Dietary Supplement Manufacturing: Common Missteps and What ...
An entrepreneurship tale - From lowly dev to funded founder and the missteps and lessons along the...
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17-Oct-2014 -
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Transcript of An entrepreneurship tale - From lowly dev to funded founder and the missteps and lessons along the...
Limited Life Experience+
Overgeneralization=
Advice
Paul BucheitCreator of Gmail, Co-founder of FriendFeed
Market leading customer feedback & support solution
21 strong in San Francisco & Raleigh
90,000+ organizations have used us
$2M+ raised over 2 funding rounds
Tens of millions of registered users
182 people/sec see our product
Learning stuff. Having fun.
Had graduated from State school
Toiling as a developer at a local dev shop
Had never even visited Silicon Valley
Writing Java...
... to generate reports ...
... for companies that inspect urinals
Meh.
in 2005
3,000 miles
3 failed startups
Too many failed investor pitches to count
2 ex-cofounders
1 ex-girlfriend
2 months of homelessness
A lot of good stories
in between...
I see you’ve built a calendar. Cool!
It has a lot of functionality.
But it’s really ugly and hard to use.
I’ll fix that for you
I <3 Dad
Relocation
Three’s Company
Momentum0
1750
3500
5250
7000
April May June July August September October November
Accounts - 2008
I <3 Dad
Relocation
Three’s Company
Momentum0
1750
3500
5250
7000
April May June July August September October November
Accounts - 2008
Beware of people with all the answers
To a first-time entreprenuer everyone seems to have more experience than you but that doesn’t mean you should listen to them.
Start learning to go with your gut
Most successful people I know have never been afraid of making decisions about things they had absolutely no prior experience to prepare them for :)
Don't expect anyone to answer the hard questions for you
No MBA or expert advisor is going to drop of the sky and answer that difficult business model question for you. Make a decision. Build on it. Don’t wait for a white knight.
Market then Team then Product
You’re a creator so your tendency will be to rush into building something. Don’t **.
** but don’t write a 30 page business plan either
Be sure you love the problem you’re solving
My test: Am I helping people have more time to waste or wasting more of people’s time? YMMV
Passionate people can love all sorts of problems
More important than what you already love is finding new problems, even un-sexy problems like customer service, that you can pour yourself into.
When it comes to investors often no data is better than some data
Easier to craft a big story and not get bogged down with projections
Getting funded is a lot like losing your virginity
Except the TechCrunch article. Don’t get caught up with who’s (funding) whom. You’ll get yours.
Be sure to have a sense of urgency.
Create one if necessary. Getting outside investment, of any kind, keeps you “honest” and ensures you’ll take it things seriously.
Don’t be so fucking clever
In your product and in how you setup your company. Cleverness is the enemy of maintainability.
Be a joiner not a loner.
Going it alone is HARD. Check your ego and your “great” idea and find a good group of people to work with.