How to Build an Empire From Scratch [Part 2]

I want to tell you a story. It will show you how your experience in the startup scene is not always reflective of what users want, or think they want.

Two years ago, I was stalking some companies on AngelList related to food tech. I wanted to collaborate with someone and see if I’d get any perks.

Accidentally, I looked into a company profile from India. They hadn't spent much time on their profile. There was just a logo, description, website link, and list of founders. They'd built a dashboard that can be connected with API-focused projects. 

I got curious and looked on their website. There was nothing "rockstar-ish" or "unicorny" to be found. Just simple web pages, default Bootstrap layouts, basic color scheme.

What is the Catch ?

They didn’t follow design trends. They didn't focus on flat design, material design, or Slack copy-cat design. It was just a simple, 2001-style design. 

What it allows for you to do is you can connect your API into it, see some logs, capacity of requests, and few widgets with statistics.

Again, nothing fancy. I closed my tab because I was not impressed enough. In a world where you have swagger by default, Apiary and Postman(and Postwoman), you get bored quickly.

Although, ironically, I’m tired of all these innovations and breakthroughs, so I'm not happy to see a simple project with a small number of features.

Then I got back to their profile. Suddenly I felt as though I was struck by lightning.  The "Funding" section caught my eye. I found out that they got some seed money.

$12 million. 

Reflecting on that situation now, I realized that the more you follow the startup scene, the more your perspective can be blinded by your ego.

Do I think they deserve such a high amount of money?

Yes, I do.

I'm sure they have polished the 5 main features they have and just focus on servicing them really well.

Most importantly their customers are happy.