$100M+/year founder Jason Cohen reveals a brilliant startup idea built on top of Twitter

April 24, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

The System Behind the Strategy: Jason Cohen on Startup Ideas That Actually Work

Jason Cohen, founder of multiple companies including WP Engine and SmartBear, has a clear definition of strategy: "deciding how you're going to win." That means identifying your advantage, your strengths, and how you leverage them. In retrospect, good strategy is easy to describe — Netflix's DVD-to-home model eliminated the "walk of death" to return movies, then streaming made it immediate. A strategy is the critical idea that sets a company apart and is hard to follow.

Cohen brought this lens to three startup ideas during the conversation, each with distinct operating principles worth unpacking.

The Twitter System That Could Be a Product

Cohen has built a personal system for Twitter that he explicitly does not want to productize — but the system itself is instructive. Most social media tools focus on broadcasting: scheduling posts, managing a queue. Cohen's insight is that the real leverage is on the receiving side — processing interactions like an inbox.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Defining Strategy** - Jason Cohen explains his definition of strategy as deciding how you're going to win, using Netflix as an example.
2 (00:50) **Idea #1: A Smarter Social Media System** - Jason describes his personal system for managing Twitter, which he has not productized.
3 (10:10) **The Case for a Data-Driven Social Tool** - Jason critiques existing social media tools for lacking data validation and A/B testing.
4 (18:02) **Idea #2: A Simpler, Lower-Price Segment** - Jason proposes a simplified, affordable version of Segment for SMBs.
5 (23:33) **Niche Strategy for Segment** - The host suggests "Segment for X" (e.g., for lawyers, realtors) as the real opportunity.
6 (29:20) **Idea #3: A System for Practical Strategy** - Jason explores the idea of a tool or agency that helps companies create simple, actionable strategies.
7 (38:46) **Agency Model for Strategy** - The host and Jason discuss packaging this strategy system as an agency offering.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

I’m joined by Jason Cohen, a four-time entrepreneur and current Chief Innovation Officer of WP Engine, to discuss his three best startup ideas: a tool for optimizing social media replies, a simpler, lower price segment, and helping people make practical, simple strategies.

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