Articles by Gigi Levy-Weiss
10 Places to Find Product-Market FitProduct-market fit is essential for sustainable growth. It means your product brings real value to customers through high engagement and retention, not just acquisition numbers. Startups fail when they run out of money before achieving product-market fit. Once achieved, fundraising becomes easier. Gigi provides 10 places to find product-market fit: 1. Making an existing activity much easier 2. Making an experience much better and networked 3. Creating new inventory for a marketplace 4. Discovering a new willingness to pay 5. Connecting previously disconnected groups 6. Giving people new ways to make money 7. Turning something digital that was analog 8. Offering free pricing to bootstrap network effects 9. Creating a younger version of a proven product 10. Finding a new pleasure center in users' minds. The author argues that products with real product-market fit bring indispensable value to users' lives and generate word-of-mouth.
- What Makes a Strong Startup CEO
Gigi breaks down the role of a CEO in a 5-step cycle that is repeated constantly: 1. Defining a strategy — setting the vector (direction) for your company. 2. Recruiting the right team that is best positioned to execute the strategy. 3. Setting goals that steer your team in the right direction and then letting them “run”. 4. Assisting where needed when your team runs into challenges; or, where the goals show they are off course, setting them back on track. 5. Monitoring progress and periodically reassessing the two initial building blocks – your strategy and your team – to make sure they still make sense. And having the perseverance to adjust accordingly & begin the cycle again.