Startups are lots of work, and that is if they work out. Talk given at the Lean Startup Machine workshop in Singapore in September 2012

1. Startup
Piroue(es
For
Lean
People
@benjaminjoffe

2. Startups
start
from
ideas…

3. …make
pivots…

4. …to
reach
this
stage.

5. Pivots?
“Go
that
way,
really
fast.
If
something
get
in
your
way,
turn”
(from
the
movie
“Alive
Not
Dead”)

6. ASSISTED
BLIND
PIVOT:
I
CAN’T
REALLY
HELP
YOU
WITH
YOUR
PIVOTS
“Change
based
on
the
advice
of
investors,
mentors,
“lean
startup
experts“,
etc.
who
also
haven’t
go.en
out
of
the
building
and
talked
to
the
humans.”
Check
Tristan
Kromer’s
excellent
“Taxonomy
of
the
Startup
Pivot”
h(p://grasshopperherder.com/taxonomy-­‐of-­‐the-­‐lean-­‐startup-­‐an-­‐pivot/

8. Hats
• Digital
Naturalist
– Founder
of
+8*
|
Plus
Eight
Star
– 12
years
across
Asia
• Startup
Therapist
– Angel
investor
in
8
startups
– Advisor
to
5
Accelerators
• Speaker
– 150+
talks
in
21
countries
(TEDx,
SxSW,
LeWeb…)
– 250,000
views
on
Slideshare

9. PLAN
1. Some
ideas
2. Startup
1
3. Startup
2
4. Conclusion

10. Some
ideas

11. Two
Contrarian
Views
• James
Altucher
• Nick
Yang

12. James
Altucher
• Write
10
ideas
a
day
• Throw
them
away
I
highly
recommend
his
columns!
Wring
10
ideas
a
day
will
make
you
realize
that
ideas
are
common.
Good
ideas
are
rare,
but
your
chances
get
higher
with
MORE
IDEAS.

13. Nick
Yang
• Ideas
• Passion
• Skills
Nick
Yang
is
a
serial
entrepreneur
in
China.
He
built
(among
other
things)
the
largest
mobile
content
provider
(KongZhong)
and
took
it
to
IPO.

14. Ideas?
His
view
is
that
ideas
are
not
so
special

15. Thomas
Edison
• Not
the
first
light
bulb
• Not
the
only
light
bulb
• First
large-­‐scale
business
A
light
bulb
represents
ideas
“thanks”
to
Thomas
Edison.
He
“owns”
the
symbol,
but
his
contribuon
was
not
what
people
think.
To
me,
the
light
bulb
is
a
terrible
symbol
for
ideas.

16. Passion?
When
I
hear
“passion”
I
think
of
this.
While
it
shows
commitment,
does
it
have
to
be
painful?

17. Passion
Can
Grow
• 2
types
of
entrepreneurs
• Passionate
about
business
• Ideas
change
anyway
• Passion
grows
with
work
&
improvement
Broadly
speaking,
entrepreneurs
are
“arsts”
or
“business
people”.
Passion
about
business
looks
more
“viable”.

18. Skills
• Re-­‐usable
• Keep
improving
• Market
value
To
Nick
Yang,
skills
are
key.
Ideas
are
everywhere,
passion
can
grow
once
results
come.
But
nothing
comes
without
skills.

19. Cmune
First
investment
/
Co-­‐founding
Quick
story
about
a
company
I
am
involved
in.

20. Pivots
• Pivots
– 2007
“3D
collaboraon”
– 2008
5
prototypes
– 2009
1
game
• Business
– 2010
Clean
up
everything
– 2011
Raise
money
from
Skype
Founder
– 2012
1M
Likes
Quite
a
few
pivots
on
the
business
side…

21. Today:
#1
shooter
on
Facebook,
1M
Likes!

22. DayDeed
My
first
project!
My
very
own
first
project

23. Idea
• Helping
people
help
others
• “Social
Craigslist”
• No
noise,
all
signal
Brilliant
concept!

24. Service
screenshot

25. First
Lessons
• Early
adopters?
• No
clear
problem
• Exisng
competors
• Deadpool
of
others
But
not
enough
research:
what’s
the
problem?
who
is
it
for?
Also
found
similar
live
and
dead
services,
none
growing
much.

26. Product
Lessons:
5
seconds
rule
1. What
you
do
2. What
I
can
do
3. Why
it’s
for
me
3
things
visitors
have
to
figure
out
in
a
few
seconds

27. Summary
• “Don’t
make
me
think”
• “Charming
content”
Self-­‐explanatory
is
best
+
Show
me
something
I
care
about!

28. Build
Minimal,
Measure,
Iterate
Fast
• Minimal
funcons
• Find
pa=erns
• Design
debt
Keep
funcons
and
design
as
simple
as
possible
(but
not
simplisc)
or
risk
building
waste
and
incur
design/technical
debt
(changes
take
more
and
more
me)

29. Parng
words

30. An
interesng
post
I
read
recently

31. “To
build
a
successful
business
you
need
a
great
team,
a
good
idea
and
a
lot
of
hard
[and
smart]
work.”
Startups
are
LOTS
OF
WORK

32. Typical
startup
• #FAIL
• 2
years
to
know
if
you
are
onto
something
• 4
years
to
get
somewhere
• Lots
of
hard
work
and
stress
• Freedom?
(vs.
job
or
small
business)
And
typically
take
4
YEARS
when
they
succeed!
You
will
have
less
me
and
likely
much
less
money.
Be
aware
of
that
(though
ignorance
might
also
help
you
get
started)

33. The
Friends
and
Family
Pivot
Most
startups
end
up
with
a
“F
&
F
Pivot”

34. “Create
real
products
or
solve
real
problems
instead!
It’s
not
harder,
it’s
just
different.
Plus
you
can
actually
make
a
difference
in
someone’s
life!”
4
years
of
your
life
with
lots
of
work
&
no
money
has
be(er
be
for
something
you
care
about

35. Thanks!
A
successful
pivot:
benjamin@plus8star.com
|
@benjaminjoffe