In the technology world, people often talk about building "category leaders." That title, while difficult to award when there can be so many competitors in any one space, often comes from becoming seen as a ubiquitous part of the category you operate in. This week, we unpacked a number of "category leaders," and some of the common characteristics they share.
We explored Zapier, and how the world of low-code / no-code is rapidly evolving. Zapier bootstrapped their way into becoming the de facto automation tool for the long-tail of users. Zapier's ecosystem of API integrations has become an integral part of making most SaaS applications interoperable. This week, we also released a new memo on Webflow. The combination of tools like Airtable, Webflow, and Zapier make up no-code stacks for building applications (known as the "AWZ stack"). While Zapier has become ubiquitous with the automation world, they are, by no means, alone. Their dominant position is being threatened by the rise of in-house integration tools like Alloy Automation, Tray.io and Airtable. To learn more about Zapier, their market opportunity, and some risks ahead, read our full memo here.
In the world of fintech and payments, we shared a thread on Brex, including some of the most important lessons the founders learned in their early days before reaching a $12B valuation. Speaking of competitive industries, there's no shortage of competition in the world of expense management. Not only are there established players competing directly, like AmEx, Expensify, or Ramp, but you also have newer entrants like Rippling expanding into the space. If you missed our full memo on Brex, read it here.
Sometimes, companies enter a market and become ubiquitous. Other times, they effectively help invent the market. The health and fitness industry has a number of sub-segments, but there weren't a lot of tech companies historically tackling the sleep industry, despite the fact that the market for sleep technology is expected to grow from $15 billion today to $67 billion by 2030. Companies like Eightsleep are using technology to improve the way people sleep. We explored their evolution in a thread outlining how the product is mapping to consumer demand. You can also read our full memo on Eight Sleep.
Another example of a company that largely helped usher in their own approach to a less-than-innovative market is Guild Education. Reskilling has been a buzzy topic for years, but few companies have captured the sector with as much relevance as Guild has.
Finally, the discussion around generative AI and LLMs doesn’t seem to be abating in 2023. Foundation models were born in natural language processing (NLP) and have transformed that space in areas such as customer support, and sales & marketing. Companies like Cohere are building core foundational models in NLP and, while a number of companies are playing a critical role in this space, Cohere is certainly a big part of that story.
