VBSR 1.02: The geography advantage + customer anthropology + a taste for taste

Sara and Vas debrief on Vas’s recent trip to India, how founders use geography to their advantage, and what tech can learn from LVMH  about taste. They also share some advice for founders on pitching their stories to investors. This Week’s Five TakeawaysWhere you build can shape how you win. On his recent visit to India, Vas noticed a verve for the messy work of systems integration and solutions engineering he hadn’t seen elsewhere. Different geographies impart strategic advantages, whether it’s talent with a knack for rolling up sleeves, a longtime connection to a particular industry, or simply a certain kind of ambition in the air.  Commodified code requires aspirational brands. As AI lowers barriers to production, there’s been a lot of chatter about taste (we love Sarah Guo’s essay on this). But taste is more than a buzzword; it’s a durable business advantage. (Just look at LVMH and Herman Miller.) Founders should study how luxury brands build worlds for which their products are the ticket to enter.Taste is more than your color scheme and logo. Aesthetic instincts are a start, but the most interesting companies right now are pairing those instincts with a nuanced, almost anthropological understanding of their customer. Taste applied is all about solving the right problems with thought and charm.The founding designer is having a moment. Taste as an ascendant differentiator means designers are taking more prominent roles, earlier. And whether you’re aiming upmarket or targeting the masses, this key early hire can ensure you’re delivering on your brand promise in a way that feels coherent and consistently delights your customers and users.5. It’s okay to talk about the messy parts of building a company. Don’t be afraid to show your work when discussing your project with an investor. That includes false starts, discarded ideas, and tests that didn’t go as planned. These stories often contain nuggets about how you think and work that are really what’s important to a potential partner.