Welcome to Daivik’s Newsletter!

If you are new around here, this is a bi-weekly newsletter about IRL events, startups and building products! If you find this useful, feel free to refer a friend or subscribe for future newsletters using this link: Subscribe

Featured Events

Events that I host, will be at or think might be worthwhile to check out

👋 - I plan to be there, feel free to say hi!

🎊 - I am hosting! Please feel free to swing by!

Toronto

09/18 - 🎊 Founders Brew Mixer - Register

09/25 - Start-up Pitch Competition- Aceocial x Elevate - Register

San Francisco

09/21 - 👋 AI Social Club - NFX & TechCrunch - Register

09/21 - 👋AI Disruptors Afterparty - SignalFire - Register

New York

09/22 - BUILD Summit for Founders - Andrew Yeung - Register

Want to see your event here? Is there something going on that I should be highlighting? Feel free to reach out and I would be happy to feature them!

For a long time, I firmly held the belief that starting a business, particularly a startup, should only be pursued in areas where one is incredibly passionate. I had assumed that without this deep passion, it would be exceedingly challenging to navigate the myriad of obstacles that will inevitably arise. However, when I had a podcast with Landon Sanford, a former Sequoia and Y Combinator founder, he introduced a perspective that challenged my thinking.

Landon argued that the emphasis on initial passion for a specific industry or field had become somewhat overblown in today's entrepreneurial landscape. He argued that genuine passion often develops as you experience success rather than being a prerequisite for starting a venture. At the time, I grasped this conceptually, but over the last couple of months embarking on my own startup journey, I have really begun to see this ring true.

The reality is that the industries most people are passionate about are highly saturated. Everyone is passionate about stuff like traveling which means any business in the industry is bound to have an abundance of competitors right from the start. This doesn't necessarily provide a solid foundation for launching a successful business.

I now subscribe to the idea that what's often mistaken as "passion" is more accurately a "unique insight" crucial for business success. Passion for a problem space can indeed lead to these insights, but it isn't the only path to discovering them.

So, how does one acquire these unique insights? It can stem from a deep-seated passion for an industry. It might result from years of hands-on experience within a particular field. Alternatively, it could involve choosing a problem space that piques your interest and actively engaging with its community to gain a profound understanding of its challenges. Any of these avenues can lead to those invaluable insights, laying the groundwork for your startup thesis.

After this initial phase, regardless of how you arrived at your unique insight, your day-to-day role as a founder primarily involves customer interviews, product development, and gathering feedback on your creations. This is precisely where this argument for passion has now started to lose its luster for me. As a startup founder, your conviction and mindset become the driving forces behind your success. Witnessing your customers benefit from your product can kindle a growing passion for both the idea and the problem space. During challenging times, irrespective of your initial passion, your unwavering belief in your unique insight can make the difference between persevering or giving up. Very quickly, the circumstances that got you there start to have a minor role into where the company ultimately goes.

History offers numerous examples that support this perspective. Was John D. Rockefeller always passionate about oil drilling? Was Mark Benioff always enthusiastic about developing a CRM solution? I’d say it's pretty challenging to be passionate about such endeavors from the outset. However, once you possess a unique insight and begin to experience success, passion often follows suit.

In light of this evolving perspective, I've shifted my stance considerably. If you aspire to launch a startup, I'd suggest not shying away from seemingly unattractive or unglamorous industries that you may not know a lot about. Instead, delve into them with thorough research and strive to develop a unique insight or thesis. The world is a fascinating place, and once you dive into a field, you're likely to encounter intriguing problems everywhere. Engage with customers, craft a distinctive thesis, and begin building. See where it takes you because you never know what might unfold!

Check out this Podcast Episode!

You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Podcasts

Landon Sanford is the founder of Arwen and has created several ventures which have raised from funds like Sequoia, Y Combinator, and Craft Ventures.

We go through the lessons Landon has learned creating his different ventures, how being part of programs like On Deck and Launch House has helped him, and how he stays motivated to keep pursuing entrepreneurship.

I am traveling for the next couple of weeks. If you know anyone in SF, Istanbul, New Delhi, Bangkok or Amsterdam that I should meet, please reply to this email and get me in touch! Love to meet new people and discuss ideas!

🚀 Are you a non technical founder and looking for a fractional CTO? Or a startup looking for help with it’s product strategy?

Reply to this email and let’s talk!

Thanks for reading,

Daivik Goel