What does 'doing things that don't scale' mean for startups?

It means performing tasks manually or using inefficient methods that won't work for a large user base, but help a startup gain initial traction, learn from customers, and find product-market fit. Examples include personal customer service, manual dispatching, and hands-on user acquisition.

Why is talking to users so important for startups?

Talking to users is crucial for understanding their pain points, validating your product, iterating on features, and identifying what makes your offering valuable. This direct feedback helps ensure you're building something people actually need and will pay for.

How can a startup get press coverage?

To get press, first define your goal and what makes your story interesting to a wider audience. Then, get introduced to relevant reporters, schedule meetings, pitch your story clearly, and provide necessary collateral. Building relationships with journalists is key.

When is the right time for a startup to focus on press?

It's beneficial to get initial press coverage early on to gain visibility and attract early users. However, don't obsess over it; focus on learning and building. As the company grows, a consistent heartbeat of news can be valuable to maintain momentum.

What's the difference between a good startup story and just an update?

A good story is something objectively interesting that people want to read, not just an incremental feature release. It could be a product launch, a significant milestone, a unique stunt, or a business story about scale and success. The key is novelty and broader appeal beyond internal teams.

Should startups hire PR firms?

Generally, it's recommended for early-stage startups to handle their own press to learn the process and save money. PR firms can be expensive and primarily offer contacts and logistics, but founders must still provide the compelling story.

Key Moments

How to Get Started, Doing Things that Don't Scale, and Press (How to Start a Startup 2014: 8)

Y Combinator

Science & Technology3 min read53 min video

Mar 27, 2017|57,625 views|1,143|21

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Startup founders must "do things that don't scale" to learn and validate ideas, get early users, and secure press.

Key Insights

Early-stage startups should prioritize "doing things that don't scale" to gain deep customer understanding and validate their business model.

Manually executing tasks initially helps founders become experts in their business operations and identify areas for future automation.

Acquiring the first users is exceptionally challenging and requires significant personal effort, time, and a disregard for immediate ROI.

Delighting early customers through exceptional, personalized experiences can turn them into invaluable champions for the brand.

Press coverage should be approached strategically with clear business goals, rather than as a vanity metric.

Foundations for press coverage are built on having a compelling story, leveraging warm introductions, and nurturing reporter relationships.

THE POWER OF DOING THINGS THAT DON'T SCALE

Stanley Tang, founder of DoorDash, and Walker Williams, founder of Teespring, both emphasize the critical importance of "doing things that don't scale" in the early stages of a startup. This involves manually performing tasks that are unsustainable for large companies, such as being the delivery drivers or customer support team. This hands-on approach allows founders to intimately understand their operations, customer needs, and identify genuine product-market fit before investing in scalable solutions.

VALIDATING IDEAS THROUGH EXPERIMENTS

Instead of extensive planning, startups should treat their initial ideas as experiments. Stanley Tang shares how DoorDash began with a simple, one-hour-old landing page (paltodely.com) to test demand for food delivery, directly collecting orders via personal phone numbers. This rapid, low-fidelity launch allowed them to quickly ascertain if a genuine need existed before building complex infrastructure, validating the hypothesis that people wanted local delivery.

ACQUIRING EARLY USERS AND BUILDING LOYALTY

Securing the first users is often the hardest part of a startup's journey, requiring immense personal effort and time without immediate return on investment. Walker Williams likens this to pushing a boulder uphill, where the initial incline is steepest. Founders must be willing to dedicate significant personal energy, whether through direct outreach, networking, or exceptional customer service, to delight these initial users and transform them into champions who advocate for the product.

LEARNING FROM CUSTOMER INTERACTIONS

Directly engaging with customers provides invaluable insights that cannot be gained otherwise. Founders should actively run customer service, respond to all feedback (even negative social media mentions), and proactively reach out to both current and former customers. This direct interaction helps identify pain points, refine the product roadmap, and ensure customers feel valued, turning potentially negative experiences into opportunities for loyalty and improvement.

STRATEGICALLY APPROACHING THE PRESS

Justin Kan stresses that press coverage should not be an arbitrary goal but should serve specific business objectives. Whether it's to attract customers (like Exec's local San Francisco focus), position the company for investment (Social Cam), or reach a specific industry (Twitch targeting the gaming world), clear goals are paramount. Understanding the types of stories that resonate—product launches, fundraising, milestones, or compelling 'stunts'—is key to effectively pitching reporters.

EXECUTION AND RELATIONSHIP BUILDING FOR PRESS

Obtaining press coverage involves a systematic approach akin to a sales funnel. This includes crafting a compelling story, leveraging warm introductions to reporters, securing face-to-face or phone meetings to invest their time, and preparing a structured pitch. Following up with essential collateral and maintaining fresh relationships with journalists is crucial for sustained coverage and managing the narrative, especially in challenging situations.

THE ROLE OF PR FIRMS VERSUS FOUNDER EFFORT

While PR firms can assist with contacts and logistics, founders are strongly encouraged to handle press outreach themselves in the early stages. Hiring expensive PR firms prematurely is often not a good use of startup capital, as they cannot intrinsically define what makes a company interesting. Founders must develop this ability themselves, understanding that press coverage is a relationship business best managed directly, especially when aiming for consistent visibility.

