Strategies for Successful Tech Startups

Your Web3 project isn’t getting funded because you're focused on the wrong metrics. Here is how to fix it 👇 🧪 Build a prototype, not a pitch Your MVP should solve a real problem. Ship something users can test and give feedback on. Execution > ideas. 💬 Build your community before raising capital Investors look for signals. An engaged, loyal community is the strongest one. NEVER buy fake followers - they’re a red flag, not an asset. 🔍 Focus on metrics that matter Investors want hard numbers, not promises. Data showing active user retention is far more valuable than metrics that don’t demonstrate user engagement or loyalty. Retention metrics > vanity metrics. 🎯 Apply for funding strategically Not all funding paths are created equal. Choose wisely: - Ecosystem Grants: Perfect for chain integrations. - Protocol Grants: Ideal for improving existing protocols. - Hackathons: Great for networking and testing ideas. - VCs: Focus on teams with strong technical execution, clear roadmaps, and scalable potential. Don’t shotgun your pitch - tailor it to fit the funding source. 📈 Build momentum before talking to VCs VCs back progress, not just ideas. Before pitching: - Highlight adoption curves, early community growth, and technical achievements. - Build relationships with early users - they’re your first advocates. - Launch an MVP, iterate fast, and showcase how feedback has improved your product. 🔥 Don't burn cash on hype Focus on: - Token utility: Depending on the project, you can show a strong strategy for generating yield, TVL, or transaction growth. - Treasury management: Keep 12+ months of runway in stablecoins or diversified assets. - Community engagement: Highlight governance votes, staking rates, and active participation. Keep it lean, measurable, and sustainable. 💲 Want to raise capital? Build first and show progress. The money is out there. The question is: Are you fundable?

I have spoken to 97 cyber founders in 6 months. Here is what I am seeing: There are 4,000+ cybersecurity vendors. Pretty much covering every area. And yet… the biggest gaps I see aren’t technical. Here’s where I see gaps (which = opportunity): 1/ Tool sprawl. MDR, XDR, SIEM, SOAR. All promise the same outcomes. We need platforms or services that rationalise the stack. 2/ User-hostile security. Too many tools are built for the CISO and not for the people who actually use them. Build tools that are quiet, intuitive, and workflow-native. 3/ Neglected SMBs. Everyone is chasing the F500. The mid-market is hungry for simple, modular, “done-for-you” security. 4/ No ROI story. Security leaders still struggle to show value. There’s a massive opportunity in building the “value layer” above the stack, especially in product security, to show how security enables sales and generates revenue. 5/ GTM. Most cybersecurity startups are technical founder-led. They understand the problem, but suck at telling the story. Messaging is product-first when it should be buyer-first. 6/ Simple regulatory tools. Startups (and even Series A companies) are buried in security questionnaires. But compliance tools like Drata/Vanta are overkill and still leave gaps, the market’s ripe for lightweight, founder-friendly compliance tools. There are dozens of tools in every category. If you’re building in this space, clarity beats complexity every time. What do you think the market’s still missing?

Releasing three new roadmaps and toolkits for European deep-tech scaleups. “Nearly 60% of European deep-tech scaleups lack formal boards, and only 35% of executives believe their boards effectively contribute to growth. Furthermore, 80-90% of firms fail to secure funding after major pitching competitions due to weak investment theses, and 60-70% struggle to attract a lead investor. These three reports aim to provide data-driven insights into these challenges, gathering the perspectives of a curated group of scaleups, corporations, investors, and policymakers. They showcase actionable strategies and examples of deep-tech companies strengthening their boards, crafting compelling investment narratives, and securing the funding they need to scale. By sharing this knowledge, we aim to empower scaleups and support stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive growth within the European deep-tech ecosystem.” Read them at https://bit.ly/3T7gqIi (re. strong boards), https://bit.ly/4cLRZqI (re. investment thesis), https://bit.ly/4dJ2dJK (re. lead investor), and https://bit.ly/3X7J2SK (press release overview). These are part of the Scaleup Series’ ten studies analyzing some of the challenges that European deep-tech firms face during their growth journey. Many thanks for the support of coauthors, collaborators, and partners as well as the insights coming from experts such as Kaija, Hans, Dana, Bernd, Siri, Laureen, Daniel, Marta, Mary, Asparuh, Andrii, Marco, Katharina, Olivier, Jean-Michel, Endijs, Milen, Andrea, Francois, Michael, Matthieu, Mikko-Jussi, Tiago, Andreas, Lajla, Valerie, Fabrizia, Steve, Simon, Serban, Nina, Selma, Luka, Nicoletta, Daniela, Thierry, Orestis, Antonela, Maxime, Annelies, and many more. Looking forward to continue learning from you at the EIC Scale 100 Forum in Athens on October 21.

