Strategy: Business models
Showing 435 articles for Strategy: Business models.
Startup business models and pricing: lessons from YC's top 100
Y Combinator
December 15, 2022
Business models
9
Pricing strategy
8
- Marketplaces are only 14% of YC top 100 but create 30% of total value.
- 5% difference in monthly churn can be the difference between life and death.
- Segment raised prices 150x — from $120/year to $18,000 — in one sales meeting.
How independent retailers out-compete big-box stores using shared scale
Masters of Scale
December 8, 2022
Business models
9
Case studies
8
Processes & SOPs
6
- Small retailers' fragmentation is a structural advantage, not a weakness
- Faire's net-60 terms and pooled data give Main Street the tools of giants
- Doubling a retailer's margin from 3% to 6% can double their take-home pay
How to generate startup ideas: eight ideas you can steal
Startups For the Rest of Us
December 6, 2022
Niche selection
9
MVP & prototyping
6
Business models
5
- Match your idea to your context before evaluating its merit
- Competition signals a validated market — not a reason to quit
- ETL pipelines and AI casting tools rank as the strongest opportunities
How Netflix built a durable global streaming business
Business Breakdowns
November 30, 2022
Business models
10
Unit economics
8
Automation & tools
6
- Netflix's lowest churn in streaming comes from breadth, not just hits
- Content spend at $17–18B is the leverage inflection point for free cashflow
- 100M+ password-sharing households are the next monetisation unlock
B2B vs B2C, hiring for sales, and bootstrapping a two-sided marketplace
Startups For the Rest of Us
November 29, 2022
Business models
8
B2B sales
7
Bootstrapping
6
- B2C's low price points make most marketing channels unaffordable
- Never hire a salesperson before your process is repeatable
- Build one marketplace side for 6–18 months before launching the other
Disney's brand ecosystem strategy: how Iger managed acquisitions and growth
Masters of Scale
November 26, 2022
Business models
9
Case studies
7
Branding
6
- Keep acquired brands separate — never let Disney dilute Marvel or Star Wars.
- Shanghai Disneyland: authentically Disney, but deliberately, distinctly Chinese.
- Disney Plus firewalled mature Fox content so streaming didn't corrupt the brand.
How Bob Iger turned Disney acquisitions into a lasting ecosystem
Masters of Scale
November 23, 2022
Business models
9
Culture building
8
Case studies
7
- Preserve the acquired company's culture — or destroy what you paid for
- Bob's three priorities: branded content, technology, global scale
- Why Steve Jobs vouching for Bob closed the Marvel deal
Ten steps to build a scalable online course business
Sunny Lenarduzzi
November 22, 2022
Business models
9
Content marketing
8
Pricing psychology
7
- You need ~10 leads a month, not viral fame, to hit $10K/month.
- Price against the cost of inaction, not the hours you spend.
- A client flywheel of referrals outgrows any paid ad strategy.
How to find and evaluate startup ideas: a YC framework
Y Combinator
November 17, 2022
Niche selection
9
Customer discovery
6
Business models
5
- Boring, hard-to-start ideas with competitors are often the best opportunities.
- Founder-market fit matters more than idea quality in the abstract.
- Organic ideas beat brainstorming — expertise and lived problems are the source.
Harvard Business Publishing: how a century-old case study monopoly became a $270M business
Business Breakdowns
November 16, 2022
Business models
9
Case studies
8
Unit economics
6
- Professors write case studies for free — tenure is the only payment Harvard needs.
- 80% of case studies aren't from Harvard, yet all carry the Harvard brand.
- Corporate card buyers churn less and tolerate higher prices than retail subscribers.
Six things to know before creating an online course
Sunny Lenarduzzi
November 15, 2022
Business models
9
MVP & prototyping
8
Niche selection
7
- People pay for transformation, not information — build accordingly
- A $2,000 course needs 5 clients/month; a $49 course needs 205
- Validate demand with real interviews before writing a single lesson
Three Steps to $1M ARR: The Stair-Step Method
Rob Walling
November 14, 2022
Business models
9
MVP & prototyping
6
- Start with a simple ecosystem add-on to build skills cheaply.
- Stack multiple products until revenue replaces your day job.
- Enter SaaS only after gaining experience, cash, and confidence.
B2B founder-led go-to-market: three principles for early-stage growth
TK Kader
November 6, 2022
Business models
10
Product-market fit
7
Growth hacking
6
- GTM is delayed compounding leverage — starting late costs months of revenue.
- Only founders can run the product-market-GTM feedback loop effectively.
- Fractional CMOs and agencies execute tactics but can't own early-stage strategy.
How Snyk built a product-led growth company in developer security
Lenny's Podcast Product Career Growth
November 6, 2022
Business models
9
Growth hacking
8
Product-market fit
7
- Free developer adoption at scale must come before monetization
- Auto-fix GitHub PRs created a powerful acquisition and engagement loop
- Activation defined as a team fixing vulnerabilities within 30 days
Five low-cost small business ideas for beginners
Ahrefs
November 2, 2022
Business models
8
Niche selection
7
Bootstrapping
5
- Sell services around one SaaS tool you already know well
- Drone videography pays $400–$4,000 per golf course with minimal skill
- Voiceover work earns $100–$499 for just 5–10 minutes of recording