Startups are learning machines. Their success is a function of how well they acquire new knowledge, and their ability to compound on existing knowledge.

Acquiring new [market] knowledge comes first hand - by launching new products and services and gauging customer response. It can also be acquired through effective market and user research. This feedback loop is visible, and therefore written about more than anything else. It can consume the story of a company but it’s not the complete picture.

The second factor is how well a company compounds knowledge. This is a function of how well a company can (a) retain information (b) use that information to make continually better decisions for their customers. This comes from a deeper examination of it’s inner function.

There’s is so much opportunity to help companies better compound their knowledge. We have tools to help us communicate but they are removed from decision making. We have tools to help us store our knowledge but they are removed from the work itself. And there are very few tools that are help us at a personal level to clarify our thinking amidst all this information.

Software can’t solve all these problems but things could be much better than where they are today.