How I Became A Founder: Omneky’s Hikari Senju

How I Became A Founder: Omneky’s Hikari Senju

In the world of technology, innovation is key. For Hikari Senju, the constant change, independence, and comradery of the industry drew her in. With a background in computer science, Hikari attended events organized by Peter, which allowed her to connect with like-minded students who would later become her network of founders. Little did she know, these connections would play a crucial role in her journey as a founder.

After leaving her job at Yup, Hikari was fortunate enough to receive her first investment from Village Global just days later. Village Global incubated her company, Omneky, for the first six months, providing a supportive community of portfolio companies where challenges were discussed and learnings were shared. This experience taught Hikari the importance of a community in building a successful company.

One of the biggest obstacles for aspiring founders is financial stability. Starting a company requires taking risks, and it can be challenging if you rely on a steady income from a job to support yourself or your family. Hikari believes that increasing access to capital is vital to enable more people to take the leap and start their own companies. As Thomas Edison once said, "Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."

The red flags and magic numbers that investors look for in your startup's metrics - 80 slide deck included!

When it comes to startups, investors look for specific metrics that indicate potential success. Andrew Chen's slide deck provides valuable insights into the metrics that investors pay attention to. One key metric is the Monthly Active Users (MAUs) and the point where New+Reactivated equals Inactive users. This is known as the peak MAUs, and it signifies a crucial point for startups. From there, growth tends to stagnate or decline.

However, predicting the future can be challenging, as the Growth Accounting Framework relies on lagging metrics. To truly understand a startup's potential, it's important to examine the quality and scalability of its acquisition and engagement loops. Acquisition loops refer to how a cohort of new users leads to another set of new users. Examples of acquisition loops include UGC + SEO, paid marketing, and viral growth.

A startup's ability to directly ask for signups is an indicator of potential upside. Landing pages that focus solely on signup forms often yield better results. Understanding the acquisition mix, which breaks down signups by channels and time periods, is crucial. Additionally, the source and quality of users play a significant role in long-term success. Efforts should be focused on high-quality channels to ensure sustainable growth.

The underlying platform of an acquisition loop is also important to consider, as it can impact a startup's stability. By analyzing all these factors, founders can create scenarios to predict their growth curves. For network-based products, active user engagement is crucial, while utility-based products require engagement across different time periods.

Creating a social feedback loop relies on easy content creation that users genuinely want to engage with. Building a dense network of relevant connections is also important. Cohort curves should flatten at a rate higher than 20% to ensure user stickiness. Detecting artificial engagement is possible through a breakdown of notifications and analyzing volume and click-through rates over time.

While engagement metrics are difficult to improve compared to acquisition metrics, focusing on new user activation and up-selling users from one frequency segment to another can yield positive results. Ultimately, the goal is to bring users back into the network through network density and easy content creation.

Actionable Advice:

1. Cultivate a strong network of like-minded individuals. Attend industry events and connect with others who share your passion and vision.

2. Prioritize access to capital. Seek out opportunities to secure funding that will enable you to take the leap and start your own company.

3. Focus on both acquisition and engagement loops. Understand the quality and scalability of these loops to ensure sustainable growth.

In conclusion, Hikari Senju's journey as a founder showcases the importance of innovation, community, and financial support in the world of technology. By understanding the metrics investors look for and optimizing acquisition and engagement loops, founders can increase their chances of success. With the right network, access to capital, and a focus on scalable growth, anyone can become a successful founder in the ever-changing world of technology.