AI for Investors, Publisher Rewards, Sleep Tech & More – 2024 Jam with JCal Recap | E2032

Alex kicks off the show, setting the stage for our "Jam with JCal" season recap, focusing on startups using .TECH domains. (0s)

• Today's episode is a special one, wrapping up "Jam with JCal" for the season, a segment that became a staple over the last couple of months (6s).
• "Jam with JCal" features promising startups using .TECH domains, who brainstorm on the show with Jason and tackle their biggest challenges on the road to success (16s).
• The segment has been a hit, and today's episode is a recap of all the "Jams" that have aired, covering any episodes that viewers may have missed (28s).
• .TECH domains is sponsoring "Jam with JCal", and is considered a reasonable domain for any tech company to pursue (42s).
• The episode will feature a lot of Jason, and viewers are encouraged to sit back and enjoy the recap (35s).

Jason discusses the origins of the Jam with JCal sessions and how Travis from Uber inspired the format. (53s)

• The concept of "Jam with JCal" sessions originated from Travis from Uber, who used to host "jam sesh" with a couple of founders to discuss business and share ideas while socializing (1m3s).
• The "jam sesh" format involved a casual gathering where participants would hang out, have a few drinks, and talk about business, resulting in some of the best times they ever had (1m12s).
• The "Jam with JCal" sessions aim to revive this format, with a partner program that allows companies with under $2 million in funding and a .co domain name to come on the program and share their great ideas and companies (1m37s).
• The partner for the "Jam with JCal" program is .co domain names, which came up with the idea to collaborate on the project (1m22s).

Ramsey Shaffer presents Uptrends AI, explaining how it helps financial advisors manage and stay ahead of market news. (1m39s)

