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  • The most important marketing lessons learned in the past 7️⃣ months..👇

    Richard Yang
    2 replies
    Seven months into our startup journey, we've constantly grappled with how to go-to-market and, importantly, how to find not just our first batch of users, but a stable customer acquisition channel to validate our Product-Market Fit (PMF). We wasted a ton of time on this issue – I mean it. If I could start the entrepreneurial process all over again, I would take many fewer detours… Here are my heartfelt suggestions for early-stage startup teams: 1️⃣ In your pre-launch market research, don't obsess over specific data, but focus more on “methodologies”. Data can only tell you how big the market is, not how to survive in it. 2️⃣ Ditch the "I think...". Your assumptions are only good for giving you the courage to finally choose entrepreneurship, but they're not really important in the process (I know you might counter this with examples of greats like Steve Jobs, Sam Altman, etc., but let's face it, you are not them). You should care more about what customers think, what the market thinks, what competitors think. 3️⃣ When you decide what project to undertake, think about how to “sell” it. By this, I mean, you absolutely must not neglect consideration of marketing and sales aspects in the earliest stages of entrepreneurship, or you might end up with a decent product but not enough time and financial resources to continue it. 4️⃣ A specific market strategy suggestion: pay utmost attention to SEO. I know many people will tell you how important SEO is, but many entrepreneurs still underestimate it. Building a comprehensive and effective SEO system is a complex process, far more than just writing a few “SEO articles”, so you must prioritize this early on. If you're interested in more SEO-related content, I've put together some of our practical experiences. If this topic interests the community, I'm happy to share more in later posts.

    Replies

    Hey Richard, thanks for taking the time to write this up and sharing it. Some very valuable nuggets here!!
    Hydrangeas
    Thank you for what you share