Good Enough is an extremely powerful force that works against startups. It’s easy to identify “problems” with market leaders. Take the recruitment space as an example. How many people look at big job boards like Monster and say, “They’re broken! They suck! They’re useless!” And then what do they do? They launch a startup to […]
How To Prioritize Feature Development After Launching an MVP
The initial launch of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a big step. It means you’re putting something into people’s hands to try. Keep in mind that this isn’t so much a launch as it is the beginning of a process. But you’re out there, and people are using your product. Now you face one […]
Get Early Access to Localmind Today!
Localmind (one of our investments at Year One Labs) is starting to open its doors! Access is limited, but you can sign-up on the landing page and then get a priority invitation by sharing Localmind with friends. Just click the screenshot below: What is Localmind? Localmind is a service that lets you get quick information […]
The MVP is a Process not a Product
MVP = Minimum Viable Product But should it? My esteemed colleague Raymond Luk is well known for his catchy quotes. If only we could post more of his catchphrases on Twitter. Lots of “OH” material at Year One Labs partner meetings… So yesterday, Raymond said, “The MVP is a process, not a product…” And that’s […]
Understand the Difference Between Marketing Tools, Tactics and Strategies
When it comes to marketing, you need to understand the difference between tools, tactics and strategies. A blog is a tool. Writing blog posts is a tactic. Google AdWords is a tool. Publishing ads across multiple keywords is a tactic. Combine a number of tools and tactics together and you’ve got the makings of a […]
Take Advantage of Users for Their Benefit and Yours
When you’ve got someone by the balls, squeeze. Now think about your users and your web application. Are you squeezing ’em? Web applications typically do a very poor job of motivating users immediately after they sign up. Sign up for any web application you want and they generally drop you into a dashboard or timeline-like […]
Please Stay Calm – New Location-Based Game Coming from Endloop X
At Year One Labs our first investment was in Endloop X. We haven’t shared a lot of details about the company to-date, but Garry and Ken Seto have just launched their landing page for Please Stay Calm – their location-based game. As you can see from the screenshot below it involves zombies. The guys are […]
How To Find Perspective and the Right Focus for Your Business
It’s amazing how often something is obvious to one person and not another. Granted, in some cases it’s because nothing is actually that obvious, the issue at hand is murky and no one really knows what they’re doing. That happens more than we’d like to admit. But in a lot of cases there are reasons […]
Someone Else is Already Working on Your Idea
If you think you have an original idea, think again. There’s a very, very good chance it’s already being worked on. It might not be identical, but it’s likely very close. If no one else is already working on the idea you have, there’s a good chance it’s a bad one. Fundamentally, you should never […]
Anchor Your Startup with Big Honest Vision
“Go big or go home.” I’m (somewhat) ashamed to admit that I’ve uttered those words before. I’ve written them too. But for the wrong reasons. When I launched Standout Jobs I anchored my exuberance in the wrong milestones (such as raising money) and didn’t have the insight or validation needed to really lay claim to […]
Founding Partner at 