Trevor Schrier’s Post

#startups are a great place to learn and show what you're capable of. It's also a great time to find what you're passionate about and build a lasting company. But I talk to so many #product #productmanagement #design #productdesign #enginerring folks who don't look at the startup's business model and finances and just rely on media hype, fundraising news, fancy designs, tech stack to make a decision. The economics need to make sense - you're signing up multiple years of your life to this! This is one of the areas I'm so grateful to the Homebase founders - they've built this knowledge and learning into the core of how we operate every day. So do yourself a favor - understand the CAC, average contract value, NRR, total ARR/revenue, revenue type (SaaS, per item/txn, ads), gross margin, revenue to evaluation multiplier, YoY growth. Without these numbers you don't know what you're signing up for. You can compare a lot of the startup metrics to their public equivalent companies in the same category to see what the benchmarks are and what it takes to run a world class business. For e.g. if ARR to eval multiplier in the public market is 7x and the startup in the similar category says their multiplier is 20x, take a pause and ask the question - why - what justifies that? Otherwise, you may end up holding equity that isn't worth much when the evaluation corrects itself at a later milestone. I'm hoping to help others learn from what I have learnt. So, feel free to ping/DM me and I'll extend/add content and share based on interest.

Here goes the 2nd article of my newsletter From 0 to 1 to Unicorn. Before I dive deep into what we are building now, for the background, I wanted to reveal and summarize our last 11 years. Started SearchNode at 16 years old, experienced revenue growth roller coaster from struggling at the plateau to seeing high growth. Finally building a dream team, getting acquired and now starting a new startup. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/dfFmxHGZ

Founder's journey building Pack to the Future™ in public. I'm back from a week in Vegas and straight to work. This week I'm grateful for: 1. Catching up with Josephine Tay from Blackbird and her sidekick for a call 2. Grabbing 20 mins with Jackson Mills and chattng all things eCommerce shipping (check out his app called MateShip) 3. The progress Scott Acker has smashed out on the backend build of the app 4. Seeing a whole bunch of my eCommerce mates/brands smashing out their BFCM campaigns The current mantra in my life is from the book, the Alchemist by Paul Coelho, and it's the saying along the lines of.. "When you find your life's purpose, the universe conspires to help you." He also talks a lot about trusting in yourself and having faith in your own abilities. Trusting in ourselves and the journey ahead empowers us to face adversity with resilience and unwavering determination. I'm learning more and more to trust my gut instinct. It's my gut telling me that I should ship the MVP as soon as possible. It's my gut telling me to either keep bootstrapping or at least wait for the right valuation before I take on investors. It's my gut telling me that my experience outweighs a lot of outsiders opinions. It's also my gut telling me that while I have lofty assumptions through forever being the optimist, I've also got to trust my gut that I need to start a little bit smaller, find my feet, and then break into a sprint once I've gained initial traction. It's been a good week, surrounded by people that matter. Once again, the conversations with Sara Knight and Scott Acker on the direction of our brand is healthy and invited. I don't know everything and I've surrounded myself with some stupidly smart people to help me on the journey. I posted the other day about being a 41 year old startup founder. To be honest, I was just looking for a way to tag both Jackson and Hamish McKay in a post as I know the algorithm is favouring them right now and I wanted to be visible to their connections with a bit of a controversial post 🤣 The honest truth is, my age means nothing - heck, I've got 15 years of deep domain experience and my two colleagues are in the same boat. We've got a powerhouse of experience to bring the best version of the startup to market. ✌🏼 Until next week.

