StartupWatching

By Andrew Askins

Curated knowledge, inspiration and background stories from the startup world. Delivered to your inbox every Thursday 📬 | Curated by @andrewaskins.

Previous issues

The 1st annual Year-in-Review Review! 📆 🎉

#180 Jan 10, 2019

The $61,392 book launch 📕 (StartupWatching #179)

#179 Jan 3, 2019

Happy Holidays! Stop checking your email. 😠🎄🕎✨

#178 Dec 28, 2018

#177

Dec 20, 2018

You only get one 🧐 (StartupWatching #177) – Note: This is going to be a longer intro, so feel free to skip ahead to the links below.Happy Thursda
#176

Dec 14, 2018

How Microsoft got its groove back 🕺 (StartupWatching #176) – Happy Friday Watchers!I was with several other entrepreneurs Tuesday night and we were going around t
#175

Dec 6, 2018

$51,975 spent. Here's what Ahrefs learned about Podcast Ads. 🎙 (StartupWatching #175) – Happy Thursday Watchers!Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey. I finished wi
#174

Nov 29, 2018

What are you thankful for? 🙂 (StartupWatching #174) – Note for anyone who's tired of my rambling: the links are at the bottom!Happy Thursday Watchers!Apolo
#173

Nov 21, 2018

Livestream! Injecting personality and values into the StartupWatching redesign – Happy Wednesday Watchers!I've got the day off today and so I wanted to get back into the Startup Watc
#172

Nov 15, 2018

How to use *patience* to reach millions 🧘 (StartupWatching #172) – Happy Thursday Watchers,Thank you to the 68 people who have filled out the Startup Watching Super Sci
#171

Nov 8, 2018

I stepped off the plane Friday and my stomach dropped... ✈️😨 (StartupWatching #171) – Last Friday was one of those low points as an entrepreneur.I was on a trip to Mississippi to meet up
#170

Nov 1, 2018

Tell me all about YOU! – Happy Thursday Watchers!As I've taken over this newsletter I've gotten to interact with a lot of you,
#169

Oct 25, 2018

Tiny Confs and Working in Public 🚧 - (StartupWatching #169) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I did another livestream over the weekend where I had my friend and co-founde
#168

Oct 21, 2018

Watch *live* as a professional designer critiques my designs! 📹💯 – Howdy watchers!A slight change of plans again today, my friend Pedro is dealing with bad weather in P
#167

Oct 19, 2018

How to convince your friends (and users) you're a great designer 👩‍🎨 (StartupWatching #167) – Happy Friday Watchers!I got a flat tire on my way back from Atlanta Tuesday night and didn't get bac
#166

Oct 11, 2018

The new Atlanta billionaires behind an unlikely tech unicorn 🦄 (StartupWatching #166) – Happy Thursday Watchers!The livestream went super well, thank you to everyone who hopped on!! I was r
#165

Oct 7, 2018

I'm redesigning the Startup Watching website... live! 🚧 It's on now, come join me. 👀 – Happy Sunday Watchers!I'm officially stumbling through my first ever livestream!! 😬 I'd love for you
#164

Oct 4, 2018

Patio11 says don't do this... 🙅‍♀️ (StartupWatching #164) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I'm plowing ahead with my plan to stream the development of the new Startup W
#163

Sep 27, 2018

How to build a startup LIVE on Twitch in 24 hours 🥤(StartupWatching #163) – Happy Thursday Watchers!So over the weekend a guy I follow on Twitter named Pat Walls tried something
#162

Sep 19, 2018

How Jason Zook gets 60% of his traffic from SEO 🔍 without being an SEO expert 🤪 (Startup Watching #162) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I'm finally back at home after a week of working with clients and dodging hur
#161

Sep 13, 2018

Are you sure you have enough money to bootstrap? 💵 (StartupWatching #161) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I'm in Atlanta this week running away from Hurricane Florence and hanging out
#160

Sep 6, 2018

The founder of Hubspot isn't interested in growth 🤝 (Startup Watching #160) – Happy Thursday Watchers!You may have noticed that I didn't send out a newsletter on Monday. Or you ma
#159

Aug 30, 2018

Why Buffer spent $3.3 million to buy out their investors! ⚖️ – Happy Thursday Watchers!Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on the new logo I sent out Monday!
#158

