The Holy Grail for a company is to grow through “word-of-mouth” (hereafter referred to as WOM). It’s basically free, exponential, and powered by customers’ genuine love for one’s product.
WOM is shrouded in a certain mystique. Companies powered by WOM seem to have perfected some obscure alchemy.
I want the RO’s growth to be powered by WOM too. But the general advice to unlock WOM is often “just deliver a great service to your customers man”. This is unsatisfying. Where can I find the recipe for the WOM elixir?
I once heard someone say that “the Freemasons’ actual secret is that they have no secret”. Therein lies a parallel with the apocryphal WOM elixir. It doesn’t exist. Each company has to hunker down in its lab, mixing various potions in search of its own bespoke elixir.
I’m not talking about adding a referral program or a “gift this article” widget (valuable things, don’t get me wrong). I’m referring to something deeper. How can we intentionally craft an intellectually thought-through, scalable, virtuous, and global “WOM engine” for the RO?
The RO’s Ambassador program is our WOM elixir. The concept is simple:
1) Find talented, promising young VCs in local ecosystems around the world.
2) Onboard them to the RO Ambassador program, which works like this:
The Ambassador gets: full complimentary access to the RO, custom introductions to anyone in our network, and a 20% commission on new RO subscriptions that they originate.
The RO gets: local RO Events and RO Webinars organized by the Ambassador and punctual introductions to local, potential new RO subscribers.
Our philosophical North Star is that RO Ambassadors should gain significant career advancement from being an RO Ambassador. This is the only way this works.
We started the RO Ambassador program a few months ago. We currently have ~5 active RO Ambassadors. In May, we witnessed the program’s first tangible result.
RO’s East Africa Ambassador, Phylis Atieno, organized the RO’s first physical event in Nairobi. The event’s topic was based on our recent RO Long Read about the growing links between Japanese investors and the African startup scene. The event was set-up as a panel between three knowledgeable people on the topic (2 investors with Japanese LPs, 1 founder with Japanese investors). The panel was moderated by Phylis.
We spent around €300 for the space (Antler’s Nairobi office), catering, physical copies of that specific RO Long Read, and technical set-up. Other than that, Phylis ran the show. We had more applicants than we could accept, so Phylis & Aakash curated the room to include existing RO subscribers (who have priority), potential new RO subscribers (local VCs & local university students), and people that were relevant to the theme we covered.
Some pictures of the event, before we continue:
Phylis did an absolutely exceptional job. The feedback we’ve gotten has been overwhelmingly positive. Aakash & I were floored by the flawlessness of the event, despite neither of us actually being there.
The outcomes of the event:
For Phylis
A rolodex expansion, with relevant ecosystem actors. But more importantly, and this is something Phylis shared with us, a hightened credibility. She ran the event and moderated the panel - attendees were more keen to speak with her than if she was simply attending the event.
And additionally, qualitative, exclusive insights from the actual panel session, which she prepared for and moderated.
For the RO
A reinforcement of the RO brand in the Kenyan ecosystem. After the event, Phylis sent me the list of attendees and identified the ones who were particularly engaged. I reached out by email. A couple calls were booked, including with students from two of Kenya’s top business schools (USIU and Strathmore). Conversations have started about the value RO can have for students at these schools, and how that could transform into a library subscription.
My major takeaway might sound trivial: this was so fun! The event was a career boost for Phylis, we unlocked a ton of new leads, and we provided a useful (and free) event for local attendees. We tend to be better at things we enjoy doing: this thinking applies to the growth strategies we choose to pursue.
Phylis’ Nairobi event was a “POC” of the RO Ambassador program’s impact. Now, imagine a network of RO Ambassadors around the globe, organizing simultaneous RO events in Milan, Mexico City, Jakarta, and Tokyo.
Prosaically, this is an extremely capital-efficient way to grow (we organize small, curated events. Shouldn’t cost more than €1,000).
Intellectually, this is a great internal challenge (streamlining operations, screening/tooling Ambassadors, tracking event metrics, maintaining RO editorial standards…)
Philosophically, this is virtuous (helping young VCs advance their careers while organizing free, high-quality events for ecosystems around the world).
The RO Ambassador program is how the RO can “engineer WOM” at scale. With time, it will become our “secret sauce” on the growth/distribution side. Aakash is slowly shifting most of his attention to building it, while I take back full ownership of the editorial production.
Other RO updates
The French bank we were speaking to (Bpi France) confirmed that we were awarded a €15,000 grant (for tech expenses). We’ve just received the first tranche (€10,500). This money is 100% destined for Paul, our developer. Amongst other things, he just built a tool for RO Ambassadors to easily extend free RO trials to folks they know, autonomously.
That same French bank also said they agreed to extend us the €50,000 loan we requested. The only condition is that we raise an additional €30,000 in equity, to reinforce our treasury. I’ll start this (mini) fundraising round soon.
We’re getting fantastic feedback from our trial with the Indian School of Business (which ends in July). We spoke to multiple students who read us. We also spoke to an ISB professor, who enjoys our writing and asked how he could make the RO a teaching asset. The educational value we provide for ISB is clear. Now, we have to intelligently navigate the sales process.
Our university pipeline is building up: as summer break starts, I think a lot of these new free trials we’re discussing will start in September.
Revenue isn’t exponentially taking off yet (approaching €6,000 in revenue for 2026). I’m not very worried: the RO’s editorial product is in demand. We just have some remaining work to do on buffing up the product (ie: more articles, deeper articles) & scaling our sales processes (ie: RO Ambassador program) to launch the revenue machine. Give it a couple of months.
This week, we published an ~18 minute read on the Venezuelan startup ecosystem. You can read it here.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts (as a reply to this email or just text/email me).
Talk to you next month,
Tim