Newsletter #15 - Supercharged Christmas Edition
Thibaut’s Newsletter
Fostering Entrepreneurship, Empowering Entrepreneurs
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This is a newsletter of what I’ve seen or thought about the art of venturing and considered was interesting to share. My main goal is to start building a small community and a true conversation. I want to discover your own tools, techniques, thoughts and ideas. Together we are smarter; so please, comment!
See more or subscribe at www.thibautdeleval.com
✏️ My short post
Sorry for these 8 months of silence but I’ve been super busy… (cheap excuse, I know).
Let’s compensate with a Christmas’ Special full of high-quality stuff you’ll have plenty of time to read and think about during this Christmas’ break!
By the way, I’m curious to know about the 30 people who subscribed to the newsletter last week. You are of course super welcome but… where are you coming from? Is my beloved wife secretly sponsoring those subscriptions as a Christmas present or something? :DD
🔧 Some useful tools
Growth Hacking - DIY guide to getting a content loop in motion (by Casey Winters)
Content loops involve publishing and sharing media, which is then shared by the business, its users or partners. That action triggers signups, activations and user engagement, which leads to more sharing of the media. This completes the “loop” or cycle. Casey Winters will provide you with a DIY guide to getting a content loop in motion.
The Startup Founder’s Guide to Analytics (by Tristan Handy)
From Founding Stage to Growth Stage (going through Very Early Stage, Early Stage and Mid Stage), Tristan will tell you what to do and what not to do in relation to data analytics.
The Problem Statement Canvas for Startups and Innovation Teams (by Marius Ursache)
The number one cause of startup failure is the lack of a real need in the market. Let’s make sure you and your team are working on a real problem, don’t you think? In this super didactic post, Marius offers a step by step guide and a practical canvas.
🚴 Personal Training
How to Listen: A guide for marketers who want to know what their customers want (by Laura Lopuch)
Two ears but only one mouth but still we use to be poorer listeners than speakers… Your ability to listen well is key to discover problems and (in)validate hypothesis. Trust me, Laura can help you to improve a lot in that field.
💭 Food for Thought
Required reading for marketplace startups: The 20 best essays (by Andrew Chen)
The current generation of marketplace startups has been incredibly successful: Airbnb, Uber, Lyft, Instacart, etc. Andrew Chen from Andreessen Horowitz has been compiling the best thinking about this topic. Enjoy and learn!
A look at what’s ahead for the future of business, technology and design.
📚 Some books you should read
IMHO, Customer Development is the skill every entrepreneur should master. In order to help you progressing on that learning path, I recommend you the following books:
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Running Lean (by Ash Maurya)
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Build Better Products (by Laura Klein)
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Validating Product Ideas (by Tomer Sharon)
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Pretotype It (by Alberto Savoia - FREE)
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The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development (by Cooper & Vlaskovits)
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Interviewing Users (by Steve Portigal)
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Talking to humans (by Giff Constable)
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Testing with humans (by Giff Constable)
Mostly short, always “straight to the point” and definitely “action oriented”, these books will provide you with clear guidance on your way for product-market fit.
🎁 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I would like to share two songs with you.
The first one is kind of sad and melancholic and is the perfect soundtrack for the end of a year. You know? - that feeling you have when you’ve just finished a good book:
On the train ride home (by The Paper Kites – And by the way, you should discover the 2 amazing LP they released in 2018)
The other one is more like a feel-good song, and I picked it as a symbol of the enthusiasm we feel when we open a new book or start a New Year:
Be With You Always (by Mighty Oaks – again, part of a great LP you must discover ASAP)
Cheers,