The Finch Strategy

Before You Build More, Try Deleting Something First

October 29, 2025

Hey — It’s Charlie.

Welcome to the latest edition of Great Startups! Here’s what’s in store:

  • The Finch Effect: How Shrinking Your Vision Can Make It Soar

  • Guide: SaaS Pricing Page.

  • Solution: Do you have a demand problem?

  • No AI, No Job: The Future Is Already Here

  • Targeting Made Simple: A step-by-step guide to finding your perfect customer.

  • Hidden Startup Debt: The silent killer that’s slowing growth.

Get ready to dive into these power-packed insights for founders and growth enthusiasts!

Resources

  • The Ultimate Guide to the perfect SaaS pricing page. (LINK)

  • Things we’ve learned about building a startup that scales. (LINK)

  • Do you have a demand problem? (LINK)

  • David Politis on doing whatever it takes to stay in the game (LINK)

  • Sam Blond on how to generate more demand. (LINK)

ICYMI

  • Atlassian acquires DX, a developer productivity platform, for $1B. (LINK)

  • Netflix is getting into short videos with a new vertical feed for mobile. (LINK)

  • Cloudflare launches a marketplace that lets websites charge AI bots for scraping. (LINK)

  • The WordPress vs. WP Engine drama, explained. (LINK)

  • 1X will test humanoid robots in ‘a few hundred’ homes in 2025. (LINK)

  • Ray Dalio built a $14B empire by following core success principles that took him from humble beginnings to founding the world’s largest hedge fund.

  • Iman Gadzhi and Pierre de Preux launched a SaaS and hit 7-figure ARR in 9 months by moving fast, using Iman’s audience, and solving a real problem.

  • Lenny Rachitsky and Jen Abel on how to approach founder-led sales.

  • Carta shares 50 slides packed with insights for founders from 45,000 startups.

  • How One AI App Founder Makes $20K+ Monthly—and How You Can Too!

Recently Funded / Raised

  • Moniepoint raised $323M to expand its business banking, credit, and payments platform for enterprises across Africa and beyond.

  • Knownwell raised $50.6M to enhance its AI-powered commercial intelligence platform that helps businesses identify risks and growth opportunities.

  • Alto Neuroscience raised $301M to develop AI-driven precision medicines targeting mental health conditions.

  • CoMind raised $87M to advance noninvasive neural interfaces that connect the human brain with artificial intelligence.

  • Anrok raised $109.3M to streamline sales tax compliance for SaaS businesses through automation.

  • Findem raised $88.3M to grow its AI-powered Talent Data Cloud that automates and unifies enterprise hiring workflows.

  • Finster AI raised $16.8M to build an AI-driven research platform for asset managers and investment banks.

  • Africa Finance Corporation secured $6.78B in debt financing to fund large-scale infrastructure and industrial investments across Africa.

  • Niron Magnetics received a $171.6M grant to develop high-performance, rare-earth-free permanent magnets using Iron Nitride technology.

  • Cala Health raised $248.3M to advance its wearable bioelectronic therapies for neurological and chronic diseases.

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How to Evolve Like a Finch and Outsmart the Giants

Most founders assume product-market fit comes from doing more — adding features, chasing new users, and trying to please everyone. But the Finch Strategy argues the opposite. The best startups grow by narrowing their focus and solving one problem really well for one group of people. Like Darwin’s finches, success comes from specialization, not being average at everything. Slack, Instagram, and Airbnb all took off by stripping things down and focusing deeply instead of expanding too soon.

The key is timing. In the early days, constraint is your edge because it forces you to build something unique that actually stands out. Once you’ve fully owned your niche, that’s when you slowly branch out. Instead of stressing over how big your market looks, focus on what you can do better than anyone else for the people who need it most. (LINK)

Ok that’s it for this week, We keep refining our newsletter content, just hit reply to let us know what you think about this issue.