Conference Presentation, Keynote
Kathryn Minshew at Startup School NY 2014
- Company Scale & Mission: The Muse, founded by Catherine Minshew, serves as a job discovery tool helping approximately one million people monthly access career opportunities at companies like Facebook, Uber, and Gucci.
- Market Observation: Minshew argues that the startup ecosystem disproportionately highlights success, obscuring the reality that most ventures begin with "consistent failure" and require an evolution from "suck to suck less."
- Founder Background: Minshew is a McKinsey & Company veteran who previously worked with the Clinton Health Initiative on vaccine access in Africa; her first startup failed due to flat growth (3,000 users/month) and a subsequent business dispute over values.
- The Muse's First Launch: The initial platform launched on September 6, 2011, with a "piece of crap" design; despite its limitations, it attracted 20,000 users in the first month, 26,000 in the second, and 70,000 in the third.
- Initial Strategy: The company began by prioritizing career content over jobs to bypass the "chicken-and-egg" problem of marketplaces, eventually partnering with Uber when it had only 50 employees and operated in two cities.
- User Acquisition Tactics: To generate zero-cost growth, Minshew scraped her Gmail to send launch emails to thousands of contacts, resulting in Google temporarily suspending her account for suspected spamming at a rate of roughly 1,200 emails/day.
- Fundraising Rejections: The team pitched 150 investors in New York City, receiving 148 rejections due to the unsexy nature of career content and job search platforms in 2011, alongside stereotypes regarding female investors' long-term interest.
- Y Combinator Acceptance: Y Combinator provided the first definitive funding "yes"; Minshew notes their application explicitly stated they would succeed regardless of funding, a confident stance that resonated with partners.
- Product Pivots (YC Feedback): Upon entering Y Combinator, co-founders presented a complex seven-feature prototype; Paul Graham immediately advised stripping the product down to a single core value to launch and test demand within 14 days.
- Current Metrics: Following the pivot, The Muse reached 100,000 monthly users at launch in February 2012, growing to 1.5 million monthly users while partnering with 200 brands.
- Key Lesson: Honoring Words: Minshew emphasizes honoring verbal commitments over strict contracts, citing an instance where she delayed paying a first hire's agreed bonus until mid-December (originally promised for November 1) after explaining the cash-flow delay caused by pre-funding stress.
- Key Lesson: Done over Perfect: The strategy prioritized shipping early products to test real-world demand with strangers rather than polishing ideas based on validation from close friends or family.
- Key Lesson: Persistent Politeness: Successful partnerships, such as an early traffic deal with Forbes (driving 5,000 users in the first month), required persistent follow-ups and identifying the specific value proposition for each party.
- Key Lesson: Value Alignment: Minshew cites her first company's collapse due to a business dispute as a result of ignoring red flags regarding shared values, leading her to now turn down funding and let employees go for ethical lapses.
- Key Lesson: Velocity & Evangelism: Success requires identifying specific user segments who can become evangelists, rather than relying on passive "build it and they will come" assumptions.
- Talent Acquisition: The company recruits by focusing on non-monetary motivators (e.g., professional development, networking) and actively monitors competitors' layoffs (e.g., Grooveshark) to identify available talent.
- Forward-Looking Philosophy: Minshew warns against believing industry hype, advocating that founders must rely on deep user data and metrics (e.g., 300 to 3,000 to 3 million growth trajectories) to maintain conviction against skeptics.