Resisting the Sirens
“Resisting the Sirens” – a cartoon that illustrates how entrepreneurs need to be wary of the ‘noise’ from the cyclical swings in the market and focus on delivering value to customers.
Today, the media industry and VCs are in full bear market swing.
One founder tuned VC remarked off the record to CNBC “we overfunded fintech, no question. We don’t need 150 different neobanks, we don’t need 10 different banking-as-a-service providers.
And I’ve invested in both” categories, he said. Yet, it was not too long ago there was breathless excitement about how unicorns would shake up sleepy incumbents (e.g. Klarna, Robinhood, Revolut).
For example, Forbes teamed up for seven years with TrueBridge Capital Partners to search for the country’s 25 venture-backed startups that would have the best chance to be Unicorns.
While media companies need copy and VCs often follow each other like sheep, entrepreneurs should focus on the customer as their North Star.
Getting employees excited about the mission, delivering value to customers and then scaling the business should be the daily focus of the CEO and team.
Odysseus was right to unblock his ears to the Sirens to hear their temptations while making sure his crew put a cloth over their ears to keep them sane.
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