Uploaded byAnders Fredriksson
10 mistakes you will make as a first time entrepreneur
This is a presentation that I've given on a couple of occasions trying to teach first time entrepreneurs about the 10 mistakes that many do as first timers. I did them myself too.
10 mistakes you will make as a first time entrepreneur
- 1. 10 MISTAKES YOU WILLMAKE AS A FIRST TIME ENTREPRENEUR
- 2. NO REALLY... YOU WILLMAKE THEM
- 3. DON’T WORRY THOUGH I’VE MADE THEM TOO
- 4. Entrepreneur DJ Tech-guy converte d to biz-guy Anders Fredriksson @andefred soundcloud.com/house_of_fred anders@shpare.com
- 5. #1: KEEP YOURIDEA SECRET
- 6. OTHERWISE SOMEONE WILL STEALYOUR IDEA!!
- 7.
- 8. IF YOU ARE LUCKY THEY’LL TELL YOU WHAT THEY THINK
- 9.
- 10. wait for the Ohwow! MOMENT
- 11. #2: DON’T LAUNCHUNTIL YOUR SERVICE IS COMPLETE WITH FEATURES
- 12. WE HAVE TOHAVE FEATURE X ...OTHERWISE USERS WILL HATE US
- 13.
- 14. IN FACT... THEY’LL PROBABLY HATE YOU IF YOU DO
- 15.
- 16. #3: WRITE ACOMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN FIRST
- 17. FIRST PARAGRAPH ISA HYPOTHESIS... PROBABILITY OF BEING CORRECT IN THE LAST?
- 18.
- 19. #4: MEASURE SUCCESS WITH THE PR YOU GET
- 20.
- 21.
- 22. NOT A METRIC WORTH MEASURING
- 23. #5: BELIEVE YOURPRODUCT IS FOR EVERYONE
- 24.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27. BUT REMEMBER... CUSTOMERS ARE NOT NECESSARILY USERS
- 28. “If you arenot paying for something, you are not the customer... ... you are the product being sold”
- 29. #6: RUN ASFAST AS POSSIBLE
- 30. EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT...(?) ...LETS HURRY WHILE WE CAN
- 31. REMEMBER WHAT YOU LEARN APPLY IT THE NEXT WEEK!
- 32. #7: RAISE ONLYENOUGH MONEY YOU NEED RIGHT NOW
- 33. OUR BUSINESS PLAN SAYS... WE’LL MAKE A BUNCH OF MONEY SOON
- 34.
- 35. #8: RAISE MOREMONEY THAN YOU’LL EVER NEED
- 36. OUR SERVICE ISFREE... ...WE’LL MAKE MONEY ON ADVERTISING ...SOON
- 37.
- 38.
- 39. YOU KNOW BEST... YOU HAVE TO DO IT EXACTLY LIKE THIS
- 40.
- 41. #9.5: DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF
- 42. I CAN ROLLMY OWN DESIGN FOR NOW...
- 43.
- 44. #10: DO EXACTLYWHAT YOUR MENTORS TELL YOU
- 45. THEY’RE REALLY GOOD ENTREPRENEURS... I’LL JUST DO WHAT THEY SAY
- 46. PLEASE DON’T (this presentation isan exception to the rule...)
- 48. ENJOY THE MOMENT IGNORANCEIS BLISS
- 49. MAKE THOSE MISTAKES AS FAST AS YOU CAN
Editor's Notes
- #2 \n
- #3 \n
- #4 \n
- #5 \n
- #6 \n
- #7 \n
- #8 \n
- #9 This is the most common mistake of all. The chance of someone stealing the idea and doing it better than you is so small that it doesn’t even count compared to what you can learn from hearing what people think of the idea as early as possible. so...\n
- #10 Your friends that are with you when you go out should be sick of it from hearing the pitch over and over again. \n
- #11 Try different versions of the pitch, and wait for the “OH WOW” moment, and then the next time you move that up to say that first. Start all over again.\n
- #12 \n
- #13 \n
- #14 \n
- #15 \n
- #16 \n
- #17 \n
- #18 it's a document of x paragraphs. 1st being a hypothesis and the rest building with new hypothesis based on the previous one. Chance of being correct ~0\n
- #19 especially yours! \n
- #20 \n
- #21 This one is more difficult. \nThis is just some of the press that we got with Tablefinder. And we still didn’t make it.\n
- #22 You start believing that you are as good as the press writes. Great for self confidence, so this is not necessarily bad. But you have to know that PR is not a metric worth measuring!\n
- #23 You start believing that you are as good as the press writes. Great for self confidence, so this is not necessarily bad. But you have to know that PR is not a metric worth measuring!\n
- #24 \n
- #25 “Everyone could use this!”\n
- #26 You should have a very specific customer in mind. More like “His name is x and is a father of two, but spends most of his time working. He lives in an urban area and travels a lot with his work going to conferences. He has very little spare time and want to make the most of it where ever he is.”\n
- #27 You should have a very specific customer in mind. More like “His name is x and is a father of two, but spends most of his time working. He lives in an urban area and travels a lot with his work going to conferences. He has very little spare time and want to make the most of it where ever he is.”\n
- #28 \n
- #29 But remember: identify who your customer is and who your users are, not necessarily the same\n
- #30 \n
- #31 In a startup your hours are counted. You’ll run out of cash if move too slow, but if you run too fast, you’ll easily forget to apply what you learn along the way. For me I had to go to the bottom before I realized that I had learned so much along the way. \nTake one day per week to sit down and write down what you have learnt the previous week. If something needs change. Pivot with one foot firmly in place and the other moving.\n
- #32 \n
- #33 This one and the next are a bit special, and maybe not mistakes for everyone, but it’s worth mentioning anyways\n
- #34 \n
- #35 First of all, we already covered that you shouldn’t rely on a business plan so that’s out of the way. And it will take you 2x as long and cost you 4x as much as you think. By not raising enough money, the only thing you’ll do is start raising money again.\n
- #36 There is a fine balance of how much you should raise\n
- #37 If you raise too much money it is likely that you’ll put off focus on making money. \n
- #38 Don’t rely on that future potential income. Try and earn money directly as a proof of your business having a market.\n
- #39 \n
- #40 Now this could work for a while... but it doesn’t build the right culture in your business.\n
- #41 Tell story about consequenses of letting people take responsibility.\n
- #42 This is rather the effect of what happens if you fail #9.\n
- #43 \n
- #44 Maybe the first prototype to show your mom... You’re not as good of a UI designer as you think you are... :) Hire experts to do what they do best! You can find people that work for nothing or cheap. Shares in your company are not worth anything unless you’ve built a successful product.\n
- #45 \n
- #46 \n
- #47 Mentor A says go do this, mentor B says go do that. Always listen to what they have to say. but filter it and understand that nobody knows your business better than you do. This might be the most contradictary in this presentation, given that I’m a mentor trying to give you advice. Well this presentation is the exception to this rule.\n
- #48 But act with your gut!\n\n
- #49 So if you are a first time entrepreneur. Enjoy the moment. I envy you of not knowing how difficult it is to build a successful venture! Unfortunately it doesn’t get easier. But hard work usually pays off!\n
- #50 Just make sure you learn from them as fast as you can.\n