Slides from my talk "Starting Up With Sex, Love, & Violence" from Intl Startup Festival (Montreal, July 2012)

1. Starting Up
with
Sex, Love, & Violence.

2. WARNING:

3. WARNING!!!
this deck is guaranteed to offend,
provide tragically incorrect advice,
and perhaps get you arrested.
Fucking Deal with it.

4. [This Talk]
• Be Different, Take Risk!!!
• Stand 4 SOMEthing. (or u stand 4 NOthing.)
• Tap Into Humanity: Fear, SEX, Power, etc.
• Be a Hero, or a Villain. (just don’t fucking BORE me.)
• Pictures, Text, Music: they all say 1000 words.
• When It Works, Double Down.
• Be Yourself… Only More So
KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

5. [Dave McClure]
2001-2012:
• Startup Investor: 500 Startups, Founders Fund
• Tech Marketing: PayPal, Simply Hired, Mint.com
• Advisor, Investor: 300+ Startups
• Conferences: Warm Gun, Lean Startup, SMASH
• Stanford Lecturer: Facebook, Startup Metrics
80’s & 90’s:
• Entrepreneur: Founder/CEO Aslan Computing (acq.)
• Developer: Windows Apps / SQL DB Admin
• User Groups: E-Commerce, Internet, Client-Server
• Engineer: Johns Hopkins ‘88, BS Eng / Applied Math

6. 500 Startups
Seed Fund & Accelerator
(330+ companies, 20+ countries)
• Design
• Data
• Distribution

7. [Interesting Shit]

8. Read Geoffrey Miller.
Sex + Evolution + Consumer Mktg = Awesome Sauce.

9. More Great Shit.
Psychology + Comics 

10. [Geek Renaissance]
• Tech Innovation
• Finance Innovation
• Design Innovation
• Social Innovation
• Global Innovation
• Gender Innovation

11. [Start(up) + Heart]

12. Be Different
Take Risk.

13. Be Different.
• Take Risk Early. U Have Nothing 2 Lose.
• Playing it Safe = Death.
• Pissing People Off is OK. (in fact, #WINNING)
• U Can’t Build Brand around INDIFFERENCE.
• Love *or* Hate are Ok. Both are Good Signal.

14. CHANGE. PEACE.
POWER. SEX.
Stand 4 SOMEthing.
(or stand 4 NO-thing)

15. Stand 4 SOMEthing,
or Stand 4 NOthing.
• Be Iconic.
• Single word or emotion.
• Don’t be afraid 2b Hated.
• Don’t be afraid 2b Shamed.
• Aim for the Moon. [Land on the Roof]

16. Tap Into Humanity
Fear, Sex, Power

17. Tap Into Humanity
• Fear: What u run from
• Sex: Who we love, lust 4
• Power: Ability 2 Control Ur World
• Family: Find Ur Tribe.
• Anger: Fight 4 Ur Right [2 Party]

18. Be a Hero
Be a Villain

19. Be a Hero… or Villain
• Who do u LOVE, Admire, Want 2 B?
• Who do u HATE, Despise, [secretly] jealous?
• Whatever u are Drawn 2
• Just Don’t Be BORING.
• Again: Indifference = Death.

20. Say 1000 words.
[or just 1 Finger]

21. Say 1000 words.
• 1 awesome picture.
• 3 powerful words, or a few sentences.
• 30 sec meaningful music or video.
• Less is more.
note: these slides are not less.

22. If/When It Works
Double Down.

23. When It Works, Double Down.
• If someone loves u, it’s working.
• If someone hates u, it’s working.
• Once u get signal, try iteration, repetition.
• Once u get repetition, try variation.
• Good artists COPY; great artists STEAL
(from themSELVES!)

24. Be Your SELF.
(But Be Ur SUPER Self)

25. Always Be Your [SUPER] Self
• Start from the Heart.
• Be Yourself. Be Authentic. Be Comfortable.
• But: the MOST AWESOME, PASSIONATE u.
• Find a feeling or emotion u can sustain
• [sometimes even weakness can be ok]