We think we speak for the rest of the world when we say: how is it already the end of 2023? It's true what they say - the days are long, but the decades are short.
2023 was a big year for us. We ran an in-person orientation in Bali, received 800+ applications for the W23 batch, and we've made over $10M worth of investments across the past two batches… and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
We could go on, but we think it's better to hear from the rest of the team themselves.
Reflecting on 2023
This is the first time we got the entire team in on the video (Brian and Hsu Ken are very happy to share the spotlight), and we're excited for you to meet the rest of the team and hear what we were up to this year.
With that said, we also wanted to take the time to reflect on the content we've made this year. We've experimented and iterated (pun fully intended), and while not everything worked, we're glad founders and readers are resonating with our content.
Here’s a roundup of the most viewed content we made this year.
Check Out Iterative's Top 10 Content
Top 5 Videos
We doubled down on creating YouTube videos this year because we know not everyone learns by the written format, and we wanted to reach more founders.
In the span of a year, we've amassed over 37k views and surpassed the 1k subscriber mark. While we're no MrBeast, we're glad we ventured into YouTube as we learned that founders do watch and learn through videos - and that resources should be made public and available for everyone.
Here are our top 5 most-viewed videos of 2023.
Live Investor Reactions to Real Startup Pitches
This was technically an event, and we uploaded the recording to YouTube. Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), it quickly racked up 1k+ views. Pitching to investors is often a closed-door event, so it's likely rare for people to see it firsthand - let alone receive feedback.
Should You Continue Working On Your Startup
It's a common question founders will answer at one point in their entrepreneurial journey, which is why it's one of our most-watched videos this year. We also think it's an essential topic because it shows that there is no ‘right’ path - sometimes you reach Series A, and sometimes you quit and start something else. In both versions, you're still a founder.
How to Validate Startup Ideas: Not All Validation Methods Are Created Equal
This video was actually a snippet from our Validation Program last year, where we helped over 100 founders validate their startup idea. Gathering evidence is crucial, but how you do it is just as important. In this video, Hsu Ken breaks down the common validation methods and shares why surveys and interviews are not always reliable - something founders are often surprised to learn.
P/S: It's such an important topic that we decided to run another Validation Program this year. You can sign up for to get access to the content here.
Tell Me Your Idea, I'll Tell You How to Validate It in 2 Weeks Without Code
Surprise, surprise - another video on validation. This video is also a recording of the event, where founders told Hsu Ken their idea, and he told them how to validate it, inexpensively and without having to code. While Hsu Ken is speaking directly to the participant, we think over 1k+ people watched this video because they can learn by modelling and then apply the concepts onto their own startup ideas.
Startup Founders React to Startup Movie & TV Scenes
This is our first ever video that intersects with pop culture. It's one of our top videos for good reason - it dives into what's real and fiction for startups, how founders are often wrongly portrayed, and how the media likes to glamourise this part of the world. It's also one of the most fun video we've ever made (both to record and to publish).
Top 5 Written Content
When Iterative first started, written content was our go-to medium. We posted articles on the blog, and then started sharing threads on our LinkedIn account. We've seen consistent growth on our LinkedIn this year (we hit 6k followers!) - and we're excited to continue reaching more founders through our articles and threads.
Here are our top 5 most-read content this year.
How We Help Seed Stage Companies
Accelerators are often thought of as being helpful to only early stage companies but founders of seed stage companies have found our program helpful. Hsu Ken wrote this thread to share some of the ways we help growing companies, from fundraising to company building.
3 Things We Teach to Help Founders Successfully Fundraise
As Paul Graham once said, fundraising is brutal. It's why we teach founders how to fundraise in the program, and why we've created so much content on fundraising. Companies in our batch program have gone on to raise over $160M after graduation. In this article, we shared the key things we teach in the program to help founders successfully fundraise.
Common Reasons We Reject Companies
Founders who are fundraising face a ton of rejections, and as a VC, we think it's instructive to share rejection reasons. Founders have told us they've found this article helpful as it helps them better communicate why they are great founders with good ideas.
In fact, our Investments team has started sending more personalised rejection feedback after First Calls as a way to help founders learn and grow.
How to Apply to Iterative Successfully
Founders have shared with us that they've wanted to apply to Iterative, but felt intimidated and overwhelmed by our application form. To alleviate some of these feelings, we wrote this article to do two things (1) simplify the questions (2) provide guardrails so there's a scope to follow.
5 Validation Methods to Validate Your Startup Idea
Are we surprised at this point? The topic of validation continues to dominate even the written side of the content world. This article is similar to the many videos we've done on validation, where we share the top 5 validation methods founders can use to gather evidence on why their startup idea is good (or bad).
Bonus
Accelerators Should Not Charge Program Fees
This is under bonus because this isn't technically a thread by Iterative - Hsu Ken wrote it on his LinkedIn account. This is one of his most popular piece yet, as it amassed over 192k views, 160 comments and 40 reposts.
We decided to include it into our end-of-the-year list not because of the traction it got, but because it's what Iterative strongly believes in - we'll never charge program fees because we put founders first. Always.
More Bonus Content
While events are not technically content, it is something we're started doing more of this year - especially in-person events. We realise the in-person element is invaluable to founders (meeting on Zoom is great, but it's hard to replace meeting someone in the flesh).
We ran a total of 15 physical and virtual events this year. Here are some top moments.
Jakarta Meetup - November 2023
Women Founders Event - November 2023
Singapore Meetup - December 2023
Thank You, Next?
To the founders, future founders and everyone in between who have read, watched or listened to our content, thank you. We couldn't have done this without your support and we're grateful to have this platform to reach and connect with more founders.
Our missions continues to be the same, and we're excited for 2024. As Brian and Hsu Ken likes to say (and see) for traction graphs, upwards (and to the right)!