Holiday special 🎁

Setting the Scene

• To close out the year, this week’s letter is going to look a little different.

• With many investors already on the beach and founders wrapping up their rounds, we wanted to take this opportunity to spark some inspiration for 2024 and engage with our community.

• This week we will be highlighting three inspiring startup successes and the lessons we can learn from them.

We want to get to know you

• Before we jump into this week’s startup stories, help us get to know you. Please take a moment to vote below and leave a comment about yourself, what your building, or even your favorite company we’ve featured.

1. A six-pack of beer landed Instacart a spot in YC

• The spark: After 20 failed startup ideas, Apoorva Mehta came up with the idea to launch an online grocery delivery service in 2012. That summer Mehta wrote the code and became the app’s very first customer: placing the first order, picking up the groceries, and delivering it to himself.

• Entrepreneurial spirit: That same year Metha applied to startup accelerator Y Combinator…two months after the deadline had passed. To compensate for the lateness, Mehta decided to Instacart YC Partner, Gary Tan, a 6-pack of beer. Only half an hour later, Mehta received a call from Tan asking him to meet the next day.

• Take off: Mehta met his co-founders, Max Mullen and Brandon Leonardo, while at YC. It wasn’t long before the app started to gain traction and was on its way to becoming the largest online grocery marketplace in North America.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

• Imagine a world where you could search the entire universe of startups (including stealth) in seconds, filtering for companies that exactly match your investment thesis.

• Imagine you could prioritize startups with the strongest investment potential (e.g. seasoned founders with strong growth).

• Now imagine that, every morning, that list of new startups is delivered to your inbox for analysis.

• For Accel, NEA, Craft and hundreds of VCs using Harmonic AI, that world is a reality.

2. Salesforce founder hired protesters

• The spark: From a one-bedroom apartment, Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Frank Dominguez, and Dave Moellenhoff aimed to create a Software-as-a-Service customer relationship management platform. The founders developed the prototype within a month and launched less than a year later.

• Entrepreneurial spirit: To mitigate the threat of competition, Marc Benioff hired actors to protest the conference of Salesforce’s biggest rival at the time. He even went so far as to employ a fake TV crew to cover it.

• Take off: Since then Benioff has drawn attention to his brand through various creative marketing techniques. From conducting interviews in a German accent to throwing 90,000-person parties, Benioff has managed to consistently keep Salesforce’s name in the spotlight.

3. Airbnb sold cereal?

• The spark: Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia were broke and needed a way to make ends meet. They saw a window of opportunity when every hotel room in San Francisco was booked for a convention. In response, they bought a few air mattresses and launched a site called, “Air Bed and Breakfast.”

• Entrepreneurial spirit: Years later, the company was in debt and had no potential investors, however, the founders turned to an unlikely fundraising strategy: selling cereal. The profits from their election-themed breakfast boxes — Obama O’s and Cap’n McCains — funded their startup and led to their first investment.

• Take off: During their pitch to Y Combinator, CEO Paul Graham saw their success in selling $40 cereal boxes as an indication of their ability to market Airbnb on a global scale. The company won a spot in the accelerator’s program and began to gain momentum around a year later.

What’s next for 2024

• 📈 More great companies: This year, featured companies have collectively raised millions from being discovered through Bulletpitch.

• 🎉 Events: We are in the process of planning some huge events for SXSW, NY and LA TechWeek, and many breakfasts including one in LA to start the new year.

  • If you are a founder or investor interested in attending our LA breakfast, sign up here.

• 👋 Breaking the forth wall: Hi all, Brett here. I’ve personally been putting together something special and I’m excited to share it with all of you in the new year! More to come in 2024. Until then, have a wonderful holiday season.

✍️ Written by Brett 

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