"Don't try to boil the ocean" Venture Capital Advisor. Any thoughts on this topic?

Question

We had showed our idea for Career Unleashed to one of our VC contacts, who I respect a lot.

He thought our product was great and asked us who we were targeting. At that time, I had my product hat on, and technically our product can help everyone who is a student or professional.

To this he advised "Not to try and boil the ocean". If we try that the focus will not be there and we will fail.

This is so true. Once we had some focus the traction started coming.

What are your thoughts or experience in this matter?

Sherry Xena · Accepted Answer

I agree with this view

Ivan Ralic · Answer

Off course especially in this VC Market right now. Last 2 years were ponzi scheme kind of investing where you could raise tens of millions just for the free user growth. Now it's different, you need good unit economics, and the easiest way to get there is by getting in the bootstrap mentality:
➜ Find your niche
➜ Dominate your niche
➜ Go to the next one

The biggest challenge is not going to a product lock by making your product too niche-specific, instead keeping it scaleable for the future 😄

Jerryton · Answer

I Agree!

Tim Schneider · Answer

Instead boil a teaspoon of water with a magnifying glass, then build bigger magnifying glasses and get more water until it becomes impractical? :)

Av Utukuri · Answer

I agree. But sometimes you have a horizontal market versus vertical markets. A lot of new techs are horizontal and finding that niche can be quite difficult and restrictive. You have to navigate this a little carefully for sure.

"Don't try to boil the ocean" Venture Capital Advisor. Any thoughts on this topic?

Replies