Sriram Krishnan on the Venture Stories podcast, (my notes on Twitter), explores the different ways top consumer social startups work. Each finds success by applying totally different playbooks: whether it’s creating tools and promoting serendipity (Snap), picking a north star and optimizing (Facebook), or working to promote fundamental principles (Twitter).
There are few universal truths when it comes to startups. In fact, that may be the only universal truth. The only formula is: there is no formula. I still find studying other playbooks as valuable, of course. It shows me how much I don’t know, and how many of my assumptions may be false.
