Co-Founders - short lessons learned

Co-Founders Lessons Learned @andreasklinger

Co-Founders#1 searching#2 considering#3 joining#4 working(short lessons learned)

@andreasklinger TL;DR: I do startups…LOOKK.com, die.socialisten.at, seedcamp mentor, leancamp fanboy Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger

#1 searching @andreasklinger

Searching sucks.

Waiting sucks.

Being dependent sucks.

If I ﬁnd a technicalco-founder…

There is no “if” inentrepreneurialgrammar.And there istoo much stuﬀ to doto wait or just search…

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale AcquisitionProblem/Solution Company building Product/Market Source: Steve Blank’s Customer Development

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale Acquisition Problem/Solution Company building Product/Market “Talking” Land(problem validation, ﬁrst customers)

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale Acquisition Problem/Solution Company building Product/Market “Talking” Land “Public Hacked(problem validation, Prototype Land” ﬁrst customers) (solution validation, more customers)

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale Acquisition Problem/Solution Company building Product/Market “Talking” Land “Public Hacked “Fix that crap” Land(problem validation, Prototype Land” (Becoming a real ﬁrst customers) (solution validation, product and more customers) company, Fixing legacy, Channel optimization)

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale Acquisition Problem/Solution Company building Product/Market “Talking” Land “Public Hacked “Fix that crap” Land “Mystery Land”(problem validation, Prototype Land” (Becoming a real (Fighting Dragons, ﬁrst customers) (solution validation, product and Saving princesses, more customers) company, etc) Fixing legacy, Channel optimization)

Startup phases… Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale5-7 Months 3-5 Months Source: Startup Genome Project

Startup phases…Discovery Validation Eﬃciency Scale Enough time to kill your ﬁrst startup idea. You can do dozens ofiterations of your potential problem and solutionwithout ever touching code. Source: Startup Genome Project

How to kill yourﬁrst 100 startupideas…CustDev is themost eﬃcient way visualizing the solutionto kill your dreams. without biasing customersEver. committing customers testing the solution ( www.Keynotopia.com )

Learncoding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.

Learncoding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.Everyone can learn to code on“hacky prototype level”.

GetClients.Money talks.

GetTraction.There are millions of reasonsfor not having traction.But none of them is an excuse.

Good problemsto have:“I got clients’ money, I need developmentsupport” (real)“My hacked-together prototype gets toomuch traﬃc, can you help me” (concrete)

#2 considering @andreasklinger

Beforeyou join:Write downyour ﬁrst impressions and concerns.Positive and negative.Revise this every two weeks.People don’t change &Your gut is always right.

Beforeyou join:Have a VERY honest talkabout WHY each of youwants to do that startup.

Keeping the product abstracthelps in that talk.Goal: Find real intrinsic motivation

E.g.Becoming known in the startup “scene”.Making money.Being known worldwide.Building software people use.Coding in that new language.Being innovativeHelping underdogs.Sounds more fun than my agency job.Play the VC/Startup game.

Why?Intrinsic Motivationaﬀects Values and Comfort Zone.Both aﬀect Strategies.People only do what people like to do.

See ﬁnding a co-founderas hiring process.It’s the most expensive jobof the company. (equity intense)Still people spend less time on assessingtheir co-founders than their employees.Why?

StartLoose…Loose projects…Loose contracts…Loose hopes…Loose (but honest) or no promises…

#3 joining @andreasklinger

Co-Founding~= Marriage54% of all marriages end in divorce.

Co-Founding~= Marriage54% of all marriages end in divorce.Set up vesting.

Co-Founding~= Marriage54% of all marriages end in divorce.Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliﬀ).

Co-Founding~= Marriage54% of all marriages end in divorce.Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliﬀ).(seriously do it)

#4 working @andreasklinger

ClearLeadership“Some startup founder teams have a uniﬁed vision. Most have one strong leader.” ~ Devin Hunt

ClearLeadership“Some startup founder teams have a uniﬁed vision. Most have one strong leader.” ~ Devin HuntBe clear who deﬁnes (and changes) the vision.Be clear about who decides in the end, if needed.Don’t confuse common agreement with democracy.

Make communicationa habit.Daily calls.Weekly progress check.Clear process for each of them

Make communicationa habit.Daily calls.Weekly progress check.Clear process for each of themE.g. Daily calls(only one person talks at a time, 10 mins max, discussions are done in a seperate call):1) What did i do today2) What am i going to do tomorrow3) Problems i face4) Announcements5) Ways i found to improve (e.g. myself) [idea by buﬀer]

Co-Founders#1 searching#2 considering#3 joining#4 working(short lessons learned)

recommended presentations by @robﬁtz on custdev/lean: http://leanca.mp/2012/01/intro-to-lean-startup-with-no-buzzwords-by-robﬁtz/http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2012/05/how-to-do-and-what-to-expect-from- early-stage-customer-development-sales/ Pictures by “Where the Wild Things Are” by Warner Bros http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/

And if they haven’t killed each other they are livinghappily ever after… @andreasklinger

http://www.dex.io	145
http://www.heisse-luft.at	34
http://dex.io	17
https://si0.twimg.com	12
http://www.linkedin.com	11
http://localhost	9
https://twitter.com	5
https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net	3
https://www.rebelmouse.com	2
http://dest.soup.io	1

Co-Founders - short lessons learned

by Andreas Klinger on Aug 16, 2012

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

10 Embeds 239

Statistics

Co-Founders - short lessons learned Presentation Transcript