Why now?

Read the original at Lenny’s Newsletter ↗lennysnewsletter.com · subscriber post

By Lenny Rachitsky · lennysnewsletter.com · @lennysan on X · YouTube · LinkedIn

Lenny Rachitsky examines whether startups need a strong 'why now' to win over investors and build large businesses. He argues a clear answer helps, since it can enable a much better product or open an untapped market, but that many major companies succeeded without one through execution and by riding trends later. The free preview ends before the full discussion of five sources of 'why now' and the ways it can emerge later or still fail.

Subscriber post — summary only

01Key takeaways

A strong 'why now' helps because it improves the odds of success and attracts investors seeking higher expected returns.
A change in the world can unlock a 10x better product or create a new, previously untapped market need.
Many large companies, including Airbnb and DoorDash, had little or no clear 'why now' early on and succeeded through founder will and execution.
Companies can also ride trends later in their life, as Netflix did with broadband, to boost their success.
Without a clear 'why now', founders should expect to work harder on execution to compensate.

“Venture capital works because there is justification for being an unprofitable company at the outset because the opportunity later on is so huge.”Ann Miura-Ko, Floodgate Capital · Lenny’s Newsletter

“I think of markets like currents, not whether or not they are big bodies of water. The stronger the current, the higher your chance of…”Sarah Tavel, Benchmark · Lenny’s Newsletter