As a startup, it’s?important to know the difference between an established market and a new market and where your solution fits,?as you market and sell to them in a very different way.?
In an established market, people understand that they have a problem that needs to be solved and?at least a portion will be looking for a solution at any given time. These markets have?a large customer base, a lot of competitors as well as high levels of brand awareness, product awareness and product differentiation.
In a new market, people don't even know?that they even have a problem and certainly aren't looking for a solution. In this?market?education comes?first. You?have to help them see the problem and understand the cost of not solving the problem before you can even consider trying to convince them that your business has the solution.
Another way to look at it is that in an established market you are capturing demand, and in a new market you are creating demand. They?require?different?marketing tactics, different execution and should have expectations of?different results.?
Not sure where you fit or if your messaging and marketing is on point? We're happy to chat!
Funding news from the startup world?last?week:
- Cure, a?functional hydration startup, raised a $5.6M Series A. Female founded, they differentiate based on clean, plant based ingredients, using coconut water powder and pink Himalayan salt, while other companies use cane sugar, dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup and artificial ingredients.?Since their launch Cure has grown revenue 230% each year and will expand its retail footprint to 15,000 in 2023.
- Karate Combat, a?startup building web3, mixed reality live sports, raised $18M. Their full-contact martial arts league that features combatants in immersive CGI environments has amassed 4.5M followers and broadcasts to over 100 countries worldwide.?The funding will support the May 10th launch of the?app and the $KARATE token.?
- Coro, an?all-in-one platform to tackle SOC complexity, raised $75M. They provide organizations with a consolidated tool to detect and prevent threats across on-premise and cloud environments rather than relying on siloed tools to protect each segment of infrastructure.
- Whizz,?an?e-bike subscription platform for last-mile delivery drivers, raised $3.4M.?Whizz offers rental of purpose-built e-bikes offering 8-hour battery life, GPS trackers and built-in anti-theft systems priced at $159 per month. 14 months after launch, the company has $2M in recurring revenue and is by over 2000 drivers.
- Kindred, a?members-only platform for home swapping, raised a $15M Series A.?It’s the same concept as a vacation rental, except there are no rental fees when swapping, only a cleaning fee and a maximum service fee of $25 per night.
Meanwhile,?in Other Startup News...
- A LA to San Francisco night train?has been proposed by a Newport Beach startup. The privately operated train would use existing tracks to provide overnight service. Fares would be $300 -?$1,000 and service could begin as early as summer 2024
- VC-backed Web3 startups?in Q1 2023 have seen funding drop 82% year over year, and?a 30% decline from the final quarter of last year
- The?top 20 zero-trust startups to watch in 2023?are detailed in this VentureBeat article along with advice from?Avery Pennarun, founder and CEO of Tailscale
The mashup of founders, investors and business leaders at the Big Idea?CONNECTpreneur?event in DC on Thursday was awesome.?I heard some impressive pitches and met some impressive people!