Aug 27, 2018

Sneak peek 👀 of the new Startup Watching brand!! 🔥 – Happy Monday Watchers!When I took over Startup Watching a few months ago, I knew one of the first thi
#157

Aug 23, 2018

First hire to first fire - what you can learn from this startup's mistake 🙊 – Happy Thursday Watchers!I loved hearing what you all are working on this week. The talent in this com
#156

Aug 20, 2018

How Slack writes copy & what you can learn from them 📝 - (StartupWatching #156) – Happy Monday Watchers!What are you going to get done this week? 💪 Hit reply and let me know, I'd love
#155

Aug 16, 2018

Don't write 1,000 words a day 🙅‍♀️ - (StartupWatching #155) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I've got a really important read for you today. I read Amy Hoy's article, "Do
#154

Aug 13, 2018

How Katrina Lake built a $3 billion business 👗💵📈 - (StartupWatching #154) – Happy Monday Watchers!We've got some great reads for you today. First we have two awesome guides on v
#153

Aug 9, 2018

All my pets 🐱🐍🐠 - (StartupWatching #153) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I've recently discovered the magic of Youtube (I know I'm about 8 years late
#152

Aug 6, 2018

From student to founder 🔥 - (StartupWatching #152) – Happy Monday Watchers!I'm writing this newsletter sitting in the backseat of my dad's truck on the wa
#151

Aug 2, 2018

How to enjoy your vacation 🏖 - (StartupWatching #151) – Happy Thursday Watchers!Thank you to everyone who shared or commented on my post about becoming an Op
#150

Jul 30, 2018

Why we're sharing our financials with the world 💸🌎 (StartupWatching #150) – Happy Monday Watchers!Today I want to share with you something that I'm really excited (and a little
#149

Jul 27, 2018

Do you really need a mobile app 🤔 - (StartupWatching #149) – Happy Friday Watchers!Wait... Friday? That's not normal.I had a big event Wednesday night. We hosted
#148

Jul 23, 2018

Beware someone's view from the mountaintop 🏔 - (StartupWatching #148) – Happy Monday Watchers!My favorite reaction gif in response to last week's email 📧 came from Martijn d
#147

Jul 19, 2018

Taking on $17 million in debt 🏦 - (StartupWatching #147) – Happy Thursday Watchers!It's been a crazy week, so let's end it on a fun note! What's your favorite r
#146

Jul 16, 2018

The part of “Product Market Fit” you’re likely ignoring 🎯- (StartupWatching #146) – Happy Monday Watchers!Starting to write this at 11:05 pm on Sunday night... but I don't have issues w
#145

Jul 12, 2018

How Kylie built a $900 million empire by age 20 👄 - (StartupWatching #145) – Happy Thursday Watchers! 🔨⚡️I'm looking for some new startup/business focused podcasts 🎙 to feature
#144

Jul 9, 2018

Starting over from zero 🎙 - (StartupWatching #144) – Happy Monday Watchers!I made a stupid mistake. 🙈 Now I know what you're thinking... "Andrew, you make
#143

Jul 2, 2018

What is "Good Content"? 📚 - (StartupWatching #143) – Happy Monday Watchers!I'm looking for more subscribers to feature in short interviews like the one I
#142

Jun 28, 2018

StartupWatching #142 - How Slack become a $5 billion company 🦄 – Happy Thursday Watchers!I've got some exciting news. 🎉 Krit, the company I run as my day job, is hiri
#141

Jun 25, 2018

StartupWatching #141 - Say the hard thing 🗣 – Happy Monday Watchers!What did you do this weekend? Hit reply and let me know. I drove a jet ski for
#140

Jun 21, 2018

StartupWatching #140 - Killing the coding interview ☠️💻 – Happy Thursday Watchers!So last issue I tried something a little... unconventional. I really want to
#139

Jun 18, 2018

StartupWatching #139 - Life lessons of a camp counselor 🏕 – Happy Monday Watchers!I am SO excited to be “taking over” this issue of StartupWatching. My name's Da
#138

Jun 14, 2018

Trying something new 🤓 - (StartupWatching #138) – Happy Monday Watchers!Earlier this year I went to one of the fastest growing startup conferences in t
#137

Jun 11, 2018

You don't need an audience ❌👥 - (StartupWatching #137) – Happy Monday Watchers!This weekend was exactly what I needed. I got to spend time with some of the pe
#136

