Two Traits Hyper Successful Entrepreneurs have

Plus how IDEO gives feedback

Today at a glance:

  • Opportunity → Plaid for DNS Providers

  • Framework → COINS

  • Tool → Betafi

  • Trend → Programmatic SEO

  • Quote → Traits of Hyper-Successful Founders

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💡 Opportunity: Plaid for DNS Providers

Even if Plaid is being copied by Stripe, the data transfer network model still has tons of potential applications.

One interesting one I saw this week came from Justin Duke, founder of Buttondown. His startup handles a ton of DNS records, but any founder who’s had to manage the DNS for a rapidly growing startup knows it’s a pain.

I could see a product gaining traction that allows SaaS apps to offer automated or one-click DNS integration and setup.

🧠 Framework: COINS

To build an open culture, founders need to lead by example and give quality feedback.

Top design firm, Ideo, has a great feedback model they call C.O.I.N.S. It breaks down the feedback process into four steps that any founder can use to provide good feedback.

Next time you’re preparing to give feedback to a team member, try mapping out how you’ll deliver it in advance using their framework:

🛠 Tool: Betafi

Personally, I prefer Google Meet over Zoom (it’s just more convenient, sorry!).

Betafi is a pretty cool tool that works with Google Meet. It lets you easily capture answers to questions on customer calls or user research interviews without leaving the Google Meet tab. Then it stores the info in tools you actually use like Notion or Figma.

I know AI auto-transcription tools are the new thing, but I think Betafi still has a place in the stack.

📈 Trend: Programmatic SEO

Programmatic SEO is the process of publishing hundreds of content pages focused on long-tail keywords at scale using a database. Many SaaS companies have adopted this as a growth strategy.

I typically refer to it as the Nerd Wallet strategy, though Zapier is also a great example.

💬 Quote: Traits of Hyper-Successful Founders

Startups are hard. Founders need to do more than just be determined and endure hard times — they need to find joy in the struggle.

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