Startups Dead Horse Beating

Startups’ Dead
Horse Beating
Stating the obvious about startups
Laurent Kretz| @laurentk

contact
laurentkretz
twitter : @laurentk
email : laurentk@gmail.com
web : laurentk.com

Why me???

Why me???
Zucks, Dorseys, Jobs, …. => 1 in a million

Why me???
Me, you, them, 999,999 others …. => the rest

what i could talk about…
what i’ve done so far
you don’t wanna start a company
supposedly good ideas
go build something

who are you??

me: suitsexperience
Grenoble
Paris
New York

me: sneakers experience
20052008
2010
CloserWorld
(fail)
(win)
(in progress)

a few words on submate
discover people and things to do in your areas

don‘tstart a startupsomerules of thumb…

don‘tevengetstart(up)ed
rule of thumb:
youwillfail.
100 people in the room > 10 projects > no funding

99% of the startups are in the valley ….. of death

rule of thumb:
if yousucceed, youwon’tberich
trust me, go work for McKinsey, Deloitte or Morgan Stanley

150,000€
go be a banker in new york or london, youcouldmakethisnextyear

launchyour startup, thisiswhatyou’llearn in the next 3 years

rule of thumb:
every single stepis the hardest
market > team > product > funding > revenues > …

rule of thumb:
steepestlearningcurve
everydayis a new test with new rules and a new jury

regular job learningcurve

Escher, Relativity, 1953
startup life learningcurve

rule of thumb:
it‘sjustbad (luck)
1,000 people have the sameidea
> 100 willwork on it
> 10 willbuild a product
> 1 willsucceed
=> why??

rule of thumb:
executioniskey
slow execution, wrongproblem,
not the shoulders, not the right place

go startwhereyourmarketis

analyse yourmarket & settlewhereit’s the easiest

To sum up…
- youwillfail
- you’llbepoor
- everystepwillbe the hardest
- you’lllearnnothing
- cause your chance

stillhere?so put out yourA-game

be 1001% committed
no day-job, no boy/girlfriend, no hours, …

getyourstufftogether, in order
idea > team > prototype > tests > MVP > traction > funding

= failoften,
failfast
don‘twaste time, money and effort
try to fail, test new things, you have nothing to lose

beprepared, staystrong
you’re a visionaryproductguy? you‘llspendyour time chasing money, customers, users, employees, facingNOs

be confident
nobodyunderstandswhatyou’redoing & will tell youwhat to do

be confident (bis)
everyoneknowsbetter & *will* tell youwhat to do

oh, and …..
be cool, you’llfail
bis repetita

To sum up…
- becommited
- put structure in yourprocess
- try to fail
- be patient, strong & confident
- beaware of your fate

now, go buildsomething(it’seasy, really)

< build />
simple value proposition
beunderstood (users, customers, investors and yourmother)

< build /> # value prop
Your files, anywhere, instantly.
sloth?

Tell your friends where you are.
vanity? pride?

Save money
envy? greed?

self explanatory
lust(!)

best value proposition = 1 of the 7 deadlysins
from Dave McClure, Startup Viagra

< build />
launch as soon as possible
submate: 6 months. secretpoke: 1 month. fastfwdme: 1 week

< build />
“
if you’re not ashamed by your first realease, you’vereleasedtoolate
“
Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn

< build />
iterate, iterate, …
ittakes an afternoon to change an MVP
forget long brainstorming sessions, and go test

< build /> # iterate
go lean

< build />
berealistic on your agenda
trust the 90-90 rule:
90% of the code = 90% of the time & last 10% = 90% of the time

< build />
think mobile first
facebook mobile users are 2x more active than non-mobile users

< build />
use a platform
facebook, twitter, twilio, foursquare, …. :
they have the users, they have the servers

< build /> #use-platforms
built on Twilio’s API
raised $1M in 1st few months

built on smart phone gps, twitter and facebook for sharing
worth $500M to $1B

hashable started on twitter

< build />
go sellsomethingnow!
sell, sell, sell
remember: bill gates sold BASIC before building it

< build />
learn to code
ruby on rails iseasy, senchatouch for mobile apps, …
if you’re a bizguy, savesome cash and equity!

< build />
me, 2 monthsago

< build />
me, 1 monthago

< build />
fastfwdme , mvp in a week: web, mobile, sharing, …

< build />
fastfwdme , couple weekslater

< build />
To sum up…
- targetlowesthanging banana
- launchasap & iterate
- plan carefully
- think mobile and platforms
- go sellsomething
- learn to code

questions?

contact
laurentkretz
twitter : @laurentk
email : laurentk@gmail.com
web : laurentk.com

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Startups Dead Horse Beating

by Laurent Kretz on Jun 10, 2011

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