Jun 7, 2018

Meet the Unusual Entrepreneur Making High School E-Sports Happen 🎮 (StartupWatching #136) – Happy Thursday Watchers!I lived with 4 incredible guys in college, and we try to get together once ev
#135

Jun 4, 2018

Empathy Is Mostly* Useless 💔 (StartupWatching #135) – Happy Monday Watchers!Thanks to those of you who shared the things you're struggling with. I haven't
#134

May 31, 2018

How to get 36,282 readers with one post 🗒 (StartupWatching #134) – Happy Thursday Watchers,Let's talk about struggles today. It's easy to look around and feel like ever
#133

May 28, 2018

StartupWatching #133 - Would you have hired Steve Jobs? 👨‍💻 – Trigger warning: the following is a short discussion on GDPR and info about our new Privacy Policy. T
#132

May 24, 2018

StartupWatching #132 - This isn't another GDPR email. But should it be? 📧 – Happy Thor's Day Watchers!I had a really neat conversation with Trevor Sookraj last night. Trevor lan
#131

May 21, 2018

StartupWatching #131 - What to do if you didn't get in to YC – Happy Monday Watchers!I've got another question for you. But I thought it would be fun to try this on
#130

May 17, 2018

You rock 🗿+ the cost of saying yes ⏰ - Issue #130 – First of all, thank you. I was a little nervous about what the reaction would be after I took over th
#129

May 14, 2018

Do things that don't scale ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Issue #129) – Good morning Startup Watchers! 👋To all of our new subscribers - thanks for joining and welcome to the
#128

May 10, 2018

I emptied my savings to buy a newsletter 🙊 (Issue #128) – Good morning Startup Watching fam 👋I'm Andrew! For the past four years I've been obsessed with buildi
#127

May 7, 2018

Important News! 🎙 (StartupWatching #127) – I started StartupWatching early 2017 because I wanted to empower my audience to do bigger things and
#126

May 3, 2018

Stop doing press releases ⛔️ (StartupWatching #126)
#125

Apr 30, 2018

How I burned 10 Million Dollars 🔥💰 (StartupWatching #125)
#124

Apr 26, 2018

Sunk costs sinks ships 🚢🔥 (StartupWatching #124)
#123

Apr 23, 2018

How to build a solution that sticks 🎯 (StartupWatching #123)
#122

Apr 19, 2018

The problem with problems 🔥 (StartupWatching #122)
#121

Apr 16, 2018

How to build a winning pitch deck 👌 (StartupWatching #121)
#120

Apr 12, 2018

7 steps for finding investors 🔍💰 (StartupWatching #120)
#119

Apr 9, 2018

What do you want to learn? 💡(StartupWatching #119)
#118

Apr 5, 2018

Why having $0 is much better than having $1 🔑(StartupWatching #118)
#117

Apr 2, 2018

How to start with little or no money 💲 (StartupWatching #117)
#116

Mar 29, 2018

Growth hacking is bullshit 💥 (StartupWatching #116)
#115

Mar 26, 2018

7 steps to startup success 🚀 (StartupWatching #115)
#114

Mar 22, 2018

Your competitors don't matter 🔑 (StartupWatching #114)
#113

Mar 19, 2018

The best sales advice 💰(StartupWatching #113)
#112

Mar 15, 2018

Don’t be busy 🕐 (StartupWatching #112)
#111

Mar 12, 2018

The Artist and The Innovator 🎨 (StartupWatching #111)
#110

Mar 8, 2018

Requests for Startups 👋 (StartupWatching #110)
#109

Mar 5, 2018

Big Deals 💰(StartupWatching #109)
#108

Mar 1, 2018

Are you a giver or a taker? 🤔(StartupWatching #108)
#107

Feb 26, 2018

What investors look for 💸 (StartupWatching #107)
#106

Feb 22, 2018

Never underestimate your first idea 💡 (StartupWatching #106)
#105

Feb 19, 2018

How to acquire users 🚀 (StartupWatching #105)
#104

Feb 15, 2018

The top 20 reasons startups fail ☠️ (StartupWatching #104)
#103

Feb 12, 2018

Confessions of a startup mole 👀 (StartupWatching #103)
#102

Feb 8, 2018

Hard work is the only shortcut to success ✂️ (StartupWatching #102)
#101

Feb 5, 2018

Taking an MVP to $10k MRR 💰 (StartupWatching #101)
#100

Feb 1, 2018

How to achieve startup hypergrowth 🚀🚀🚀 (StartupWatching #100) – Woohoo, we made it to 100 issues of StartupWatching! 🍾🎉I want to thank everyone who came along for th
#99

