Essay · 30 min read (slide deck)

Consumer startups are awesome, and here's what I'm looking for at a16z

Andrew Chen · andrewchen.com Free Intermediate

This deck lays out how consumer investors actually think about a target user, closer to a specific behavior and context than a demographic bucket, which is the mirror image of the B2B ICP mindset. It gives you the vocabulary VCs use so you can tell whether your consumer answer is specific enough to be fundable. Read it if you are building anything with a broad demographic aspiration and a vague user in mind.

• Consumer investors look for a specific initial use case and moment, not a broad demographic description.
• A niche, intensely engaged starting audience is a feature of great consumer startups, not a limitation to apologize for.
• Growth loops and word of mouth only work once you can describe precisely who is telling whom, and why.