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Vishu Bheda
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Medial • 4m
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗗𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 Most founders fall in love with their ideas. Apoorva Mehta killed 20 before finding the one that worked. His secret? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. This concept, from How We Got to Now by Steven Johnson, explains a simple truth: 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟬—𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟮 In 2000, 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 $𝟖𝟎𝟎𝐌 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐝. The reason? 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. •No smartphones → No seamless ordering •No digital payments → No trust in online transactions •No e-commerce habit → Consumers weren’t ready By 2012, everything had changed. 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. That’s when Instacart became possible. 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 (𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀) Before Instacart, Apoorva tested and killed 20+ startup ideas: •A social game ad network (huge market, weak monetization). •A food review app for Instagram users (people loved food photos, not reviewing dishes). •A daily deals platform for meals (too crowded, no clear edge). His golden rule? "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬." 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟬-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁 Before betting on any idea, write down 10 reasons it will fail. If you can’t solve those problems, move on. This ruthless process led to Instacart. And if you use it, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩. Follow Vishu Bheda for more valuable startup insights from the world's best founders!
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