Closing a chapter... I have some bittersweet news to share: we've decided to close down Marketfyndr. This wasn't an easy call, it took a lot of thought and reflection. We bootstrapped Marketfyndr in March last year after experiencing firsthand the struggle to find, hire and manage top local marketing talent. We dreamed up a two sided marketplace where businesses could easily find, connect and hire the best agencies and freelancers in the country. After months of prototyping, development and countless design tweaks, we launched in December. The response from our early adopters was incredible, thank you to everyone who jumped on board early and believed in us! But as we pushed forward, the scale of time and resources needed to keep things running became clear. Between me running a full time fit-out company and Samika Barrett working on Marketfyndr full time, the challenges started to mount. Launching this platform was a huge learning curve for me, especially with my limited tech background. But I'm extremely proud of what we achieved: nearly 200 users signed up and using the platform in just four months. Despite some great moments, keeping up the momentum needed to sustain things just wasn't feasible. Bootstrapping a tech startup is no joke, it's all about grit, positivity, and making smart moves. But nonetheless I want to give a huge thanks to our Marketfyndr community and all the amazing people we've met along the way. And thanks to you all here on LinkedIn for your constant support. This isn't the end of the road for us. Keep an eye out. I'll be sharing more about what it takes to build a startup from the ground up, the good, the bad, and the lessons learned. Here's to new beginnings and more adventures ahead!

Ok, let's get this straight... Bubble isn't just for startups and there MVPs. It's a powerhouse for mid-size and BIG enterprises too! Don't believe me? Let me spill some tea... ☕ I've spent months working with PepsiCo and Ronaldinho. Yes, those giants. And guess what platform they use? Bubble.io Results? → Millions saved in development costs → Lightning-fast deployment → Unmatched flexibility But here's the kicker... You know those big names you use every day? Yamaha, Loreal, HubSpot, Lyft, Shopify, Danone, ? They ALL run on no-code platforms! Mind. Blown. 🤯 So let's break some myths: 1. No-code is not "just for small projects" 2. Enterprises CAN innovate at startup speed 3. You DON'T need an army of devs to build powerful tools Bubble.io isn't just changing startups. It's revolutionizing how BIG BUSINESS operates. Who else has seen no-code work wonders in large enterprises? 😎 P.S. Curious how no-code can transform YOUR company? Drop a comment! 👇 P.P.S. Know a decision-maker who needs to see this? Tag them! It might just save their company millions...

Early-Stage SaaS Struggles Got You Stuck? The SaaS landscape is vast, filled with opportunity. But for early-stage startups, the launchpad can be tricky to deal with. Here are the top challenges faced by early stage startups in SaaS, and how they can navigate through them: 1. Technical Debt: The rush to market often tempts startups to cut corners on the technical front. However, striking a balance between speed and a robust technical foundation is paramount for long-term scalability and success. 2. Security and Compliance: Amidst frequent data breaches and heightened privacy concerns, safeguarding sensitive information is a top priority. Building secure infrastructures and ensuring compliance with stringent regulations are prerequisites for earning and maintaining customer trust. 3️. Freemium vs. Paid Models: Crafting the perfect pricing strategy is yet another feat. From deciding on features for the free tier to optimizing conversion rates, startups must navigate the intricate landscape of freemium and tiered pricing models with finesse. 4. Integration Challenges: The ability to seamlessly integrate with other platforms is crucial when it comes to SaaS. Yet, developing and maintaining robust APIs while staying abreast of evolving technologies present formidable integration hurdles for early-stage ventures. 5. Customer Onboarding and Support: A smooth user experience is non-negotiable in the SaaS realm. From intuitive interfaces to responsive customer support, startups must prioritize efficient onboarding and ongoing assistance to foster user satisfaction and loyalty. At Turbostart, we understand the unique challenges faced by early-stage ventures, and are here to equip you for success. 🚀If you are a seed or pre-series A startup looking for funding, apply to Turbostart now at https://bit.ly/3Sz5V17 #SaaS #earlystagestartups #startupfunding #letsturbostart

