From Mattermark
Samiur Rahman of Mattermark elaborates on Mattermark’s vision and summarizes the Engineering work behind it, promising more as he launches the Mattermark Engineering blog in “Mattermark Engineering: The Path Forward”
From the Investors
Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures advises founders to focus on pitching a memorable narrative, rather than trying to be dubbed a ‘unicorn’ in “The Most Important Advice I Could Give You About Unicorns”
Benedict Evans of Andreessen Horowitz believes that it is essential for brands to have a mobile-optimized website regardless of whether they also have an app in “Apps Versus the Web”
Boris Wertz of Version One Ventures explains how Thumbtack’s business model evolved from transaction fees to a lead-generation model in “What’s the Right Business Model for Your Marketplace?”
Tomasz Tunguz of Redpoint Ventures visualizes the metrics of Ariba’s rocketship revenue growth, the turbulence they weathered in the market, and how they built a lasting business in “From $800k to $27M In 4 Years – the Story of Ariba”
Rob Hayes of First Round Capital offers founders a lesson in understanding whether they are focused on the problem or solution with the product they’re building in “The High Price of the Wrong Solution”
Jalak Jobanputra of FuturePerfect Ventures hopes VCs understand the social and financial returns of their ‘impact investing’ in “Rethinking Impact Investing”
Ben Einstein of Bolt details why ‘the most valuable thing a consumer hardware startup can do is convert a rational product category into an emotional one in “What Nest Teaches Us About the Emotion of Hardware”
From the Operators
Camille Ricketts of First Round Review features Mike Curtis of AirBnb’s actionable tactics for what he calls ‘replacing policy with principles’ in “Bureaucracy Isn’t Inevitable – Here’s How Airbnb Beat It”
Sean Byrnes formerly of Flurry outlines some resources founders can use to practice new skills and the importance of avoiding ‘the Superman Trap’ in “The Renaissance Founder”
Rick Desai of Dashfire shares his perspective of different types of VC value-add’ in “Value-Add[itional] Investing”
Tasso Roumeliotis of Location Labs encourages founders to trust their instincts, cultivate loyalty, take care of themselves, and more in “Don’t Even Think About M&A Until You’ve Mastered These 5 Practices”
Vimarsh Karbhari of Okta thinks, in addition to an elegant and simple product, the Product Status and Customer Support pages are critical for building trust in “The New Age of Trust”
From Mattermark
Mattermark Webinar: Join our webinar on Friday at 10am PST for a rundown of actionable tips to find the fastest growing startup tenants in your city.
Submit content for us to consider by emailing us: Editor@Mattermark.com