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As a seed-stage investor at OperatorVC, I see at least 50 startups a month that are looking to raise a seed round. Most pitches aren’t perfect. That’s usually OK - a founder’s core competency should be building, not pitching.
But one of the most egregious mistakes is calling yourself the “Uber of X”, or the “Airbnb of Y”. The moment you say this, the pitch ceases to remain credible.
This is such a common refrain - and such a rookie mistake - that I can’t help but point it out.
I think the “X of Y” epidemic started with Y Combinator’s (YC) application process. The How to Apply page mentions that YC likes hearing “X of Y”. It helps them place the startup into the pantheon of successful companies they’ve seen.
It makes sense for YC. When they have to scour thousands of startups in a short time to select a few, a metaphor helps. “Hi, I’m the Uber of bicycles.” Enough, let’s move on.
But most fundraising pitches are not YC applications or Demo Days. Yet, Paul Graham’s words are gospel. So everyone and their next-door founder has adopted this with great gusto, even in situations where it doesn’t make sense.
And it’s got to a point where it’s almost ludicrous! I’ve heard a startup describe itself as “the BikeBob of X”. Have you heard of BikeBob? Neither have I!
Let’s be clear – this is not a “done thing”. It’s not a “best practice”. It’s a mistake, in most pitching situations. Even if it’s Uber you’re comparing yourself to, and not BikeBob or MotorcycleMary.
Before digging into why it’s a mistake, there’s an even more basic question to address. Why do we do it? Why do we, fierce individualists that we are, willingly attach our identities to something else?
Three reasons:
1. Gives the impression that you’re not solving a real problem
It sounds like you just read about a successful startup’s business model, and applied it to the first sector you could think of.
“AirBnb for cars: rent other people’s cars when they aren’t using them.”
It’s like you went to the neighborhood
workshop and bought yourself a hammer. Now everything looks like a nail!
(This is just one characteristic of a startup idea that sounds good, but is probably bad. Click here for a full list of such characteristics.)
Sometimes, it’s a real problem all right. But the solution doesn’t make sense.
An “Uber of intercity B2B
logistics” is OK from a problem perspective. Manufacturing companies do
need intercity logistics. But do they need it on-demand? No! A
huge majority of customers transport loads often, on predictable timelines.
They’d prefer negotiating longer-term contracts.
Do I know the problem exists? In some cases, yes. In most cases, no. All I know is that the solution has worked. In another, unrelated sector.
2. It can constrain your imagination
The moment you start calling yourself “Uber of X”, you constrain your thinking. You fool yourself into believing you have a foolproof playbook, when in fact there are important nuances and differences that are critical to consider.
When Taxi for Sure started, one initial focus area was inter-city cabs. Do you think they’d have discovered the lucrative on-demand taxi market if they called themselves the “Redbus of taxis”?
Oyo Rooms, a successful startup in its own
right, could have called itself “Airbnb of hotels”. But would that
have worked? Would the founder have made the same decisions? It’s possible.
But not probable.
3. It’s another stake in the ground you must defend
VCs are in the business of pattern recognition. They’ve internalized the patterns of successful startups to a level you never will.
They’ll point out nuances of those playbooks that don’t apply in your case.
I once saw a startup that was building the “Oyo of manufacturing”. Just like Oyo helps hotels use their idle capacity, this founder would help manufacturers deploy theirs. Only two tiny chinks in his plan:
(I’ve shared a more comprehensive list of patterns seen in bad startup ideas before.)
These are the two most important things,
for your investors to make money. They’ll be listening hard.
Not only does this avoid the pitfalls above, it also serves your original reasons better.
It’s much easier to explain - The problem is now self-evident, and there’s a clear line-of-sight from problem to solution.
VCs would prefer identifying the patterns themselves - Let’s say you’re trying to solve a particularly hard logical puzzle. Would you prefer it if your friend told you the answer, or would you rather figure it out yourself?
So it is with investors as well (at least with me). It’s my job to predict the future, and I’ll feel more fulfilled if I detect the pattern myself.
It may not be flamboyant. But it’ll be a better ego boost when a VC tells you that you’re the Uber of X!
A far more insidious version of the “X of Y” template is “X of India”. I’ve written about it in this article. The names and sectors of the startups here have been disguised to whatever extent I can.
(The author is General Partner at OperatorVC, and can be reached at team@OperatorVC.com)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)