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Today at a glance:
Opportunity → AI Hiring Agency
Framework → The Four Stages of Using Data
Tool → Conversational Demos
Trend → Solo Travelers
Quote → Embrace Your Weirdness
Opportunity: AI Hiring Agency
Many people think AI is going to replace jobs. They’re right! But it’s also going to add a ton more. We’ll net out positively, just as we have with past technologies that people had the same worries about.
When no-code tools first came onto the scene, there was suddenly a rush of companies looking for help implementing no-code solutions in their operations since no-code was cheaper, and typically faster to implement, and didn’t require as specialized knowledge as coding.
The same exact situation has arisen with AI tools.
Whether it’s a hiring marketplace, or just a solo agency, there are a few different businesses that can be built to help solve this. And the market’s expanding rapidly, so it won’t be a winner-takes-all situation.
Structure your pitch around how to save people time and/or money.
🧠 Framework: The Four Stages of Using Data
Data plays a different role at each stage of your startup. Benchmark GP Sarah Tavel created this framework to help founders understand each stage, including the cost of skipping it. Here it is (start from the bottom):
Sarah also makes the point that data is not a substitute for judgement or strategy. It’s too common for founders to outsource their decision making to “what the data says.”
In the early days (or early stages, in this case) the data you’re collecting is likely not comprehensive or consistent, and the methods you’re using to collect it are likely incomplete or buggy. This framework helps you make decisions while putting the right amount of emphasis on data for the stage you’re at.
🛠 Tool: Conversational Demos
Over 5,000 of you reading this newsletter have joined due to lead magnets I’ve posted.
Conversational Demos takes things one step further by turning your existing videos, webinars, and product demos into lead magnets that can actually interact with users. They can automatically respond to questions and determine if they are qualified leads.
Their AI assistant can also emulate the interaction of a normal SDR and populate leads into your CRM for you.
📈 Trend: Solo Travelers
The subreddit for solo travelers has steadily grown since even before COVID.
It’s been well established that the world is in the middle of a growing “loneliness epidemic” but it seems that isn’t stopping people from traveling, even if it’s alone.
Younger generations have also gravitated towards solo travel as a way to meet new people and have unique experiences at the same time. I'd argue that dating apps have also played a part here, it’s easier to meet people when traveling as they’ve gone global.
The first thing people think about for this market is ways to meet new people. But apps to meet new people tend to die, and well-branded IRL spaces around the world have not done well in the public markets.
An interesting approach that may work better is to combine solo travel with the trend of countries offering long-term digital nomad visas. This has picked up substantially since the pandemic and is a new market within the visa space.
CIBT Visas is the biggest existing player and would likely consider acquiring a well-branded company that specializes in digital nomad visas as they continue to grow in popularity.
Not a venture-scale opportunity but a pretty clear one.
💬 Quote: Embrace Your Weirdness
Founders often hear the advice to solve their own problems. A different (arguably better) approach is to look for problems in the areas founders know an unusual amount about.
An interesting way to look at this is that if someone has a problem and they haven’t solved it already, they may not actually be that passionate about solving it. While, on the other hand, if they care a lot about something but just haven’t looked for problems within it, they’ll be more likely to care about solving it.
🔗 Houck’s Picks
And here are some extra picks this week just for premium subscribers:
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