Jan 29, 2018

The best way to learn anything 🤓 (StartupWatching #99)
#98

Jan 25, 2018

The critical thing most startups forget.. 🚨 (StartupWatching #98)
#97

Jan 22, 2018

Why does your startup exist? (StartupWatching #97)
#96

Jan 18, 2018

Advice for first time founders 🔑 (StartupWatching #96)
#95

Jan 15, 2018

How startups get their first users 🚀 (StartupWatching #95)
#94

Jan 11, 2018

Don't spend too much time watching competitors 🔑 (StartupWatching #94)
#93

Jan 8, 2018

The best advice for entrepreneurs 🔑 (StartupWatching #93)
#92

Jan 4, 2018

What I learned from my first product launch 🚀 (StartupWatching #92)
#91

Jan 2, 2018

Fall in love with the problem 😍 (StartupWatching #91)
#90

Dec 28, 2017

Learning from failure 🔑 (StartupWatching #90)
#89

Dec 25, 2017

Your Christmas reading list 🎅🏼🎄 (StartupWatching #89) – Happy holidays from Amsterdam! - @bramk ✌️
#88

Dec 21, 2017

The 9 deadliest startup sins ☠️ (StartupWatching #88)
#87

Dec 18, 2017

The #1 rule for startups 💰 (StartupWatching #87)
#86

Dec 14, 2017

How to get your first 100K active users 💯 (StartupWatching #86)
#85

Dec 11, 2017

3 secrets behind Silicon Valley's latest unicorn 🔑 (StartupWatching #85)
#84

Dec 7, 2017

Great Products vs. Great Businesses 💸 (StartupWatching #84)
#83

Dec 4, 2017

Sell → Service → Scale 🚀 (StartupWatching #83)
#82

Nov 30, 2017

How to build a press list 🕵️ (StartupWatching #82)
#81

Nov 28, 2017

Why is Product-Market-Fit so freaking hard? 😱 (StartupWatching #81)
#80

Nov 23, 2017

Momentum: The ultimate startup killer ☠️ (StartupWatching #80)
#79

Nov 20, 2017

Knowing when your startup idea is successfully validated ✅
#78

Nov 16, 2017

How to pick a co-founder 🔑 (StartupWatching #78)
#77

Nov 13, 2017

Learn how to build a great community 📚 (StartupWatching #77)
#76

Nov 9, 2017

How to validate your startup idea 💡 (StartupWatching #76)
#75

Nov 6, 2017

Growth marketing for startups 🚀 (StartupWatching #75)
#74

Nov 2, 2017

Strategy is not a to-do list 🔑 (StartupWatching #74)
#73

Oct 30, 2017

The 5 best tips to grow your startup 🚀 (StartupWatching #73)
#72

Oct 26, 2017

10 ways you’ll f*ck up your startup ☠️ (StartupWatching #72)
#71

Oct 23, 2017

Getting your first 10 customers 💸 (StartupWatching #71) – Hi there! 👋I don't normally add an intro text like this, but I've been thinking about ways to improve
#70

Oct 19, 2017

Failure is not the goal (StartupWatching #70)
#69

Oct 16, 2017

Build an audience BEFORE launching your startup (StartupWatching #69)
#68

Oct 12, 2017

If your product is great, it doesn't need to be good (StartupWaching #68)
#67

Oct 9, 2017

Today's (Oct 9) inspiration
#66

Oct 5, 2017

Today's (Oct 5) inspiration
#65

Oct 2, 2017

Today's (Oct 2) inspiration
#64

Sep 28, 2017

Today's (Sep 28) inspiration
#63

Sep 25, 2017

Today's (Sep 25) inspiration
#62

Sep 21, 2017

Today's (Sep 21) inspiration
#61

Sep 18, 2017

Today's (Sep 18) inspiration
#60

Sep 14, 2017

Today's (Sep 14) inspiration
#59

Sep 11, 2017

Today's (Sep 11) inspiration
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Sep 7, 2017

Today's (Sep 7) inspiration
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Sep 4, 2017

