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We see you there reading our newsletter…and we thank you! This week we’re back with a recap of a thought-provoking event we had last night. It’s fresh on the mind and ready for your review. So pull up a seat and get ready to startup.
The State of Startups
On Thursday, Part and Sum landed at Forecast Labs' cool SoHo office for a thought-provoking conversation about growth best practices for emerging businesses. The panel aimed to provide founders in the room with insightful advice on how to kick off and attract early funding in an increasingly competitive startup market. They also discussed strategies for overcoming challenges and optimizing growth plans.
We focused on how emerging businesses can successfully find investment partners and deep dive on the best practices for supercharging growth. The conversation featured Arjun Kapur, Managing Director of Forecast Labs, Rockford Yapp IV, VP of Acquisition at Public.com, Nick Doren, a Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Part and Sum, and was moderated by Cecilia Bergman.
For those who couldn’t make it, we want to share a few of the things we heard and learned. Here are some favorites:
On scaling your business and attracting new users
“The answer changes a lot depending on the stage of the company, but our user acquisition strategy at public.com incorporates paid social channels, paid search, and we run ads with Comcast through Forecast Labs. We’re always testing new things whether it’s podcasts or newsletters. We also invest in organic growth as well whether that’s referrals or sharing portfolios in the app. To summarize, a majority of our growth comes from paid ads or content marketing.”
- Rockford Yapp IV, VP of Acquisition at Public.com
On evaluating a start-up’s potential for success
“From our perspective, the question starts with the state of the business first — if it’s an early-stage business, we may not have indicators of success yet. If it’s seed stage or pre-seed there isn’t enough data to tell us that a business is going to be successful. At that point, it’s more about aligning with the vision of the business — understanding the market, the audience, the customers — and seeing a path where this could be bigger.
The reality of ventures and our role in the economy is to bet on the next phase or evolution of the modern economy 10 years from now that nobody is talking about yet. What business models are going to be successful and what technology or innovation is going to be part of all of our lives 5, 10, 15 years from now? We bet on that.
[…] A half-baked strategy well executed is better than a perfect strategy not well executed. We don’t look for a proven track record, we look at thought process — how do you think, how do you want to grow the business, how do you approach the business?”
- Arjun Kapur, Managing Director of Forecast Labs
On the key factors that contribute to growth
“Just because you can raise the money doesn’t mean you should keep raising. You have to build an efficient business and a business that can be sustainable and make good decisions. Less capital hurts the business but too much capital hurts the business as well because you can make bad decisions. For us, one of the things we look at is: will this business be sustainable on its own? Unit economics matter.”
- Arjun Kapur, Managing Director of Forecast Labs