• Ramsey Schaefer, CEO and co-founder of Uptrends AI, introduces his company, which helps financial advisers stay ahead of the news using AI technology (1m39s).
• Uptrends AI monitors thousands of news sites, filings, and financial data sources to detect, summarize, and alert investment advisors about trends and events affecting the stocks that matter to them and their clients (3m12s).
• The platform provides features such as customizable alerts, AI summaries of recent market-moving events, and the ability to send these summaries directly to clients (3m28s).
• Uptrends operates as a premium monthly subscription, with a free trial and premium plans starting at $15 for DIY portfolio managers and $50 for investment advisors (4m9s).
• The company aims to reach 10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by acquiring 16,000 advisers on its Pro Plan and 100 million in ARR by acquiring 166,000 advisers (4m36s).
• The Uptrends team consists of Ramsey Schaefer as CEO, Sam as CTO, and other experienced professionals, including a PhD machine learning lead (4m47s).
• Ramsey and Sam have 10 years of experience as stock market investors and have written peer-reviewed research on the relationship between news sentiment and stock market outcomes (4m52s).
• Ramsey has previously been a financial analyst, and Sam was employee number one of a 10 million ARR startup (4m59s).
• Uptrends AI is a company that aims to help investment advisers stay ahead of market news and build better relationships with clients by providing them with relevant information. (5m8s)
• The company's product is a B2B2C type, enabling financial advisers, including registered investment advisers, wealth managers, and financial advisers, to manage their clients' portfolios more efficiently. (5m51s)
• The target customers are financial advisers who manage other people's portfolios, and the product helps them to stay ahead of market news and build better relationships with their clients. (6m3s)
• The company's product is compared to Shopify, which enables businesses to reach customers more efficiently, and it is noted that such businesses tend to be successful as they enable existing businesses to do more business or save money. (6m13s)
• The problem that Uptrends AI is trying to solve is not clearly identified, but it is noted that financial advisers get paid a significant amount of money, with the average wealth manager in the United States making a median compensation per year, and each client bringing in an average of $110,000 per year. (6m44s)
• The company's product needs a design refresh, as it currently looks too "techy" and not "fin" enough, and it is suggested that the design should be more focused on the financial industry. (8m26s)
• The importance of the founding team is discussed, and it is noted that the next two to three job functions to be filled are crucial for the company's success, especially as it prepares to fundraise. (8m53s)
• A company has four people writing code, with two founders and two employees, and is advised to add two more positions: a salesperson, which should initially be one of the founders, and another role to be determined later (8m55s).
• The company has a few hundred paying customers, with two paid plans at $15 and $50 per month, but is advised that they are charging too little and should increase their prices (9m42s).
• The company's product provides significant value to its customers, with the potential to gain one new customer and prevent one lost customer per year, resulting in $20,000 in value per year (10m29s).
• The company's lifetime value (LTV) is estimated to be around $100,000 per customer, assuming a five-year average customer retention period (11m8s).
• Based on this LTV, the company's customer acquisition cost (CAC) could be up to $1,000 and still be profitable (11m13s).
• The company is advised to increase its prices to at least $500-400 per month, or even $1,000-800 per month, to reflect the value it provides to its customers and to be taken seriously by wealth managers (11m48s).
• Wealth managers are willing to spend significant amounts of money on client entertainment and other expenses, and would likely be willing to pay more for a valuable product like the company's (12m8s).
• Increasing the price will also allow the company to capture the high-end market first and then move downstream (12m39s).
• To increase perceived value, it's recommended to raise the price of a product or service, allowing for the hiring of better talent and access to top advice, rather than focusing on the number of customers, with a goal of targeting high-end clients who can provide great advice (12m44s).
• A redesign of the product's user experience (UX) is suggested, as well as exploring potential virality that hasn't been considered yet (13m14s).
• A problem was identified where customers may experience panic when noticing significant changes in their stock portfolio, such as a sudden increase in Uber's stock price, and a potential solution could be to share the dashboard of the stocks with the customer and provide real-time updates (13m39s).
• Implementing a feature that allows wealth managers to receive notifications when customers interact with the website, such as opening a contract or viewing specific slides, could provide valuable insights and be a selling point for the service (14m3s).
• The ability for customers to ask questions on the portal and receive responses from wealth managers, potentially with relevant reports or articles, could be a valuable feature (14m42s).
• The interface should have a record of the entire history of interactions between the customer and wealth manager, and the service should be optimized for mobile devices (15m15s).
• Hiring a mobile designer and a business development representative (SDR) could be beneficial in growing the business and acquiring new customers (15m27s).
• The importance of having a product council or a small group of advisers for regular discussions and feedback was emphasized (16m0s).
• The conversation was rated a 10 out of 10 in terms of helpfulness, with the guest providing quick and good answers without filibustering (16m15s).
• The guest was invited to meet the team and potentially join an accelerator, as there seemed to be potential in their business (16m25s).
• When interacting with a knowledgeable investor, it's essential to be able to have a quick and intellectual discussion, which the guest demonstrated during the conversation (16m40s).
• The guest's ability to think and answer questions was well-received, making them likable and their business understandable (17m0s).
• The guest was advised to lean into their drive to be successful and not be too mellow, as this could be beneficial for their business (17m11s).
• The conversation ended with congratulations to Ramsy and an invitation to tune in next time on "Jam with JCal" (17m17s).

Ana Malhotra introduces Rome, a yard-sharing service for dogs. (17m24s)