Everybody thinks growing a web3 project is easy if you have money. Polkadot's example illustrates why this is NOT the case: 👇 So Polkadot spent $37m on Marketing in Q1 and Q2 2024. Some of the top categories were: • $10m on Ads and Sponsorships • $7.9m on Events/Conferences • $4.9m on Influencers • $4.1m on Digital Ads Yet despite these huge marketing activities, Polkadot somehow seems quiet and invisible. So what is it that they could have done better? Here are the top 8 ones for me: 1/ Slash all soccer club and race car sponsorships. These don't attract web3 developers and builders. Seems like we didn't learn our lessons from 2021 when projects splashed money on renaming stadiums and sponsoring all sorts of sports teams. 2/ Use respected influencers to educate about the advantages of your chain. Explain in layman's terms WHY and HOW your chain is different from 100+ other L1s and L2s out there. Simply Tweeting common sense threads and posts will not bring adoption. 3/ Build an in-house team of core contributors and loyal ambassadors and invest in their growth. Let them become the thought leaders of tomorrow in their domain and promote your chain. This is a long-term initiative but will pay big time down the road. 4/ Dramatically increase your funding for Community Building. Enable a variety of educational and ambassadorial programs.  Again, it was the community that kept Solana alive in Dec 2022 when everyone thought it was dead. When you splash 10x more funds on sports team sponsorships, it's sending the wrong to your community. 5/ Increase grants to attract tier one teams to build the best web3 dApps with killer UI/UX. Offer incentives to the existing top projects to bridge to your chain as well. 6/ Allocate more funds to organize dozens of informal Polkadot gatherings targeted at developers across the continents. Empower your community ambassadors and evangelists in different countries. Let them bring the best builders and developers together for casual meetups. 7/ Slash the budget on digital ads. Traditional ads that work well for web2 startups usually don't result in good conversions for web3 projects. 8/ Completely rethink your Media strategy. If you spent millions but people can't remember hearing about you recently, then it didn't work. That's because simply promoting a chain doesn't work. Instead, promote a new chain specific innovation or user facing feature or at least get creative with ads. Coinbase/Base and Solana are killing at this, so learn from them. -- In short, money is important but it's all about HOW you are spending in. And promoting a web3 chain is not the same as scaling a web2 startup. What works in web2 doesn't always fly in web3 and vice versa. Image source: DefiIgnas on X P.S. Anything else you'd add to the list? Let me know below. Follow 👉 Aram Mughalyan & consider sharing ♻️ this post if you like it.

Visited great entrepreneur Salar al Khafaji literally building his new company Monumental from the ground up. 💡I’d like to share a few insights that may help other hardware & deep tech companies. 1) Salar is a software entrepreneur, who successfully scaled his business Silk and sold it to Palantir Technologies 2) When thinking of his next venture he searched for sectors lagging in productivity and innovation and identified construction as a good candidate 3) He dived deeper into where, within construction he could make the biggest impact with a new venture and how to address this opportunity. 4) Monumental builds a train of robots to fully automate masonry. However it doesn’t sell robots. It acts as a subcontractor, delivering the wall, like masons would do, but much cheaper, continuous and reliable. 5) Salar and his team design, build and iterate their robots like software - or like Elon Musk developed SpaceX rockets - to optimize for transportability, resilience, adaptability, cost, production, functionality, etc. 6) Launching customers and partnerships provide early income, validation and massive feedback 7) All these iterations are tested on site, with client feedback, and in view of current and future needs with a clear business roadmap In Summary: analyze and identify a market, identify the opportunity, attract launching customers, iterate like crazy, get the best angels, advisors and investors on board, grow the company and the product in parallel to allow the operations to grow in a controlled manner and keep ahead of demand.

