Don't build a megaphone business

👋 Hi all,

Issue number 13 already, and a special welcome to the 96 new subscribers this week 🙋‍♂️. Are you a megaphone builder? If so, I hope you will change that after reading my essay today.

I also found a piece of content that explains the differences between a burn- and a boreout. And another (yes) tool that is a peak into the future of the social app industry.

See you on Friday,

Bas

Throughout the last 10-15 years, I’ve launched, failed, and sold many different businesses. Some were successful, others never really saw the light of day. I’ve been on the consultancy tour for the last nine years, advising hundreds of startups with their growth, product, and marketing challenges. For years, the battle plan was the same, and I focussed on leveraging the product with an ideal customer persona. From there, the focus shifted towards retention, better user onboarding, and monetization. Once we figured out what worked best, we increased efforts in acquisition with different channels.

But the game's rules are changing, especially with B2B products and services. I see so many startups building a megaphone business. They spend much time (and money) on acquiring new customers. Most startups spend their money on new customers instead of retaining existing ones. This is weird if you think about this for a second. It’s proven for many businesses that you gain more from existing (happy) customers than the ones that you’re acquiring. Some companies don’t have sticky retention itself. But they could also earn a lot from referrals and their existing clients.

The startups that will be successful tomorrow are the ones that aren’t building a megaphone business. They are bringing a ⏺️ recorder; hear me out.