Insights
The Most Sustainable Business Model No One Is Talking About
The Most Sustainable Business Model No One Is Talking About
Building impactful businesses is complex.
You need resources, expertise, and a deep understanding of the problems you're trying to solve.
That's where startup studios come in.
Startup studio 101
What is a startup studio?
Think of it as a business-building factory.
Instead of starting from scratch each time, studios provide shared resources, expertise, and a proven framework for launching successful ventures.
Why does this matter for impact entrepreneurs?
You get access to shared resources (reducing costs and letting you focus on what matters)
You benefit from collective problem-solving (diverse perspectives = better solutions)
You get multiple attempts at creating successful ventures (more shots = higher chance of impact)
Why are impact studios different?
Impact studios aren't just about building businesses, they're focused on solving complex social and environmental challenges.
This means:
A deeper focus on understanding community needs
Nuanced approaches to building sustainable business models
Specialized expertise in specific impact areas
Part of what makes these studios so impactful is that they don't try to tackle all of the world's problems, they zero in on their expertise first.
Which leads us to a strategy from a Good Fortune friend of the family...
1 counterintuitive growth strategy
This strategy is from Ryan Lindsey, founder of Outside.
Outside is an app designed to get people offline and connecting in person.
Counter-intuitive? Maybe.
Effective? Absolutely.
So how did Outside grow in the early days?
By finding the one problem they could solve better than anyone else and niching down.
Here's how it works...
What it is:
This strategy focuses on identifying one specific market segment and optimizing for one specific problem they have.
Once you are able to truly solve that one problem you can start to build broader product appeal.
How Ryan used this strategy:
When starting Outside, he found that there were a lot of people in long-distance relationships using his app, counting down to when they’d see each other again.
Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, he leaned into this niche.
The results:
Outside grew from 0 to 1,000 users in 6 months
After the pivot, they got their next 1,000 users in just 7 days
Now they're adding nearly 1,000 users daily, with 25,000 monthly active users
Over 600,000 events created (66,000 last month alone)
How can you niche down in order to (eventually) scale up?
Finding your niche as an impact business can be long journey.
Building impactful businesses is complex.
You need resources, expertise, and a deep understanding of the problems you're trying to solve.
That's where startup studios come in.
Startup studio 101
What is a startup studio?
Think of it as a business-building factory.
Instead of starting from scratch each time, studios provide shared resources, expertise, and a proven framework for launching successful ventures.
Why does this matter for impact entrepreneurs?
You get access to shared resources (reducing costs and letting you focus on what matters)
You benefit from collective problem-solving (diverse perspectives = better solutions)
You get multiple attempts at creating successful ventures (more shots = higher chance of impact)
Why are impact studios different?
Impact studios aren't just about building businesses, they're focused on solving complex social and environmental challenges.
This means:
A deeper focus on understanding community needs
Nuanced approaches to building sustainable business models
Specialized expertise in specific impact areas
Part of what makes these studios so impactful is that they don't try to tackle all of the world's problems, they zero in on their expertise first.
Which leads us to a strategy from a Good Fortune friend of the family...
1 counterintuitive growth strategy
This strategy is from Ryan Lindsey, founder of Outside.
Outside is an app designed to get people offline and connecting in person.
Counter-intuitive? Maybe.
Effective? Absolutely.
So how did Outside grow in the early days?
By finding the one problem they could solve better than anyone else and niching down.
Here's how it works...
What it is:
This strategy focuses on identifying one specific market segment and optimizing for one specific problem they have.
Once you are able to truly solve that one problem you can start to build broader product appeal.
How Ryan used this strategy:
When starting Outside, he found that there were a lot of people in long-distance relationships using his app, counting down to when they’d see each other again.
Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, he leaned into this niche.
The results:
Outside grew from 0 to 1,000 users in 6 months
After the pivot, they got their next 1,000 users in just 7 days
Now they're adding nearly 1,000 users daily, with 25,000 monthly active users
Over 600,000 events created (66,000 last month alone)
How can you niche down in order to (eventually) scale up?
Finding your niche as an impact business can be long journey.
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200+
thinkers, builders, and investors
Get Field Notes straight to your inbox each week
200+
thinkers, builders, and investors
Get Field Notes straight to your inbox each week
200+
thinkers, builders, and investors
