Founders Should Embrace Their Weirdness

On Saturday I shared a deep dive on 9 ways to de-risk your startup’s fundraise. Join the community to get access to my library of 45+ deep dives, and a new one in your inbox each Saturday.

Today at a glance:

💡 Opportunity: AI Hiring Agency

Many people think AI is going to replace jobs. They’re right! But it’s also going to add a ton more. We’ll net out positively, just as we have with past technologies that people had the same worries about.

When no-code tools first came onto the scene, there was suddenly a rush of companies looking for help implementing no-code solutions in their operations since no-code was cheaper, and typically faster to implement, and didn’t require as specialized knowledge as coding.

The same exact situation has arisen with AI tools.

Whether it’s a hiring marketplace, or just a solo agency, there are a few different businesses that can be built to help solve this. And the market’s expanding rapidly, so it won’t be a winner-takes-all situation.

Structure your pitch around how to save people time and/or money.

🧠 Framework: The Four Stages of Using Data

Data plays a different role at each stage of your startup. Benchmark GP Sarah Tavel created this framework to help founders understand each stage, including the cost of skipping it. Here it is (start from the bottom):

Sarah also makes the point that data is not a substitute for judgement or strategy. It’s too common for founders to outsource their decision making to “what the data says.”

In the early days (or early stages, in this case) the data you’re collecting is likely not comprehensive or consistent, and the methods you’re using to collect it are likely incomplete or buggy. This framework helps you make decisions while putting the right amount of emphasis on data for the stage you’re at.

📈 Trend: Solo Travelers

The subreddit for solo travelers has steadily grown since even before COVID.

It’s been well established that the world is in the middle of a growing “loneliness epidemic” but it seems that isn’t stopping people from traveling, even if it’s alone.

Younger generations have also gravitated towards solo travel as a way to meet new people and have unique experiences at the same time. I'd argue that dating apps have also played a part here — it’s easier to meet people when traveling as they’ve gone global.

💬 Quote: Embrace Your Weirdness

Founders often hear the advice to solve their own problems. A different (arguably better) approach is to look for problems in the areas founders know an unusual amount about.

An interesting way to look at this is that if someone has a problem and they haven’t solved it already, they may not actually be that passionate about solving it. While, on the other hand, if they care a lot about something but just haven’t looked for problems within it, they’ll be more likely to care about solving it.

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