Software vs Content Business
👋 Welcome!
Adam Keesling has written a great newsletter, looking at the difference between content and software businesses. There are a number of similarities between both: No constraints to distribution, similar investment profiles and short feedback loops, allowing for quick testing and iteration. The difference is that software businesses tend to have higher margins and lower customer churn than media businesses. Fred Wilson argues that the difference centres around utility vs entertainment. Technology provides a utility that is likely to outlast media content. Adam frames it a little differently: “Content products decay while software products don’t.” It decays faster because content speaks to people, whereas software speaks to computers. This decay in value is “why software is the better business.” Read the newsletter.
Photo by Fotis Fotopoulos on Unsplash
😺 Products of the Day
June 25, 2020
🥇 Linkedin to Resume: Use your Linkedin to create a resume.
🥈 Suparise: A bot that grows your Instagram following.
🥉 Amazon Honeycode: Nocode app builder by AWS.
🚀 Maker News
Level Up
Jordan O'Connor gives an update on the progress he’s made with his startup Closet Tools, a browser extension helps businesses grow sales, followers and automatically share items on Poshmark. After 2.5 years he’s arrived ar $25k MRR and is close to 1000 active subscriptions. In total, he’s supported over 7000 customers. Jordan shares his learnings on getting here, such as the release of new features, SEO and customer support. His advice for others includes making “things that help people do what they were already doing, better and more efficiently.” Moreover, to be a great Indie Hacker always try to level up your skills, whether it be coding, writing, communication or selling Read more.
Built from Nothing
Kevin Rooke provides some great case studies on how the internet has enabled people to build profitable bootstrapped businesses. Location, bank balance, and college degrees don’t matter. Success stories include @romertheroamer, who was living in a car in 2018, but in 2019 sold $350k of used books. Or there are the founders of Hypefury, a Twitter management tool, that’s built up $6.7k MRR in six months. Then there’s Daniel Vassallo, who left his well-paid job at Amazing in 2019. Since then he’s built a huge audience on Twitter and sold over $180k in books on Gumroad. Get further insights from all three entrepreneurs by listening to Kevin’s podcasts or watching his videos. Learn more.
Stripe ID Verification
Stripe has launched an Identity Verification app you can use on your site. The product supports ID verification for KYC and compliance, confirms user identities to prevent fraud, age verification of customers and ensures users have a valid driver’s license. Currently, the service is only available by invite in the US and UK. Learn more.
100 Days of NoCode
Jason has completed his #100daysofnocode journey. In 2019 he registered his company and joined Makerpad. Then he was off to Asia to seek financial independence as a digital nomad. But as a result of COVID, he returned to the UK and joined the 100daysofnocode community. One year later his automation business is taking off and last month he succeeded in making just enough income to live on. Read thread.
🖥️ NoCode & Automate
Workflow Webinar
Zapier and Typeform are giving a free webinar on NoCode workflows today, June 26 at 4 pm EDT. You will learn about the automated workflows that took SwagUp from MVP to $10m in annual revenue. Founder Michael Martocci will share the forms, automations, and NoCode tools that built his business. Register here.
NoCode Resources
A great way to learn about NoCode and discover new tools is to listen to podcasts and read newsletters. nocodejournal has curated one list for each, helping you learn from other makers and stay up to date. View podcasts or view newsletters.
Automated Podcast Intro
With BuildBubbles you can create an automated podcast intro for free. You don’t need a mic or expensive studio equipment. Visit the site.
💰 Funding
Insiders & Outsiders
Mat Sherman has written an insightful mega-thread on why venture capital isn’t built for outsiders. His analysis looks at the inside workings of VCs and how this affects outsiders with no network or access. The analysis relates to Tyler Tringas comments a few days ago on the issues of pre-seed funding. As deal success is limited to insiders, early-stage startups should try to bootstrap, do a family & friends round and network first. Approach VCs later when in a position of strength. Read the full thread.
Positive Investing
Zecca Lehn hosts the posi2ive podcast, focusing on Venture Scale Positive Impacts. In her latest interview, she speaks with Julia Lipton, founder of Awesome People Ventures about the definition of world-positive investing. They talk about available types of capital (debt + equity), the importance of a network, remote work, NoCode tools and solopreneurship. She finishes with a great piece of advice: “Be compassionate, honest, and listen to people. We all have a lot to give and a lot to learn.” Read thread or listen to the podcast.
💭 Afterthought
To finish the week, some wise words from Alex Lieberman, CEO of Morning Brew. Be open and transparent about your ideas and don’t worry about others stealing them. It’s the execution that counts! As Bill Gurley said, knowledge sharing with your peers pays off in multiples. Take care of each other and have a great weekend!
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