• Anna, co-founder and CEO of Rome, is working on a yard-sharing platform built for dogs, inspired by her dog Rome, a husky with a lot of energy that needs to be let out daily, but cannot go to public dog parks due to not getting along with other dogs (18m10s).
• The platform allows dog owners to book a yard near them, and neighbors can rent out their outdoor space and earn with every booking, creating a two-sided yard-sharing marketplace (18m51s).
• The challenge Rome faces is supply acquisition, specifically finding yards that meet the three main criteria dog owners are looking for: safety, proximity, and size (19m16s).
• Rome has spent about 6 months growing its supply, but has only had 20 yards show interest, with 7 in Seattle, and is looking to scale its numbers of good yards through consumers, not just businesses (19m35s).
• Strategies Rome has tried to acquire supply include reaching out to personal networks, posting on Craigslist and Nextdoor, which have been successful, but direct mail and reaching out to Rover sitters have not (20m2s).
• Rome has successfully onboarded a local private dog park business and plans to lean into this strategy more (19m48s).
• Rome's supply growth has been low and flat since the beginning of the year, while demand growth has been increasing (20m20s).
• A local business was onboarded, and the person is now full-time on Rome, with the goal of growing Supply to meet the increasing demand and provide at least one good yard quickly (20m26s).
• The question of how to get good yards was posed, and the answer involves leveraging existing marketplaces, such as Airbnb and VRBO, which already have a network of hosts who could potentially rent out their yards (20m47s).
• The idea is to target existing Airbnb owners who have yards and propose that they rent out the yard separately, which could be a simple and incremental addition to their existing hosting business (21m21s).
• This approach would allow the company to draft on Airbnb's existing network and leverage the hosts' existing skills in managing people, marketing, and taking pictures (22m15s).
• Another strategy, inspired by Uber's approach, would be to cold-call potential yard owners, offer them a minimum guarantee, and incentivize them to keep the app active (22m46s).
• The person had previously tried reaching out to Rover sitters through the Rover app but got kicked off (23m37s).
• To reach Airbnb hosts outside of the platform, consider searching for their dedicated websites or looking for clues in their descriptions that can lead to their contact information on other platforms like Yelp (23m48s).
• Another approach is to create multiple accounts and initiate conversations with hosts, or use online forums like Reddit to find potential hosts and start discussions about renting properties (24m32s).
• Online forums can be useful for finding inventory, and bending the rules slightly to start conversations and find potential hosts (25m6s).
• Dog walkers could be a valuable resource for finding potential hosts, as they often have connections with dog owners and may be able to provide leads (25m20s).
• Consider finding a plot of land and building pens to create a dog run, and offering amenities like coffee to attract customers (25m54s).
• In Seattle, targeting neighborhoods like Queen Anne could be a good strategy, as the average home price is around $1-2 million (26m23s).
• Look for properties that are not in high demand, such as a "dog of a house" with weird bathrooms and falling apart, and offer to rent it for a short-term period to test the business idea (26m33s).
• Approach the property owner with a proposal, offering insurance and reassurance that the property will be taken care of, to secure a short-term rental agreement (26m47s).
• A business idea is proposed where a person rents a house with a large backyard and sets up pens for dogs, offering a dog park and grooming services on site, with an estimated setup cost of $500 per pen and a potential monthly rent of $4,000 to $5,000 (27m5s).
• The concept of a "third space" is discussed, referring to a location that is neither home nor work, such as a coffee shop or a gym, where people can go to relax and socialize (27m53s).
• A private dog park with coffee and drinks is suggested as a potential third space business idea, with the possibility of renting a small plot of land and setting up a fenced yard (28m41s).
• The idea of using a parking lot as a potential location for a business is mentioned, with some lots generating $1,000 to $2,000 per month in revenue (28m51s).
• The challenges of starting a business, including regulations and capital intensity, are discussed, with the speaker noting that they have not yet raised money for the idea but have bootstrapped so far (29m12s).
• The possibility of seeking funding from an accelerator program, such as TechStars or Y Combinator, is mentioned, with the speaker noting that these programs can provide funding and support for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas (29m58s).
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of energy, ideas, and a willingness to take risks in starting a successful business, and encourages entrepreneurs to pursue their passions and ambitions (30m6s).
• An idea for a business was presented, which involved creating a space for dog owners to socialize their pets, similar to how Starbucks is a space for people to socialize, with the potential for additional revenue streams from services such as dog training and grooming (30m15s).
• The idea was inspired by the concept of Airbnb, which started as a platform for people to rent out their couches and evolved into a larger business, and the presenter believes that their idea could follow a similar path (30m40s).
• The presenter was praised for their great idea, presentation, and design, and was given a score of 11 out of 10 for the helpfulness of the discussion (31m13s).
• The importance of having a good domain name for a business was emphasized, with the example of rome.com being a valuable domain name worth $10 million (31m50s).
• The presenter's use of a great domain name, such as rome.com, signals that they understand the importance of technology in changing the world (32m12s).
• A shoutout was given to the friends at do domains, who provide domain name services (31m46s).

