Dear Members,
Happy Friday again! We’ve gotten more questions (and answers!) since the last time I sent this. Please keep them coming! I’ve also gotten some feedback that there wasn’t a clear CTA in our last edition, so here it is - ASK A QUESTION! We’ve had some really phenomenal answers to difficult problems so what do you have to lose?
In this edition of Unsearchable Insights, we’ll share our top Q&As, give a quick project update and share a few more useful resources for start-up builders. I’ve also snuck in a personal ask. 😊
Top Q&As
How do I improve the quality of user-generated content in my online community?
Co-Founder of Consumer Social Start-Up, US
We asked Alex Peterkin who was the former Community Manager at Mass Drop, originally a bulk buying site that catered to enthusiast communities. He said,
Most communities go through 4 generations of users
True Enthusiasts - Bring domain knowledge and deep interest
Intellectually Curious - Avid learners who are attracted by 1. They will ask questions and are interested to learn.
Lurkers - 1 and 2 will create enough content to attract people looking for advice. They won’t engage and will be bulk of your user base
Clowns - The large crowd of 1-3 will in turn draw in the people looking for social validation from the quick meme / troll
You should actively monitor the composition of your user base across these profiles and actively weed out bottom 10% of destructive users
Introduce very small hurdles to post, even right at the beginning. And find visible ways to call out and elevate your experts
How do I do cold outreach well for Enterprise Sales?
Co-Founder and CEO, Fintech B2B Lending, Southeast Asia
Thomas Li, the Co-Founder and CEO of Daloopa ($20M Series A) for AI-driven document extraction services had this to share,
You need multiple touchpoints and people respond on the 4+ touchpoint. Set up a 12-day sequence of cold emails, LinkedIn message and cold calls.
Day 1 – email 1,000 people cold
Day 3 – email the same 1,000 people with a follow up
Day 7 – send Linkedin messages to the same 1,000 people
Day 10 – cold call into the same 1,000 people
Day 12 – email this group email
Anytime someone responds, take them off the sequence into a 1-1 conversation
The above is the mechanics distilled. Your #1 problem is likely going to be identifying a large enough set of profiles with emails and numbers. You need to think very carefully about who is it you are reaching out to. Do you want to contract Series A founders? Or Series D CFOs?
Fwiw, Thomas’ full response is an absolute treasure that you can see when the website goes live. Highly recommend for anyone doing Enterprise Sales for a sense of scale and velocity.
How do I build successful customer loyalty programs?
Product Head, Consumer Payments, US
Caroline Tan, a former Country Product Lead at SEA Ltd (~$40B market cap) shared her leanings,
Cash backs or other forms of transactional value alone are unlikely to attract and retain users these days
The key is to focus on genuine emotional experiences that your customers can get through using your product (e.g., what kinds of experiences can your loyalty points unlock?). What types of emotions do they associate with you?
Project Update
More than a few folks have expressed interest in reading through the Q&As that we have received since launch. I would be too, especially given the depth of wisdom from those who have answered our call! On behalf of the askers and our team, thank you again to all of you who have so generously shared your learnings and insights. Again, for those who haven’t asked a question:
We are hard at work on the product and looking forward to sharing the beta version of with you our founding members in the next few weeks.
A Personal Ask
We would love to build out a richer content base in preparation for launch. If you are open to sitting down for 30-mins to chat about stuff you know really well, I would be most appreciative! If so, please drop me an email here. For people I know, it’ll be great to catch up, and for those I don’t, it’ll be great to make a new connection!
Worth a read
“Actives / Reg > 25%” and more great product-market fit benchmarks for Consumer Tech Start-ups from Andrew Chen
“Startups with 25 employees have typically already had at least one employee leave the company. That figure jumps to six employees when headcount reaches 50 people, and 16 employees when companies hit 100 people” - Employee Attrition data from Carta Total Comp
Great start-up legal templates from Kindrik Partners for Southeast Asia and here from Orrick for those in the US
Looking forward to your next question,
Shawn