I'm DONE I'm done watching brilliant ideas die in development hell. I'm done seeing founders waste their life savings on bloated MVPs that never launch. I'm done working with agencies who care more about billing hours than building successful products. I'm done watching innovative solutions get buried under mountains of unnecessary features. I'm done with the "move fast and break things" mentality that breaks startups instead. I'm done watching founders get trapped in endless development cycles while their market opportunity slips away. I'm done with working FOR anyone but founders who truly want to change the world. hashtag #Founders, it's time to stop making excuses for the broken MVP development process. It's killing your startup and, most importantly, your vision. It's also time to stop believing that throwing more money or more developers at the problem will "fix" this mess. It won't. I created Clarity as a new model for MVP development. One that empowers founders to build products that actually solve real problems - EFFICIENTLY - without sacrificing quality or burning through cash. We do this by: - Focusing on validation before code - Building only what matters NOW - Testing with real users from day one - Scaling intelligently, not prematurely I'm done trying to fix the traditional development approach. I'm building a better one. 2025 is your year to launch. Join us :) 🚀 Ready to build an MVP that matters? Book a Strategy Call: https://lnkd.in/gN6KApek Limited to 4 founders this week. #StartupFounder #MVPDevelopment #TechStartup

10 years ago "ARR" took over as the metric of choice in evaluating startups, as everything moved to SaaS and it was a handy way to compare businesses in vastly different industries and markets. It worked for a while, mostly because SaaS software margins are typically so high that most ARR was equivalent. SaaS businesses had so little COGS that you didn't need to think about it. Now, in the age of AI, COGS are back! The cost of LLM APIs, or processing costs of running your own models, are high. Instead of 80% margins, you see companies with margins ranging from 0 to 80 and sometimes negative! So, ARR is no longer the universal yardstick it once was. We are back to looking at all the fundamentals of a company, which is good news! Startups are complex and we need to use critical thinking to evaluate them. Goodbye ARR, hello hard work.

🎉 Excited to share an update (and a confession)… Our shiny, brand-new StartupStage website was supposed to launch last Friday. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. 😅 Turns out, reengineering an entire platform takes a little more time than I planned. Luckily, we have rockstar talent like Li Zeng (award-winning UX/UI wizard 🧙♀️) creating a design that’s light-years better. And Ken Vermeille + his team are working tirelessly to make it a reality. 🙌 New launch date? Dec 1st. 🗓️ While we wait, let me share why I’m so pumped about StartupStage: 💡 Our mission: Scale startups from Launch to Legacy. We help founders with tools, community, and expert guidance to grow smarter and avoid the pitfalls that crush 90% of startups. We’re not a directory, agency, or constantcy. We’re founders helping founders. We’ve walked this road, felt the pain, and come out the other side—stronger, smarter, and ready to share what works. Want a sneak peek? Here’s what we offer: • Founders’ Circle: Private community, SaaS discounts, and 1-on-1 strategy sessions. • Smart Scale: CoFounder-on-Call, automation tools, and expert coaching. • Rapid Scale: Bespoke scaling strategies for businesses aiming for IPO or acquisition. True story: we recently saved a founder from a branding disaster that could’ve cost them their business. Sometimes, it’s not about what you do but what you avoid. That’s what StartupStage is all about. Dec 1 can’t come soon enough. Until then, message me if you’re a founder looking to scale—happy to chat and share insights. #StartupStage #ScalingStartups #FounderLife

Bootstrapped and scrappy startup founders: #CyberMonday is not just for shopping, it's the perfect time to overhaul your tech stack and save money next year! Cancel those subscriptions you don't need and grab the ones you do before tomorrow! Pre-paying for software before year-end may reduce your overall taxable income, too. Here are a few shifts I've made... • Calendly + Typeform + Dropbox ➡️ Google Workspace • Superhuman + Asana ➡️ Notion (use "Notion for Startups" to get 6 months free. Notion Mail drops 2025.) • Quickbooks ➡️ Puzzle 🧩🚀 (has a great free option for startups) • Canva + Miro ➡️ Figma (most of you already have it) And... if you're not sure what you need, you can browse StartupStack for ideas. You're welcome 😊