Tyce Herrman talks about Ulama, software for architects that analyzes 3D building models for code compliance, highlighting their journey and challenges. (32m24s)

• AMA is a startup that offers software for architects to analyze their 3D building models for code compliance before submitting their designs to government reviewers for approval, with the software plugging directly into architectural design software such as Revit (33m6s).
• The software assesses the 3D model using a multimodal AI model and creates rules by parsing regulatory text with AI models, checking for compliance with codes such as building code, accessibility ADA code, plumbing, and fire codes (34m50s).
• The startup has been working on the product for about a year and currently focuses on codes that are broadly applicable in any municipality, including ADA Federal policies and vanilla off-the-shelf building codes (35m8s).
• An example of the ADA rules checked by the software is the requirement for a toilet to be a certain distance from the nearest sidewall, allowing someone to reach a grab bar within a comfortable distance (35m35s).
• Architects may have a decent working understanding of code, but the minutia within code can be difficult to keep track of, and the software helps to identify and correct any compliance issues (35m57s).
• The software provides both text and visualization of how the model is out of compliance and suggests updates to bring it into compliance, broken out by sections of the code and building elements within the 3D model (34m8s).
• The startup's founder is Ty Herman, and the company's domain name is AMA.ai (32m54s).
• A product is being developed that uses AI to analyze building designs for code compliance, allowing architects to upload their floor plans and receive feedback on potential issues in real-time (36m19s).
• The product is designed to be used on-demand, rather than constantly running in the background and interrupting the design flow, as this was found to be the preference of architects in user testing (36m52s).
• The biggest challenge facing the business is generating interest and making a case for their product through an initial launch, as it is not their core product but rather a component of their overall technology (37m29s).
• The initial product launch will be a smaller version of the overall technology, which will be sold as a standalone offering on the web and is ready to go live (37m35s).
• The product identifies elements in 3D building models and normalizes attribution and naming, which is currently not standardized and makes it hard for architects to perform other activities (37m51s).
• The product can be used internationally, as it only identifies elements within the building and does not apply any rules, and the company is looking to launch it in the United States and potentially other countries (38m37s).
• The target market for the product is architects, who already spend hundreds to thousands of dollars per year on software, and the company is considering launching the product through the Autodesk App Store, which is gaining momentum (38m52s).
• However, there is a risk that if the product is successful through the app store, Autodesk may incorporate the technology into their own product, which could be a challenge for the company (39m35s).
• Autodesk has historically supported a developer ecosystem, but it is unclear how they will support developers in the future (39m45s).
• Autodesk has a reputation for acquiring companies and integrating their innovations into their own products, and they have been renewing their focus on developer support, which could be beneficial for companies building plugins for their App Store (39m53s).
• Building a relationship with the developer evangelist or vice president at a company like Salesforce or Shopify can be key to getting featured and driving business growth, but it also builds a dependency that can be accretive to the business and create an acquisition path (40m25s).
• However, this dependency can also be a risk, as the company can decide to take the plugin off their homepage or promote someone else, which has happened to companies that build plugins specifically for a developer community, such as Facebook's developer community (41m10s).
• To mitigate this risk, it's essential to understand customers and spend time with them, and to embed the company into the community where the most architects are, whether it's a school or a company (41m28s).
• Another strategy is to "bear hug" a great customer by offering them value and asking for a presence in their office, which can help get closer to the people using the product (41m44s).
• There are two paths to success: building a developer community or bonding with the evangelist at the app store, and deeply bonding with an architectural firm or doing both (42m9s).
• Developing a relationship with the evangelist team can make it harder for the company to compete with and kill the plugin business, as they will be more likely to support a company that is providing value at a good price (42m32s).
• Getting customers to pay for the product is critically important at the early stage, and if people are not willing to pay, it may indicate that the product is not providing enough value, which is where pricing comes in (42m45s).
• Entrepreneurs can set up small groups with 5-10 likeminded customers on platforms like WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, or Slack to create a product advisory council and gain early feedback (43m27s).
• These groups can provide early access to products and influence their development, and in return, the customers may promote the product upon launch (43m47s).
• There are various social networks where influential people can be found, such as 50 architects with YouTube channels, 50 on Instagram, and 100 on Reddit across multiple subreddits (43m50s).
• Collecting a small group of influential people from each social network can create a highly influential group rooting for the product (44m5s).
• This approach is referred to as "slow Embers hot Embers" marketing, focusing on a small number of highly engaged individuals rather than large numbers (44m13s).
• The concept is compared to hot coals, where a single coal may not be very hot, but a collection of 10, 50, or more coals can generate significant heat and attention (44m27s).

