Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
Iโve reviewed around 30 @a16z CSS applications across the last few days and wanted to share some key mistakes Iโm seeing. ๐งต๐
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Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
You only get one shot to really help reviewers understand what youโre building, why it matters, and why youโre the right team. This means the most important question is โDescribe your project. How will it capture value?โ
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Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
1 ) Unclear 1-liners ๐ก If a reviewer cannot understand what youโre building in the first 1-2 sentence of your answer, they wonโt have the right context for everything else. This is where the โUber for Xโ or โStripe for Xโ model can come in handy.
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Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
2 ) Lack of unique insights ๐ง How do you know people need what youโre building? Why are you the right team to build it? Investors get pitched the same idea over and over again, so the founder market fit and unique insights are critical to showing you will win.
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Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
3 ) Not addressing market size ๐ค โHow will you capture value?โ is a fancy way of saying how big is this market and how do you think about making money. A lot of protocols and products are not making money so itโs crucial you have a legitimate business model.
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Brian Li ๐๐พ
@bli.eth
These same principles apply to applications for @orangedao Fellowship, @alliance Accelerator, YC, and more!
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