The way MOST non-bootstrapped see it:
- Launch on Product Hunt
- Raise VC money.
- Invest in Ads.
- Hyper-growth.
Why this vision is flawed in my opinion:
- Product Hunt votes don't prove PMF.
- Early Ads are a waste of money.
- Conversion needs tuning first.
- Hyper-growth isn't always the answer, it strongly depends on your GTM timing & market maturity
Get rid of VC/angel money and it'll take x10-x100 longer to expand.
I'm building and growing a new platform microlaunch.net to overcome these reasons. My goal is to provide a healthy way to grow without compromising early founders' margins.
I feel like the famous Pareto 80-20 rule totally applies to this situation: putting 80% effort into your distribution will feel like a 20% reward. It's a quite hard game.
Do some of you relate to this take? Please share your experience too.
