I talked to Frederique Dame, an investing partner at GV, about product-market fit.
Dame spoke about her experience leading product and engineering efforts at Uber, Yahoo and Smugmug, sharing some of what she learned about gathering customer data, iterating quickly to validate ideas, and the challenges that come with scaling teams from a few.
Several specific tactics and strategies that can help move organizations towards PMF, including effective ways to capture and share user data, and developing customer personas that will help everyone understand the company's mission and purpose were discussed.
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I couldn't cram our 40-minute conversation into a single article, so I'll share more from our chat and the audience Q&A next week.
Dame shared one piece of advice that I had never heard from an investor, that more founders should learn to be vulnerable.
She said that once we invest, we're going to have to work on this stuff anyway.
Thanks a lot for reading! I hope you have a great weekend.
Walter Thompson Senior Editor, TechCrunch+
Your partner.
GV’s Frederique Dame on product-market fit: ‘You have one chance at a good experience’
The electric vehicle has a power supply. The futuristic of the automobile is the charging technology industry. Plug in hybrid car with EV fuel.
In his first article, Senior Climate Writer Tim De Chant looked at nine EV battery companies that have collectively raised over $4 billion in the last 18 months.
Improving tech like solid-state batteries, replacing specific chemical components and using hybrid chemistries are just a few of the techniques startups are using to unlock benefits.
He writes that cars and trucks won't be the only thing touched by the battery revolution.
Like many advances, better, lighter, and longer- lasting batteries will drive changes in our lives that are both unexpected and welcome.
Charged with billions in capital, meet the 9 startups developing tomorrow’s batteries today
In a conversation with Editor Greg Kumparak at TechCrunch Early Stage, YC managing director and group partner Dalton Caldwell spoke about the application process founders must navigate before they are accepted to one of the world's top accelerators.
The first thing I look at when reading an application is the team. Technical excellence on the team is what I'm looking for.
Our teams that rely on trying to hire outsourcing engineers or consultants tend to move slower than people with a technical founder, he said.
They tend to get ripped off.
How to get into Y Combinator, according to YC’s Dalton Caldwell
The image is from TechCrunch.
Thank you, dear Sophie.
The engineers that we are trying to recruit are requesting that we sponsor them for green cards. I don't have an HR background, but I have been assigned HR duties at our startup.
Can you give me a description of the green cards that are available?
Is it possible to sponsor someone for a green card without them getting an H-1B visa first? Which green card is the fastest?
Targeting talent.
Dear Sophie: When should I sponsor engineers for green cards?
In recent years, startup valuations have increased, but investors still prefer experienced, well- connected, and experienced founders.
She writes that residents of Planet Scrappy live in a world where raising money is difficult and unlikely.
Feinzaig says that founders with strong networks are unlikely to face real scrutiny until seeking a Series B, but that Series A level diligence happens at the pre-seed stage.
Early-stage fundraising is a tale of two planets
Minut closed a Series B last month.
The 21-slide pitch deck was broken down by reporter Haje Jan Kamps to show how Minut used data visualization and storytelling to give investors a clear vision of the market opportunity, the competitive landscape, and where the company is gaining traction.
If you would like to see your pitch deck featured, click here.
Pitch Deck Teardown: Minut