We would have a better understanding of many social networks if we regarded them as Status as a Service (SaaS) businesses. Not all network effects work the same way. Status is a powerful motivator but inherently volatile. eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19…↗

Thread: The best consumer marketplaces end up supply-constrained, because they tap into an incredible amount of demand. For instance, Airbnb, Lyft, and Uber have seemingly infinite demand since the product/market fit is so strong--and this demand puts pressure on supply.↗

This week we are introducing Glitch Challenges — a fun new way to get started making apps with Glitch. Every two weeks we will share a new starter app and a few challenges to help you get started making the app your own. 💪🏾↗

I have a big announcement! 🎉 New programmers tend to struggle with putting together the pieces of the puzzle when creating bigger projects. So, I'm creating a multimedia series on problem solving, breaking down problems, debugging and more. dev.to/aspittel/movin…↗

Strong public and private response to this. We need to find a space, but if you’re into it, shoot me a note and I’ll get you an invite once we pin down details (email address in my bio).↗

Uber's MVP↗

Projects that yield great results often wouldn't seem promising to a rational person. Fortunately some people have a compensating irrationality: they're so interested in the project that they'll work on it for its own sake.↗

Here’s a thread of Successful people who started flying in their 30’s. The thought of turning 30 can be scary but it doesn’t have to be.. I hope this inspires you to say no to 30anxiety & take each day as it comes whilst embracing your journey 💕↗

I think I’m going to move to actively picking just 7 public stocks that I know will have even better products and more customers in 15 years: @Disney, @amazon, @google, @Apple, @Netflix, @Uber, @Airbnb @tesla & @microsoft come to mind. Who are your top 7-10?↗

Thread: “Fake it til you make it” is a key strategy for overcoming the chicken-and-egg problem of starting a new marketplace, popularized by companies like Uber and Yelp. The idea is to bootstrap one side of the marketplace inorganically in order to attract the other side.↗

Time for a story, since @gustaf is asking for some stories about talking to users for a YC presentation. This is how Lambda School was born, and it's way less sexy than everyone assumes.↗

1/ We recently celebrated a decade (!) of building Thumbtack so I’m sharing a few of the lessons we’ve learned along the way. Zero to $1B - 8 Lessons Scaling a Startup: medium.com/@swaaanson/zer… And for the lazy web, here's some highlights:↗

🤝 My biggest lessons in how to build your professional network... 1. Build community. There's no better way to improve your reputation in a field than to be the one bringing people together. Offline is key: Host events. Big or small. Conferences, meetups or dinners all work.↗

The results to the following question isn't surprising: "Which 1-3 things do you want most help with right now?" VCs can help in many ways but very few (almost none) focus on the value-add startups want most: user acquisition↗

We are honored to work with so many talented teams, with the backing of some of the best investors in the industry. The 39 companies we’ve invested in:↗

One of my lessons for 2018 is that slide decks are many times more engaging than long-form essays. On average people spend 200-300% more time on a deck than an essay. Funny. Y’all are just daring me to exclusive create and publish content in slide deck format?↗

This year has been a massive one for self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-improvement for me. I wrote out what I learned about myself in 2018 and thought I would share it here:↗

Profit sharing is the new IPO.↗

0/ Thread: 25 traits of the ideal early stage VC 🔥 My ideas of best practices based on what I’ve seen + read. Anything to add / argue? cc @andrewchen @ArlanWasHere @eriktorenberg @fdestin @cyantist @ryan_caldbeck @sknthla @garrytan @TZhongg @hunterwalk↗

1/ there is this sense when you are young that your accomplishments need to be a list of things that seem impressive to others. A list of several items you did. This isn't actually right, so here is another suggestion.↗

1/ As a founder you should spend all of your time on the unique things you can do which no other human on the planet can do. Corollary: You should spend almost no time doing stuff which is already well understood by someone else.↗

No one expects a tennis player to become the next Serena without coaching. Why would the next great CEO be any different? Get an executive coach.↗

💬 I often get Q’s like these: How did you get your first customers for WIP? How did you grow BetaList’s traffic? Etc. Makers are looking to reverse-engineer success. I see it everywhere. I don’t think it works that way and the answers to those questions are mostly useless. 💥↗

1/ Was at a dinner recently with five VCs. All great folks, smart, thoughtful investors. We got to talking about Halo Top and what drove its growth.↗

@ItsHogg @levelsio @ProductHunt @sarah__jackson @jsfiddle Here is a slightly tweaked version of @levelsio that actually generates a downloadable gif 🎉 insert your emojis and then right click on the image 'save image as' 👍 jsfiddle. net/moritzkobrna/oxwjdc2m/↗

I’ve gotten asked a lot about YC interviews in the last week. Here are some tips:↗

All of these brilliant people (@nntaleb @naval @nickkokonas) talk about the importance of doing things or investing in things with “asymmetric risk” (huge upside, limited downside). But I’ve never seen a list of what those things might be. Let’s create one. I’ll start...↗

Lambda School but for __________ instead of programming↗

@eriktorenberg @jrdngonen @dksf @CaseyNeistat @368 YC took off in part because of the lack of education and a playbook for starting a company and raising money. I’m not sure YC would be a fraction of what it is today if it started in 2018. So, which industries today have a simil…↗

The cheat codes for raising angel funding...↗