8 karma · joined December 13, 2011
>> We estimate that only 5.1% (95%CI, 4.8-5.5) of infections in Wuhan are identified, and by 21 January a total of 11,341 people (prediction interval, 9,217-14,245) had been infected in Wuhan since the start of the year.
>> Should the epidemic continue unabated in Wuhan, we predict the epidemic in Wuhan will be substantially larger by 4 February (191,529 infections; prediction interval, 132,751-273,649),
There are many reasons behind this outcome. The other new entrant and us definitely have better products. However, in addition, some incumbents just didn't innovate as fast while others just lost focus. There are also companies that ran out of money.
Both Dropbox and Hipmunk demonstrated how it is possible to enter a competitive space and win.
There are a lot of good resources about the biz side of things for consumer internet startups, so learning about that has not been too difficult.
However, I do try to hire more out-going people to complement me. IE, I push my team to connect with people at meetups more than I push myself :P
There are talented people out there and I've found it is possible to recruit those who complement me without making everyone co-founders.
Once the startup has gotten some traction, recruiting and everything else get easier. If you have a tech background yourself, you may not need co-founders to get to that stage.
However, this time around, I need to pay special attention to asking for feedback and be exceptionally open to it. Often times, feedback contradicts each other and I'm glad I can make the final decision by arguing just with myself. So much more efficient.
The journey is very lonely though and it takes a lot more work. Fighting alone is not easy.