Even great startups sometimes need to pivot (feat. Francisco Cornejo of Theo) | E2214
This Week in Startups
Outro
Hosts close the episode, share event details, sponsor reminders, and final thanks to guests.
Register here for Founder University Japan’s Kickoff 👉🏻 https://luma.com/cm0x90mk
Today’s show:
The team from Familify had released a well-reviewed storytelling app for kids and parents… but it just wasn’t growing!
Then they noticed that Bible stories and faith-based content was particularly popular. So they decided released a brand new app, Theo, just for these sorts of lessons and stories. And the new product overtook Storybook in just a few weeks!
It’s a vital lesson for founders… Even if you succeed, you may be able to succeed EVEN MORE. Remain flexible and open to strong new ideas (especially if, like Francisco, your wife suggests them!)
PLUS we’re chatting with Collin from En Vérité about how AI can make do diligence much less painful for investors AND checking out our latest Gamma Pitch Deck competitor. Find out why Jason says Jake Triton from Pitch Prfct might just be closing in on Product Market Fit.
Timestamps:
(5:20) How Storybook, then Theo was motivated by a children’s mental health crisis
(5:46) Despite great reviews, Storybook wasn’t growing! Here’s what they did.
(7:13) The Power of Experiments: Theo overtook Storybook in popularity in JUST WEEKS
(10:04) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(11:04) Digging in to the decision to flip from all stories to Bible stories
(12:34) The difference in how users perceive prayer vs. meditation
(14:06) Will they make different Theos for different denominations of Christianity? Other faiths?
(14:55) Jason makes the case for the Theo app and its team
(19:59) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST
(21:50) Key lessons for founders from Francisco’s pitch today
(26:51) Collin Sebastian from En Vérité joins the show to tell us how En Vérité helps prepare founders for the due diligence process
(30:00) Enterpret: Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.
(31:03) Jason recalls some diligence horror stories from his past
(32:14) Where En Vérité gets their data and how they use it
(36:39) What Collin learned from his time at SoftBank
(39:44) The Gamma Pitch Deck Competition returns with Jake Triton from PitchPrfct [https://x.com/JakeTriton] @pitchprfctsms
(42:29) Why Jason thinks Jake is closing in on Product Market Fit
(45:51)How PitchPrfct plans to have AI help build your campaign and workflow
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:04) Squarespace - Use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain at https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST
(19:59) Sentry - New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST
(30:00) Enterpret: Enterpret turns feedback noise into Customer Intelligence, so your team knows exactly what to fix and build next. Head to Enterpret.com/twist to book a demo and see it in action.
Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland
Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis
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