Ulan Abdurazakov presents CorePod, an AI-powered device designed to help users get better sleep with personalized voice interaction (44m56s)

• Building a customer base is like building a fire, where each coal represents a customer, and it's essential to build a relationship with each one, which can take around an hour per customer, resulting in around 50 hours of work for 50 customers (45m1s).
• Having an evangelist or marketing person can help build up a group of customers, and tools like Signal, Zoom, WhatsApp groups, or email lists can facilitate one-to-few relationships (45m21s).
• Press coverage, industry press, and podcasts can be effective ways to promote a product, especially for targeted small numbers, as seen in architectural podcasts with hundreds to low thousands of listeners (46m5s).
• For a business, having 10,000 paying customers can translate to a $10 million a year business, which is a good goal to aim for (46m42s).
• Coro is a personal sleep companion that aims to help people decompress before sleep by providing a digital companion to talk to, without the anxiety and distraction of smartphones (47m14s).
• Coro's founder created the product to address their own insomnia and desire for a digital companion to voice feelings and emotions before sleep (47m37s).
• The product, Milo, is a separate device that uses voice interactions to help users relax and fall asleep, and was developed in consultation with therapists who believe that a separate device is more effective than mobile apps (48m36s).
• A product is being developed that uses AI to help people sleep better, with a speaker that has a screen and an avatar or virtual dog that assists with sleep. (48m44s)
• The product's value is considered a bargain, with a one-month subscription being cheaper than a single hour of therapy with a human expert. (48m55s)
• The target users are people in high-pressure jobs with medium to high income who are willing to invest in their mental health. (49m10s)
• The team has made five prototypes, and the founder has attended programs such as Founder University and Team Drapers Hero Training. (49m24s)
• The product has received funding from a high technology park and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (49m36s)
• The biggest challenge is finding the best go-to-market strategy for a product related to mental health, particularly with hardware and software components. (50m8s)
• The product aims to connect with smartwatches like Garmin to fetch health data and build a product-ready product for pre-orders. (49m42s)
• The product's innovation may lie in its virtual companion format, which is different from an app and doesn't require taking out a phone. (51m40s)
• The core product is considered to be the software, which is personalized and knows how to help users sleep better, with the hardware being the way to interact with the software. (52m15s)
• The product's goal is to help people sleep better, and it may be possible to use AI as a sleep coach that requires hardware. (52m33s)
• A potential business idea involves creating a sleep coach that can interact with users and help them fall asleep, similar to a parent reading a bedtime story, and this concept could be tested through an app with a small group of beta users (52m41s).
• The main competition for this idea would be sleep stories on platforms like Calm, which offer affordable and accessible sleep solutions, as well as free sleep stories and meditations on YouTube (53m35s).
• To prove the effectiveness of the interactive AI assistant, it would be necessary to gather data from a small group of users, such as 100 beta testers, to see if the model can put people to sleep better than existing sleep solutions (53m26s).
• The idea of using hardware for this concept may be premature, and it would be more practical to focus on developing the interactive AI assistant first, as hardware development can be challenging (54m25s).
• The current status of the project is that there are 14,000 users on the waiting list, but no one has been put to sleep by the interactive person yet, except for the developer themselves (54m38s).
• To move forward, it would be beneficial to recruit a small group of test users, such as people with insomnia from a Reddit subreddit, to try the software and provide feedback (54m54s).
• Offering incentives, such as a $10 gift card, could encourage people to participate in the testing and provide valuable feedback on the software (55m31s).
• The primary question that needs to be answered is whether a language model can effectively put someone to sleep, similar to a parent reading a bedtime story, and this question should be addressed before further developing the concept (55m47s).
• Research suggests that large language models (LLMs), even text-based ones, can be helpful in assisting with sleep, and this concept can be applied to create a product that aids users in falling asleep by interacting with a language model. (55m59s)
• To prove the effectiveness of this concept, it is recommended to conduct a small study with around 100 participants, gather data, and record interactions between the users and the language model. (56m53s)
• This data can be used to attract seed investors or get into an accelerator, as having concrete information about the product's potential can be more convincing than just an idea. (56m56s)
• Conducting a small study can be done without building a full app or hardware, by simply creating a URL with a script that users can interact with through a web browser. (57m4s)
• The sleep tech industry is highly competitive, especially for hardware companies, making it challenging to raise money in 2024, but having a solid proof of concept can increase the chances of success. (56m44s)

