revenue generated by these users, and calculate the average revenue per signup Do the same for users that signed up 12 months and 6 months ago Based…
Falling in love with Android
Last week, my 72 year-old aunt who is living abroad visited me in Switzerland. Thanks to her I am finally starting to understand the power of Android. It all started with her friend who saw a deal for a “free” Android tablet. He immediately jumped on it, not fully understanding that he just entered a…
Focusing on key metrics
I often suffer from statistics paralysis. Too many metrics, too many moving parts, too much stuff to optimize. Over the years, I’ve learned that it’s helpful to pick just one or two key metrics to focus on. When I joined Exsila, my initial key metric was number of trades. But somehow it just didn’t feel…
What I Learned Building the ZenFriend Meditation App
In 2014 I created ZenFriend and documented the process in a detailed project log (see below) inspired by Amir Rajan’s log about a game that ranked #1 in the US App Store. Summary The most important metric is not the number of downloads. It’s the number of Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users…
How Startups Like Dropbox, Airbnb, Groupon Acquired Their First Users
Excellent case studies. Must read for entrepreneurs! How startups such as Dropbox, Airbnb, Groupon and others acquired their first users.