Jon Sandbrook

I'm a strategist, entrepreneur and investor in growth, innovation, and projects that matter. Looking to connect with others seeking to make a difference.

[Brian Ji @brianjji]

Peter Thiel: “It’s always a big mistake going after a giant market on day 1... Almost all of the successful companies in Silicon Valley had some model of starting with small markets and expanding.

What’s very counterintuitive about many of these companies is that they often start with markets so small that most people don’t think they’re valuable at all.

You want to be a one-of-a-kind company where it’s the only one in a small ecosystem… large existing markets typically mean you have tons of competition and it’s very hard to differentiate.”

Start with focusing on a small market and dominate that market first. Then expand concentrically from there.

[Jon Sandbrook @JonSandbrook]

Thoughts NZ?

[Amy Lewin @amyrlewin]

NEW: UK government unveils plan to direct £75bn from pension funds to startups.

Hunt has nine of the UK's biggest private pension schemes already signed up.

https://t.co/5fke5hOoZp

[Elaine Watson @EWatsonWrites]

Out now! AgFunder’s 2023 global #agrifoodtech investment report…

[Jon Sandbrook @JonSandbrook]

@LizWiseman @BreneBrown @kimballscott @AmyCEdmondson @johnsonwhitney @ericadhawan Check out @kristenjoiner and @judithheumann - their book ##beingheumann - https://t.co/zgRWE2XVLV

[andrew arruda @andrewarruda]

if I asked you about startups, you'd probably give me the skinny on about every book and blog post ever written. paul graham. you know a lot about him. essays. y combinator. hacker news. his vision. his investments. the whole works, right?...

[Maren Bannon @Maren_Bannon]

A few things VCs are saying about today's market behind closed doors, which may not be obvious to founders

Read on 🧵

[Phil Morle 🖖🏻 @philmorle]

DEEPTECH FUNDRAISING PLAYBOOK

This is not the time to run a shabby process. @MSeqVC's @AlezeiaB has some ideas to get that round closed ...

...pronto.

👇

[Jon Sandbrook @JonSandbrook]

#sodainc Rise Up entrepreneurs really nailing it this evening at Hamilton’s hottest startup show! Some great energy in the room #investnz

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

A “razor” is a rule of thumb that simplifies decision making.

The most powerful razors I’ve found:

[Jon Sandbrook @JonSandbrook]

@serenawilliams Being Heumann - Judy Heumann & Kristen Joiner

[Andrew Yeung @andruyeung]

10 paradoxes in life that will make you think twice:

[Dan Rose @DanRose999]

I was at Amzn early '00s when we lost 95% of our market cap. Later at FB I negotiated a down-round in '09, and then in '12 our stock dropped 50% post-IPO. I was on the board of a public company that went bankrupt (Borders) and a start-up that went under (Hello). Some lessons:

[Barrett O'Neill @barrettjoneill]

What got you $500K won't get you $5M.

The evolution of a bootstrapper:

Master these 5 roles to scale your startup:

[Brian Ma @zealoustiger]

It took me 15+ years to finally understand a VC's "portfolio construction" and how it affects their decision to invest. Founders, here's what you need to know.

Warning: this is 400+ grad level stuff. Scroll to the end if you just want the TLDR.

[Hrishikesh Pardeshi @hrishiptweets]

"Build audience before product" — But how do you do it?

Here's my take on how to do it using a mix of marketing & writing, based on 4 years of growing my own startups.

[Jon Sandbrook @JonSandbrook]

@briannekimmel Being Heumann - Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner

[Politics and Prose @PoliticsProse]

On Tuesday with @kidsandprose, Disability Rights activist @judithheumann and @kristenjoiner present ROLLING WARRIOR, the young readers' edition of Heumann's memoir (Ages 12+) https://t.co/gTPPGqqxFs

[David Frankel @dafrankel]

Founder 1: Runs startup for five years. Sells for ~$100M. Makes $30M.

Founder 2: Running startup for ten years (and counting). Valued at ~$1B. Founder shares valued at $30M.

Which founder would you rather be?

/🧵

[AngelList @AngelList]

An analysis of over 3,700 AngelList seed deals revealed that seed-stage startups have a 50% chance of making it to Series A—regardless of whether or not they have a top VC involved in their seed round.

https://t.co/cXGpLJa74g

[Suhail @Suhail]

1/ The first 18 months of a startup:

After starting my 2nd company in 2019, I decided I would write down useful lessons I learned or re-learned along the way. Some were hard-earned & others required steady focus. A thread that I hope may help other founders starting out 👇