Today's (Sep 4) inspiration
#56

Aug 31, 2017

Today's (Aug 31) inspiration
#55

Aug 28, 2017

Today's (Aug 28) inspiration
#54

Aug 24, 2017

Today's (Aug 24) inspiration
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Aug 20, 2017

Today's (Aug 21) inspiration
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Aug 17, 2017

Today's (Aug 17) inspiration
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Aug 14, 2017

Today's (Aug 14) inspiration
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Aug 10, 2017

Today's (Aug 10) inspiration
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Aug 7, 2017

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Aug 3, 2017

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Jul 31, 2017

Today's (July 31) inspiration
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Jul 27, 2017

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Jul 24, 2017

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Jul 20, 2017

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Jul 17, 2017

Today's (July 17) inspiration
#42

Jul 13, 2017

Today's (July 13) inspiration
#41

Jul 10, 2017

Today's (July 10) inspiration
#40

Jul 6, 2017

StartupWatching ⚡️ - Issue #40
#39

Jul 3, 2017

Today's (July 3) inspiration
#38

Jun 29, 2017

Today's (June 29) inspiration
#37

Jun 26, 2017

Today's (June 26) inspiration
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Jun 22, 2017

Today's (June 22) inspiration
#35

Jun 19, 2017

Today's (June 19) inspiration
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Jun 15, 2017

Today's (June 15) inspiration
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Jun 12, 2017

Today's (June 12) inspiration
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Jun 8, 2017

Today's (June 8) inspiration
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Jun 5, 2017

Today's (June 5) inspiration
#30

Jun 1, 2017

Today's (June 1) inspiration
#29

May 29, 2017

Today's (May 29) Inspiration
#28

May 25, 2017

Today's (May 25) Inspiration
#27

May 22, 2017

Today's (May 22) Inspiration
#26

May 18, 2017

Today's (May 18) Inspiration – I'm at #TNW2017 😎 If you're there ping me! If not you can watch all keynotes live here: thenextweb.co
#25

May 15, 2017

Today's (May 15) Inspiration
#24

May 11, 2017

Today's (May 11) Inspiration
#23

May 8, 2017

Today's (May 8) Inspiration
#22

May 4, 2017

Today's (May 4) Inspiration
#21

May 1, 2017

Today's (May 1) Inspiration
#20

Apr 27, 2017

Today's (April 27) Inspiration
#19

Apr 24, 2017

Today's (April 24) Inspiration
#18

Apr 20, 2017

Today's (April 20) Inspiration
#17

Apr 17, 2017

Today's (April 17) Inspiration
#16

Apr 13, 2017

Today's (April 13) Inspiration
#15

Apr 10, 2017

Today's (April 10) Inspiration
#14

Apr 6, 2017

Today's (April 6) Inspiration
#13

Apr 3, 2017

Today's (April 3) Inspiration
#12

Mar 30, 2017

Today's (March 30) Inspiration
#11

Mar 27, 2017

Today's (March 27) Inspiration - Issue #11
#10

Mar 23, 2017

Today's (March 23) Inspiration - Issue #10 – Boom! this is the 10th issue!I'm just getting started, but hey, it's a first milestone! My goal is
#9

Mar 20, 2017

Today's (March 20) Inspiration - Issue #9 – Hey friends!Hope your week started off great! I've had a few good meetings today, talking about new v
#8

Mar 16, 2017

Today's (March 16) Inspiration - Issue #8
#7

Mar 13, 2017

Today's (March 13) Inspiration - Issue #7 – Monday, funday! What are you up to this week? Check out today's inspiration to get you up and running
#6

Mar 9, 2017

Today's (March 9) Inspiration - Issue #6
#5

Mar 7, 2017

Today's (March 7) Inspiration - Issue #5
#4

Mar 2, 2017

Today's (March 2) Inspiration - Issue #4
#3

Feb 27, 2017

Today's (Feb 27) Inspiration - Issue #3 – YES! It's Monday! 🙌Hope you're having a great start of your week! I just finished my fourth meeting o
#2

Feb 23, 2017

Today's (Feb 23) Inspiration - Issue #2 – Thank you all for your support! 💪I launched this newsletter last Monday and the response has been awe
#1

Feb 20, 2017

Issue #1 of StartupWatching ⚡️ – Hey there! 👋My name is @bramk and this is the first issue of my brand new project StartupWatching! Yo