Elliot Easterling presents Bonbon, a rewards platform for publishers to boost engagement through gamification, and discusses their go-to-market strategy. (57m25s)

• Elliot Easterling, CEO of Bon Bon Technologies, is a guest in a session to discuss his company's solutions for publishers, with a focus on a rewards platform that drives engagement and registration rates (57m43s).
• Bon Bon Technologies is a partner in the segment, and its domain name is appreciated for its indication of being a technology company (57m48s).
• The company's rewards platform allows publishers to reward anything, driving more engagement and higher registration rates, ultimately solving problems faced by ad-focused publishers (58m31s).
• The pain point for ad-focused publishers is the suffering from big tech changes, such as cookie deprecation, search results pages referring less traffic, and social media algorithms referring less traffic (58m42s).
• Bon Bon Technologies' solution is to reward engagement, providing consumers with relevant rewards, unique content, simple and transparent data and privacy controls, and a better user experience (59m24s).
• Publishers benefit from the platform by getting logins, re-enabling cookies and lost IDs, building direct relationships with users, and increasing monetization per user (59m41s).
• The platform also includes a gamified engagement points program that drives repeat visitors, page views, and watching videos, resulting in five times more monetization per user (59m53s).
• Bon Bon Technologies has cracked the code on sculpting consumer behavior with its rewards program, resulting in 300% higher registration rates, 100% more engagement, and 250% higher ad rates (1h0m27s).
• The company's optimization engine drives outcomes, and 54% of people who log in will complete their data profiles, providing a richer understanding to publishers (1h0m37s).
• A technology platform has been developed that allows publishers to reward users for registering and engaging with their content, with the goal of increasing user registration rates and providing publishers with valuable first-party data (1h0m54s).
• The platform uses machine learning to determine which rewards are most appealing to users and can deliver a 3X higher registration rate compared to traditional methods (1h1m28s).
• The platform includes a rewards engine that runs hundreds of offers, an open identity manager that allows publishers to collect and manage first-party data, and frontend tools that consumers interact with (1h2m20s).
• The platform is live on 27 websites and has 60,000 registered members, with 60 million monthly page views across the publisher network (1h2m48s).
• Publishers are looking for tools like this to help them build their profiles and increase engagement, but the challenge is that many publishers are struggling and have limited budgets (1h3m20s).
• The company offers two solutions for enterprise publishers: a SAS platform where publishers can pay a fee, and a revenue-sharing model where the company takes a percentage of the revenue generated by the rewards program (1h4m9s).
• A rewards program is available in two versions: a free version with ads and an Enterprise version with a SAS fee, where ads are injected into all modules to pay for the program, including rewards (1h4m14s).
• To qualify for the free version with ads, publishers must meet a minimum size requirement, and there's nothing to lose for publishers using this tool as it's a cross-publisher rewards program (1h4m16s).
• The program issues rewards across publishers, allowing costs to be abstracted and shared, making it more affordable for individual publishers, such as a $5,000 prize being split among 10 publishers, costing each $500 (1h5m0s).
