Nov 8, 2023·edited Nov 8, 2023Liked by Alberto Arenaza
I appreciate this write-up and the effort to build a "market map."
The trends in the corporate L&D space all track with what I've observed as a buyer and a provider.
The tips for entrepreneurs are also shrewd and should be taken seriously. Another option for operators is to look seriously and deep partnership and engaging in M&A. A lot of similar solutions approached by bootstrapped teams could be better delivered with the best ideas and teams brought together under one roof.
When the list is done, do you have plans to visualize it? Showing companies organized by sub-category (like the diagram you provided) and maybe also represented by size of revenue, customers, employees, or some other scale metrics could be valuable. Looks like that's what you've done with other sectors. 👏
To your point above, a lot of successful incumbent companies are well past the "startup" phase. It seems like the mapping exercise really is aiming to show the whole industry - and thus your spreadsheet could be renamed to be list of all "companies."
Last thing I'd add - startups need to not just think about buyers as the L&D admins but also the functional and corporate leaders across the business. Their buy-in is essential, as the success of a deployment is not only sometimes dependent on their budgetary support but also on their active sponsorship and modeling to employees of engaging with the solution.
this is great, Joe! Yes, we will try and visualize it by segment after we collect all the startups we can, so we can share it here as well. Agree on your point about buy-in across the companies, and the potential to partner. I feel like it's a tough nut to crack for early-stage startups, as there isn't a clear playbook (in my experience, it's different with every company) for how to partner with larger players, but there's clearly a distribution advantage that they have, but can benefit from the earlier-stage startup innovations and products!
Good post as always Alberto. I have been thinking that US$1-2Mn acquisitions might be important in various segments you mention as a growth strategy for entrepreneurs. There might be PMF to some extent, some revenue traction and some key hires with the relevant connections. Companies might look at acquiring in the US or acquiring something in Europe that also has in-roads in the US.
I appreciate this write-up and the effort to build a "market map."
The trends in the corporate L&D space all track with what I've observed as a buyer and a provider.
The tips for entrepreneurs are also shrewd and should be taken seriously. Another option for operators is to look seriously and deep partnership and engaging in M&A. A lot of similar solutions approached by bootstrapped teams could be better delivered with the best ideas and teams brought together under one roof.
When the list is done, do you have plans to visualize it? Showing companies organized by sub-category (like the diagram you provided) and maybe also represented by size of revenue, customers, employees, or some other scale metrics could be valuable. Looks like that's what you've done with other sectors. 👏
To your point above, a lot of successful incumbent companies are well past the "startup" phase. It seems like the mapping exercise really is aiming to show the whole industry - and thus your spreadsheet could be renamed to be list of all "companies."
Last thing I'd add - startups need to not just think about buyers as the L&D admins but also the functional and corporate leaders across the business. Their buy-in is essential, as the success of a deployment is not only sometimes dependent on their budgetary support but also on their active sponsorship and modeling to employees of engaging with the solution.
this is great, Joe! Yes, we will try and visualize it by segment after we collect all the startups we can, so we can share it here as well. Agree on your point about buy-in across the companies, and the potential to partner. I feel like it's a tough nut to crack for early-stage startups, as there isn't a clear playbook (in my experience, it's different with every company) for how to partner with larger players, but there's clearly a distribution advantage that they have, but can benefit from the earlier-stage startup innovations and products!
Good post as always Alberto. I have been thinking that US$1-2Mn acquisitions might be important in various segments you mention as a growth strategy for entrepreneurs. There might be PMF to some extent, some revenue traction and some key hires with the relevant connections. Companies might look at acquiring in the US or acquiring something in Europe that also has in-roads in the US.
Akhil Kishore
GIA ADVISORS