The Startup Growth Secret No One Talks About

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• News Stories: (1) Moonvalley, an AI video startup, lands $53M (TechCrunch) (2) Blackstone Backs Entrata to $4.3B Valuation (Reuters)

• Startup Insight: The Startup Growth Secret No One Talks About

• Resources: (1) Do Things That Don't Scale (2) Startup Playbook (3) How I Built This

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News

• (1) Moonvalley, an AI video startup, lands $53M (TechCrunch)
  Moonvalley, an AI video startup founded by ex-Zapier and DeepMind talent, raised $53M to advance Marey, its HD video generation model with camera control and copyright-safe training data.

• (2) Blackstone Backs Entrata to $4.3B Valuation (Reuters)
  Entrata, a property management software provider, secured a $200 million minority investment from Blackstone, elevating its valuation to $4.3 billion. The funding aims to enhance AI-driven operations and expand its global reach.

The Unglamorous Grind that Fuels Real Growth

When people picture startups, they often imagine viral traction, rapid growth and slick automation that handles everything at scale. But the truth is, this is one of the most misunderstood realities of startup life. At the very beginning, real growth is awkward, manual and most of all—it doesn’t scale.

Welcome to one of the most counterintuitive, yet powerful startup truths: do things that don’t scale. The phrase originates from an influential essay by Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, where he states that startups succeed not by trying to automate everything from day one, but by rolling up their sleeves and doing whatever it takes to get their first users. Embracing the grind, in fact, is the smartest move if you’re starting from zero. 

So what does this look like in real life? Take Airbnb, for example. When growth was sluggish in their early days, the founders didn’t buy Facebook ads or hire a growth team. Instead, they flew to New York, knocked on doors and helped hosts take better photos of their apartments. This simple, hands-on approach immediately boosted bookings and gave the team priceless insights into what users care about.

At an early stage, your goal isn’t efficiency, it’s validation. You want to deeply understand your users, solve their problems manually if needed and learn fast. Call your users. Onboard them one by one. Answer every email yourself. These are the messy, personal, high-effort moves that early traction is made of. When you talk to customers directly, you stop guessing. You can hear their language, notice their patterns and figure out what actually matters to them—not what you think should matter.

This mindset shift is a superpower. It teaches you to stay close to the problem. To move fast without waiting for perfection. To earn every inch of progress by helping real people, not chasing vanity metrics.

Eventually, you’ll need to systematize. But scaling should come after you’ve nailed what works—not before. Otherwise, you’re just automating confusion.

So if you’re in the early stages and wondering why things feel slow or scrappy, that’s not failure but the path. The early hustle is supposed to be hands-on and those steps are what open the door to the future you’re dreaming of.

Sources:

• Paul Graham’s essay: Do Things That Don't Scale

• Y Combinator: Startup Playbook

• Airbnb early growth stories via How I Built This

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_{Disclaimer: The startup ideas shared in this forum are non-rigorously curated and offered for general consideration and discussion only. Individuals utilizing these concepts are encouraged to exercise independent judgment and undertake due diligence per legal and regulatory requirements. It is recommended to consult with legal, financial, and other relevant professionals before proceeding with any business ventures or decisions.}