DAMIREZ, VON ERIC A.

11891521

Problem statement

AndFound’s founders, VV and Reza, are deciding on whether to continue their free
service or to switch on a revenue model.

INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
STRENGTHS (S) WEAKNESSES (W)
 Free  Free
 Currently carries information on 10,000 
investors and 100,000 companies, ranging
from hair salons to tech start-ups
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
OPPORTUNITIES (O) THREATS (T)
 Start-ups have to pay just for the 
opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors. 
Other firms rarely offered any guidance
 Some companies and individuals take
advantage of inexperienced entrepreneurs
who are going through the fundraising
process.
A “culture of free” can quickly become
entrenched among stakeholders. It’s
critically important that the founders make
progress toward establishing a
sustainable, lucrative revenue model that
users will accept so that the company
knows how to monetize when the time
comes.
They weren’t the only players in the space
Numerous accelerators in the Valley and
elsewhere provided coaching for
entrepreneurs and opportunities to pitch
ideas to investors.

Recommendation

VV and Reza should find investors who share their vision of providing assistance and guidance
to the start-ups. With that kind of backing, they will be able to focus on growth for the
foreseeable future and think about monetizing only when AndFound finally dominates its
market.

AndFound should continue providing free service to their customers because that is the
company’s unfair advantage. But VV and Reza will need to monetize some of the site’s
offerings, such as its Talent portal, to bring in just enough revenue to keep the lights on and
continue growing.