• The program also offers a privacy guarantee, allowing users to opt out of any publisher they want, although it's noted that consumers generally don't like to change settings (1h5m25s).
• Users can choose to participate or not participate in the rewards program, and the data collected can help personalize content for them and potentially enter sweepstakes (1h5m41s).
• The program's approach allows for personalization benefits, such as receiving targeted mailings or sales, and not wasting time on irrelevant content (1h6m2s).
• The data collected can also help personalize content and potentially enter sweepstakes, and the program is working on gamification through a newsletter program and point bonuses for completing tasks (1h6m44s).
• Examples of gamification include earning extra points for reading personalized articles or completing tasks like playing a game on a specific publisher's site (1h7m3s).
• The program is still early in the gamification process but aims to create hyper-engaged users through communication and rewards (1h7m26s).
• A network-based business can be successful by building distribution and getting more users, and one way to do this is by inviting friends to join and rewarding them for their behavior, such as gifting a stock or storage space, with a tried-and-true method being gamification (1h7m42s).
• In today's fundraising environment, venture capitalists (VCs) prioritize revenue, which can be challenging for network effect businesses that focus on building distribution and users at zero cost (1h8m33s).
• Network-based businesses have a carve-out in the industry when it comes to monetization, and if a business can prove that its users are engaged and willing to participate in activities, such as taking surveys or visiting pages, it can be a successful model (1h9m19s).
• One way to prove this model is by running experiments, such as sweepstakes, that incentivize users to visit pages and engage with content, and then measuring the results to demonstrate the potential for revenue (1h10m11s).
• By running these experiments and demonstrating the potential for revenue, a business can prove to investors that its model is viable and can scale, even if it doesn't generate immediate revenue (1h11m12s).
• To demonstrate viral growth, a business should aim to grow 5 to 10% week over week, which can be achieved by running small tests and experiments to prove growth in the user base and correlate it with the page driving the growth (1h11m24s).
• For sales and SaaS products, a 10% monthly growth rate is considered interesting, but a 5 to 10% weekly growth rate is more impressive (1h11m50s).
• To show investors the potential of a business, it's essential to tell a unit economic story, explaining how users are acquired for free and then monetized through experiments that demonstrate revenue traction and engagement (1h12m16s).
• Engagement is crucial, and a business can show investors that it's getting better at acquiring users and generating revenue by running experiments with a large user base (1h12m27s).
• To get started, a business may need to invest small dollar amounts to show growth on a micro basis and then scale up by adding more resources (1h13m18s).
• The team consists of a product person, a couple of engineers, and outsourced engineers, with a total of around 5-6 people (1h13m37s).
• The company is an early-stage startup, less than two years old, and has raised $1.4 million in funding (1h14m4s).
• To achieve network effects, the company should invest in giving away its product and consider the virality of social media platforms like TikTok (1h14m10s).
• However, the company's current focus on publishers may not be the best strategy, as their businesses are contracting, and it may be more beneficial to focus on growing areas like TikTok shorts, video podcasts, and other emerging platforms (1h14m34s).