In the fast-paced world of startups, we often hear buzzwords like 'going from 0 to 1' or 'scaling from 1 to 10.' But when I go to events, people always ask me- "How do we actually avchieve that scale?" Now, having been in the ecosystem for 15+ years, I've come to realize that achieving scale isn't just about following a set formula or ticking off a checklist. It takes much more than that. Here's what I've learned along the way: 👉Start with a Solid Foundation: Before you even think about scaling, make sure your basics are rock solid. That means having a clear vision, a killer product, and a sustainable business model. Keep a close eye on metrics like Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) and customer acquisition costs to ensure you're on the right track. 👉Listen to Your Customers: Your customers hold the key to your success. Listen to their feedback, understand their pain points, and use that insight to refine your product or service. Implement tools like the AARRR framework (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral) to track user behavior and identify areas for improvement. 👉Stay Agile and Adaptive: Change is the only constant. Stay nimble and ready to pivot at a moment's notice. Also, keep a close watch on your cash flows and burn rate to ensure you're not overspending in areas that aren't delivering results. 👉Focus on Growth Channels: Identify the channels that drive the most value for your business and double down on them. Whether it's organic search, paid advertising, or strategic partnerships, focus your efforts where they'll have the biggest impact. Experiment, measure, and optimize relentlessly. 👉Build a Strong Team: Scaling isn't a solo endeavor—it takes a village. Surround yourself with a team of talented individuals who share your vision and can help you execute on it. Invest in their development, foster a culture of collaboration, and empower them to take ownership of their roles. 👉Think Long-Term: Scaling ≠ rapid growth. Scaling = sustainable growth. Keep your eye on the long-term prize and resist the temptation to chase short-term gains at the expense of your long-term viability. In the end, achieving scale is as much about mindset as it is about strategy. Stay focused, stay determined, and above all, stay hungry for success. The journey may be challenging, but the rewards are well worth the effort. P.S. Enjoy this? Share it with your network and follow me Ashim Jolly for more such growth hacks every Tuesday! #startups #growth #entrepreneurs #scaling #india

🌍 Scaling Deep Tech in Europe 🇪🇺 Europe’s deep tech moment is now — but scaling it takes more than just great inventions. This bold report reveals what’s holding us back: 🧠 A fragmented talent ecosystem struggling to retain the best minds 💸 Funding gaps, especially at the growth stage (only 14% of EU deep tech companies reach Series C) ⚖️ Risk-averse investors and policymakers who talk innovation but fear uncertainty 🌐 Weak connections between research, industry, and venture capital But it’s not all doom and gloom. The report sets out a real execution plan for Europe to lead in AI, quantum, robotics, semiconductors, and next-gen materials. That includes: 🔧 A call to create 1,000 scaleups across 10 years 👥 Building a talent flywheel through global hiring and EU-wide mobility 🏦 Plugging the Series B & C financing gap with sovereign funds and institutional capital 📈 Creating scale-up-focused innovation policies — not just R&D ones ⚙️ Whether you're a founder, investor, or policymaker, this is your playbook to put Europe in the deep tech driver's seat. We don't need more slide decks. We need execution. And this report shows exactly how to do it. Respect to the European champions behind the Deep Tech Network. 💡 Let’s move from potential to power. #DeepTech #ScalingEurope #InnovationPolicy #AI #Quantum #OGApproved #EuropeanTech #StartupEcosystem #ExecutionMatters

While auditing an EU FinTech scale-up, I came across some surprising design choices: • Flat subscription sprawl • No Azure Policy enforcement • No Hub-and-Spoke network model • No Management Group hierarchy Clearly, they had grown fast but without structure. So I led a Landing Zone redesign based on Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework and deployed: 👉🏻A Core Infrastructure Management Group with Policy-as-Code 👉🏻Spoke separation by app and environment 👉🏻Role-based access controls aligned with team structure So The result is 94% policy compliance in just 6 weeks & Clear cost ownership per team & A secure, scalable foundation ready for future growth Without Landing Zones, your Azure setup is just an expensive sandbox. #AzureCAF #EnterpriseLandingZone #ArchitectureReview #InfraGovernance #AzureBestPractices #CloudStrategy

