A note from Sary

Disruptive technologies are dismissed as toys because when they are first launched they "undershoot" user needs. The first telephone could only carry voices a mile or two. The leading telco of the time, Western Union, passed on acquiring the phone because they didnt see how it could possibly be useful to businesses and railroads-their primary customers. What they failed to anticipate was how rapidly telephone technology and infrastructure would improve (technology adoption is usually non-linear due to so-called comple. mentary network effects). The same was true of how mainframe companies viewed the PC (microcomputer), and how modern telecom companies viewed Skype. The next big thing will start out looking like it's for a niche net

Sary Cold Start Problem, page 76 · November 15, 2023 Save to shelf

Notes like this take four seconds in Booksense. Scan the paragraph, it lands on the right page, and comes back for review later. Take your first note

More from readers of Cold Start Problem

Sary p. 201

As a rough benchmark for evaluating startups at Andreessen Horowitz, I often look for a minimum baseline of 60 percent retention after day 1, 30 percent after day 7, and 15 percent at day 30, where the curve eventually levels out.

Sary Nov 25, 2023

Sary p. 164

No one wants to live in a ghost town. No one wants to join an empty community In the early days, it was our job each day is make sure there was good content on the front page. We'd past it ourselves, using dozens of dummy accounts. Otherwise the comma mity might dry up.

Sary Nov 22, 2023

Sary p. 92

The older dating sites made it feel like you were doing work, like you were inside the office, You'd go and do work emails during the day, then go home and write more messages at night. Only to prospective dates rather than work colleagues. Tinder was different - it mule dating fun. You could sign up without filling in a bunch of forms. It's visual, you just swipe back and forth, and you could take foe minutes to do it while you were waiting in line or something like that. I's a form of entertainment.

Sary Nov 17, 2023

Sary p. 91

The hardest problem to solve in creating the first atomic network is, well, attracting the hard side. Focus on attracting content creators to a new video platform, or sellers to a new marketplace, or the project managers inside a company to a new workplace app. The other side uf the network will follow.

Sary Nov 17, 2023

Sary p. 69

The solution to the Cold Start Problem starts by understanding how to add a small group of the right people, at the same time, us-ling the product in the right way. Getting this initial network off the ground is the key, and the key is the "atomic network"_ the smallest, stable network from which all other networks can be built.

Sary Nov 14, 2023

Duc p. 3

I was there to represent the Driver Growth Team--a critical team responsible for recruiting the scarcest asset in the entire business, Uber drivers. It was a big effort for Uber—we spent hundreds of millions just on driver referrals programs, and nearly a billion in paid marketing. Adding more drivers to the Uber network was one of the most important levers we had to grow the business.

Duc Oct 14, 2023

More from Sary

See their profile

Building A Storybrand p. 102

Transitional call: 3. Position yourself as the guide. When you help your customers solve a problem, even for free, you position yourself as the guide. The next time they encounter a problem in that area of their lives, they will look to you for help.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Building A Storybrand p. 102

Transitional call: 2. Create reciprocity. I've never worried about giving away too much free information. In fact, the more generous a brand is, the more reciprocity they create. All relationships are give-and-take, and the more you give to your customers, the more likely they will be to give something back in the future. Give freely.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Building A Storybrand p. 102

Transitional call: 1. Stake a claim to your territory. If you want to be known as the leader in a certain territory, stake a claim to that territory before the competition beats you to it. Creating a PDF, a video series, or anything else that positions you as the expert is a great way to establish authority.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Building A Storybrand p. 100

Us: Will you marry me? Customer: No. Us: Will you go out with me again? Customer: Yes. Us: Will you marry me now? Customer: No. Us: Will you go out with me again? Customer: Sure, you're interesting and the information you provide is helpful. Us: Will you marry me? Customer: Okay, I'll marry you now.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Building A Storybrand p. 99

At StoryBrand we recommend two kinds of calls to action: direct calls to action and transitional calls to action. Direct calls to action include requests like "buy now," "schedule an appointment," or "call today." A direct call to action is sornething that leads to a sale, or at least is the firat step down a path that leads to a sale. Transitional calls to action, however, contain leus riak und usually offer a customer something for free. Transitional calls to action can be used to "on ramp" potential customers to to an eventual purchase. Inviting people to watch a webinar or download a PDF are good examples of transitional calls to action.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Building A Storybrand p. 97

There should be a "Buy Now" button in the top right corner of your website, and it shouldn't be cluttered with a bunch of other buttons. The same call to action should be repeated above the fold and in the center of your website, and again and again as people scroll down the page.

Sary Dec 19, 2024

Stop losing the best parts of what you read.

Booksense pushes your highlights back to you for review, so a note from page 174 is still yours a year later. Free on iOS.

Get Booksense free