Posts Tagged ‘customers’
Travis Kalanick: Revenge Business
on Sunday, August 28, 2022Meaning of Travis Kalanick Money Quote: saying people who sued, turned into paying customers of a revenge business. Travis Kalanick said:
“After Scour, I started a company called Red Swoosh. The idea was to take those litigants who sued us for a huge amount of money and turn them into customers with the same technology. I wanted to get them to pay me. It was a revenge business” — Travis Kalanick
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In this quote, Travis Kalanick seems to be describing a company he founded called Red Swoosh that was intended to profit from those who had previously sued one of his earlier ventures, Scour. Some key points:
- Red Swoosh used the same core technology as Scour, which had faced litigation from “litigants” seeking large sums of money.
- Kalanick’s stated goal or “idea” for Red Swoosh was to convert those very litigants who sued Scour into paying customers of the new company.
- He openly acknowledges it was a “revenge business” aimed at getting those who pursued legal action against Scour to end up financially supporting Red Swoosh instead through their patronage.
Overall, the quote conveys Kalanick’s admission that Red Swoosh was founded less as a bona fide new company and more as a means to get retribution against Scour’s litigants by effectively profiting from those who had previously sought damages from the earlier venture. It portrays the business as having less noble commercial aims and more of a vengeful, get-even motivation according to Kalanick’s own characterization.
Dave McClure: Startup Confusion of How
on Monday, May 18, 2015Dave McClure Money Quotation saying Start up is lost and confused about how to make money and every aspect of business — until no longer a startup. Dave McClure said:
“A ‘startup’ is a company that is confused about
1. What its product is.
2. Who its customers are.
3. How to make money”
— Dave McClure
In this quote, Dave McClure is offering a tongue-in-cheek definition of what characterizes many startups in their early stages. When he says startups are “confused” about their product, customers and business model, he means they are still experimenting and figuring these core aspects out as they work to develop and validate their business idea.
McClure is suggesting that in the startup phase, there tends to be a process of trial and error involved in properly identifying the product/market fit, the ideal customer segments to target, and ultimately how to generate sustainable revenue and profits.
His definition captures how startups operate more through exploration and iteration than fully formed plans. It emphasizes the learning process startups go through early on to determine their strategic direction as a business.