Per the Startup Genome Report’s analysis of 3,200 startups, 70% failed because of premature scaling. This is why “Move fast and break things” is terrible advice. Startups have limited runway. Investors have limited patience. If you scale without knowing what you’re doing, it’s game over. But if you don’t scale, it’s also game over. After working with hundreds of startups as a CMO, board member, and investor, I've learned that successful growth requires passing three critical checkpoints: 1. The CMO Checkpoint Have you validated the fundamentals? - Conducted deep customer research to validate problem-solution fit - Tested messaging through continuous A/B experiments - Built your profitability engine before scaling - Let data, not intuition, drive decisions 2. The Board Checkpoint Have you created organisational alignment? - Defined must-win battles that unite departments - Created cross-functional targets that force collaboration - Established clear reporting cadences - Measured collective impact, not department wins 3. The Investor Checkpoint Have you proven sustainable scale potential? - Monitored retention metrics (frequency, recency, value) - Built genuine community, not just transactions - Focused on profitable growth, not just top-line - Proved adaptability in market approach Example: When considering a new market segment: At the CMO checkpoint: Do we have customer research validating demand? Can we acquire customers profitably? At the Board checkpoint: Does this align with our must-win battles? Will it unite or fragment our teams? At the Investor checkpoint: Will this build long-term value or just short-term growth? Can we sustain the expansion? If you get three yes answers, move fast. If you get any no's, dig deeper. The best growth doesn't come from picking sides. It comes from getting alignment across all three perspectives. ♻️ Found this helpful? Repost to share with your network. ⚡ Want more content like this? Hit follow Maya Moufarek.

The Funding Trap: How Startups Lose Sight of CACs & What to Do Instead ? Many founders run digital marketing frugally before raising funds—keeping Customer Acquisition Costs (CACs) low and focusing on survival. Then, once funding lands, everything changes. Growth at all costs becomes the mantra, and performance marketing is the go-to strategy for scale. The Initial Growth Surge At first, things look great: ✅ Revenue grows ✅ CACs remain stable ✅ Paid channels seem to be working But there's a hidden risk—performance marketing has a ceiling. Where It Starts to Go Wrong ? Paid ads (Google, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) work well until they don’t. Once the most profitable audience is saturated, CACs start creeping up ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) declines More money is needed to acquire the same customer This is where the real challenge begins. The Scaling Dilemma As CACs rise, the pressure from investors increases. More capital is pumped into performance marketing to meet aggressive growth targets. What happens next? ⚠️ CACs reach unsustainable levels ⚠️ Burn rate increases ⚠️ Business model becomes fragile Without marketing, growth stalls. But with rising CACs, the business becomes unviable. Shifting Focus: The Smarter Way to Scale Instead of treating paid marketing as an infinite growth lever, funded startups need to balance acquisition channels and product quality. Here’s what smart scaling looks like: 1️⃣ Build Strong Organic & Owned Channels SEO & Content Marketing → Reduce reliance on paid ads over time Community-driven growth → Slack, Discord, WhatsApp groups for engagement Email & CRM-driven retention → Leverage personalized marketing 2️⃣ Leverage Product-Led Growth (PLG) Referrals & viral loops → Turn existing users into acquisition channels Free-to-paid upgrade mechanisms → Convert users with strong value proposition Strong onboarding & retention flows → Reduce churn & improve LTV 3️⃣ Diversify Paid Spend Smartly Instead of relying solely on Meta & Google, explore: Native ads (Taboola, Outbrain) & Niche Platforms → Lower CAC in specific markets Programmatic & Retargeting → Efficient spend distribution Influencer & Partner Marketing → Build trust & authority outside ad platforms 4️⃣ Keep an Eye on CAC:LTV Ratio If CACs keep rising but Lifetime Value (LTV) isn’t improving, rethink the approach Sustainable businesses don’t just acquire users—they retain & monetize them effectively Final Thought for Founders Raising funds should fuel product improvement & brand-building, not just performance marketing. The real game? Keeping CACs sustainable while focusing on long-term, scalable growth. #digitalmarketing #marketing #startups