ITERATING RAPIDLY FOR PRODUCT-MARKET FIT

Startups should prioritize speed and iteration over perfect, scalable code in their initial development phases. Walker Williams highlights the need to create solutions quickly to test features and achieve product-market fit, even if it means temporarily duplicating codebases or employing 'duct tape' solutions. The focus should be on addressing the immediate needs of the next order of magnitude of users, rather than over-engineering for a future that may never materialize.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Products

●Software & Apps

●Companies

●Organizations

●Books

●People Referenced

Startup Growth and Press Strategy Cheat Sheet

Practical takeaways from this episode

Do This

Test your hypotheses like experiments.

Launch your product as quickly as possible.

Do things that don't scale in the early stages.

Talk to your users constantly to understand their needs.

Delight users with exceptional experiences to turn them into champions.

Optimize for speed over scalability in early development.

Define clear business goals for seeking press coverage.

Target press relevant to your customer base (e.g., local for local services).

Get introductions to reporters through mutual contacts.

Schedule meetings (in-person or phone) with reporters to build rapport.

Prepare your story pitch thoroughly, including key points and details.

Follow up with reporters before your news goes live, providing collateral.

Build and maintain relationships with journalists.

Help other entrepreneurs get coverage to foster reciprocal relationships.

Learn the press process yourself before hiring PR firms.

Plan a regular cadence of news or announcements to maintain visibility.

Avoid This

Don't spend months building a sophisticated system before testing the idea.

Don't expect immediate ROI from early efforts.

Don't give away your product for free as a primary strategy.

Don't neglect customer service or making issues right, as one detractor can significantly harm momentum.

Don't get bogged down in writing perfect, scalable code in the very early stages; prioritize speed.

Don't aimlessly seek press coverage without a specific business goal.

Don't expect reporters to drop everything for a launch announcement without lead time.

Don't rely solely on email exchanges with reporters; aim for personal interaction.

Don't consider press coverage as the sole metric of success; focus on users and revenue.

Don't expect to get covered every week unless you're a major company like Google.

Don't hire expensive PR firms too early; try managing press yourself first.

Don't assume everything you're doing is interesting to the public; objectively assess story potential.

Common Questions

DoorDash began as an experiment in Palo Alto, California, when the founders created a simple landing page called Paltodely.com to test demand for restaurant delivery. They manually handled deliveries initially.

Topics

Business & Entrepreneurship Customer Development Technology & Innovation Career & Skills Startup Strategy Early-stage Growth Product-market Fit Public Relations User Acquisition Lean Startup

Mentioned in this video

Books

We the People

A book authored by a scholar who placed the first order through Paltodely.com.

Trust Me, I'm Lying

A book by a former American Apparel marketer discussing media manipulation and how stories spread online, recommended as a resource on press strategy.

Organizations

Brown University

University where Walker Williams was a student and experienced a personal pain point related to creating merchandise for a bar, which influenced Teespring's founding.

San Francisco Chronicle

A local newspaper in San Francisco that Justin targeted for press coverage for his startup Exec.

BBC

A news organization that might research 'Twitch' and discover events like 'Twitch Plays Pokemon', providing context through prior coverage.

TechCrunch

A technology news website frequently mentioned as a target for startup press coverage.

Companies

Twitch

A live streaming platform for gamers, discussed as an example of a startup that used press to target the gaming industry for advertising and influence.

Y Combinator

An accelerator program that Stanley and Walker Williams participated in. They emphasized the mantra of 'doing things that don't scale'.

Social Cam

A video app spun off from Justin TV, used as an example of a startup aiming for press coverage to be positioned as a 'video Instagram'.

Shantel Gon

A macaroon store in Palo Alto where the initial idea for Door Dash's delivery service was conceived.

PayPal

A digital payments company, mentioned in relation to a stunt by the startup 'We Pay' during a PayPal developers conference.

Orange Hummus

A restaurant from which a customer ordered chicken skewers, mentioned as an example of personalized customer feedback for Door Dash.

Cream

An ice cream store that founders of Door Dash wanted to visit but had to prioritize deliveries instead.

Square

Payment processing company used by Door Dash in its early days. It temporarily shut down Door Dash's account due to suspicion of money laundering because of the high volume of small transactions.

Exec

A local cleaning service startup founded by Justin, used as an example for targeting local press to acquire customers.

American Apparel

A clothing company where the marketer who wrote 'Trust Me, I'm Lying' previously worked.

Teespring

An e-commerce platform allowing entrepreneurs to launch apparel brands without risk or cost, founded by Walker Williams.

Software & Apps

Google Docs

A tool used by Door Dash in its early stages to keep track of orders.

Apple's Find My Friends

A tool used by Door Dash in its early stages to track the location of its drivers.

Paltodely.com

The initial landing page created by the Door Dash founders to test demand for restaurant delivery. It was a simple website with PDF menus and a phone number.

Kickstarter

A crowdfunding platform mentioned in the context of Ouya's successful fundraising campaign.

Products

Ouya

A video game console that raised $10 million on Kickstarter, cited as an example of being 'original enough' for press coverage.

People

Sam Royale

Mentioned as the person who picked up the first order for Paltodely.com.

Walker Williams

CEO and founder of Teespring, who discusses the importance of 'doing things that don't scale' for startups.

Locations

Palo Alto