TikTok killer, more tech layoffs, and how to design an awesome pitch deck

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👉 These are the crazy things I learned last week.

1/ Can Amazon take down TikTok?

Amazon is launching a TikTok-like competitor called Inspire, which could be the end of TikTok.

Amazon will offer to creators what TikTok has failed to do - a stable and scalable income stream.

Are you still watching TikTok, or have you moved? 👋

2/ You are on vacation, and a colleague sends you an email asking you something urgent about work. Again.

Do you know what would be epic? If you got paid $1200 every time, someone sends you an email while on vacation! 💸.

The second best (?) thing comes from this company that fines the email sender $1200 for interrupting your vacations.

I could definitely see both strategies being abused.

3/ Imagine this.

✔ You are a student, studying tirelessly for years to achieve your dream of becoming a Computer Science major at a top-ranked college. The competition is fierce, but you earned your spot among the best.

✔ As a dedicated college student, you spend every waking moment honing your skills and learning everything you can. You even take on internships to give yourself an edge in the job market.

✔ After graduation, you decide to take your education to the next level and earn your MSc degree. You are now more prepared than ever to take on the tech industry and make your mark.

✔ Your hard work pays off, and you land your dream job at a major tech company. You are thrilled to be working alongside the brightest minds in the industry and are determined to prove your worth.

✔ You put in long hours and made sacrifices to excel in your role. Your dedication and talent are rewarded with promotions and raises, and your future looks brighter than ever.

🚫 And then, on a random day, you realize you cannot access any company's system. You are calling your manager just to find out that you just get laid off.

Sounds like a difficult situation, huh? 😟

Well, this is the reality for thousands of people affected by the recent tech layoffs. A few days ago, Google also announced that 12.000 employees (around 6% of the company's workforce) are getting laid off.

And do you know what the worst part is?

There is NOTHING you can do not to let this thing happen.

No matter how hard you work, how "high performer" you are, or how excellent soft skills you have, if the company decides that it needs to save money, you can easily be affected without prior notice.

That's the (hard) reality, and as soon you accept it, the better for you.

If my story didn't make you feel sad and lost, check this "A day in my life getting laid off at google" reel and feel the struggle.

4/ A few weeks ago, I told you the story of Fidias, a Youtuber from Cyprus, trying to hug Elon Musk for a YouTube challenge.

Well, I cannot tell you if he did it or not (you should check on your own), but after that, I'm sure we are living in a simulation. 🤯

5/ Let's finish this week with a reminder about how you should structure your pitch deck.

I know that all entrepreneurs out there have seen this multiple times, but you know what they are saying:

“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” ― Zig Ziglar.

This framework comes straight from Sequoia Capital. (If you don't know who they are, you should definitely need to read about this legendary VC firm).

All you need is 10 slides for the perfect pitch deck.

1. Company Purpose
2. Problem
3. Solution
4. Why Now
5. Market Size
6. Competition
7. Product
8. Business Model
9. Team
10. Financials

That's it.

But don't get fooled by its simplicity. It is actually a lot harder to keep it simple and clean.

👉 Do you want to see me reviewing pitch decks and giving honest feedback as an angel investor to founders?

I got you covered! 😎

🌐 Startup office hours 🌐

That's all for now. See you next week! 🚀

-- Jon V (as in Victory)

- Fri 20 January 2023