The Truth About Startups: What I wish someone had told me about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, and successful careers

1. THE TRUTH ABOUT STARTUPS What I wish someone had told me about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley, and successful careers

2. In the past, most people would tell you to:

3. Get a job at a big, established company

4. Achieve job securityClimb the corporate ladder

5. Achieve job security

6. Sounds great, but…

7. Mmm, yeah, I’m going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday…

8. Nowadays, it’s all about startups:

9. Sounds great, but…

10. So what do you do?

11. I’m Yevgeniy Brikman ybrikman.com

12. Co-founder of Gruntwork gruntwork.io

13. PAST LIVES

14. Author of Hello, Startup hello-startup.net

15. This is the book I wish I had in college hello-startup.net

16. I hope this talk & book help you in your career hello-startup.net

17. 1. Startup myths 2. Startup truths 3. Startup careers 4. Getting started Outline

19. Myth #1: I’ll be an overnight success!

20. Reality:

21. “Acquired companies were an average of seven years old…

22. …while IPO companies went public around 8.25 years, on average.”

23. Note: “exits” for the investors. Founders stay on longer.

24. So if you remember nothing else from this talk, remember this:

25. Building a successful startup takes about a decade.

26. Are you willing to give 10 years of your life to this idea?

27. Myth #2: I’m going to get rich!

28. Reality:

29. Most startups pay lower salaries and offer few benefits

30. The stock is often worthless

31. And most startups fail

32. Myth #3: I’ll get to party all day!

33. Reality:

34. This is startup life.

35. It’s not sexy or glamorous. It’s mostly a lot of hard work.

36. Myth #4: I’ll get to write code all day!

37. Some programmers might be thinking, “this looks great!”

38. Reality:

39. Building a successful startup takes more than just code

40. Sure, you’ll write plenty of code

41. But you’ll also have to do everything else, including:

42. operating agreements, articles of incorporation, employment contracts, licenses, permits, insurance, NDAs, term sheets, financial modeling, P&L, balance sheet, fundraising, budgeting, cap table, stock certificates, taxes, 81b, 1040, 1099, 1120, W2, pitch decks, customer acquisition, sales calls, CRM, LTV, churn recurring revenue, billing, invoicing, refunds, receipts, interviewing, hiring, firing, promoting, training, motivating, organizing, leading, payroll, HR, mission, vision, culture, renting office space, building a website, setting up email/phone/fax, buying furniture, ordering toilet paper, …

43. Myth #5: All I need is a brilliant idea!

44. Reality:

45. “What surprised me most was how unsure the founders seemed to be that they were actually onto something big. Some of these companies got started almost by accident.”

46. It’s not about coming up with a single brilliant idea

47. It’s about navigating an idea maze

48. Most paths lead to failure. A small few lead to success.

49. And even the best ideas don’t matter without great execution

51. You’ve now seen some common startup myths

52. It’s not that they never happen, but they are bad reasons to join or start a startup.

53. So what are the good reasons to join or start a startup?

54. 1. Mastery 2. Autonomy 3. Purpose

55. Mastery: The urge to get better at something.

56. “I've come to believe that learning is the essential unit of progress for startups.” – Eric Ries

57. Learning how to build a product users want

58. Learning how to market and sell a product

59. Learning how to build and motivate a team

60. Learning how to…

61. operating agreements, articles of incorporation, employment contracts, licenses, permits, insurance, NDAs, term sheets, financial modeling, P&L, balance sheet, fundraising, budgeting, cap table, stock certificates, taxes, 81b, 1040, 1099, 1120, W2, pitch decks, customer acquisition, sales calls, CRM, LTV, churn recurring revenue, billing, invoicing, refunds, receipts, interviewing, hiring, firing, promoting, training, motivating, organizing, leading, payroll, HR, mission, vision, culture, renting office space, building a website, setting up email/phone/fax, buying furniture, ordering toilet paper, …

62. Join a startup if you want to grow as a person

63. “A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup. Nor is it necessary for a startup to work on technology, or take venture funding, or have some sort of "exit." The only essential thing is growth. ” – Paul Graham

64. Working for a growing company is an amazing experience

65. Autonomy: The urge to control your life.

66. At a startup, you choose what to work on

67. At a startup, you choose who to work with

68. At a startup, you choose how to work

69. At a startup, you choose where to work

70. Purpose: The urge to do something meaningful.

71. Gruntwork’s why:

72. We believe software is one of humanity’s greatest inventions.

73. We also believe that creating software is too hard.

74. We believe making software more accessible will transform humanity.

75. This is what gets me up in the morning.

76. As a startup, we are searching for the right what and how.

77. “[Established] Companies execute business models where customers, their problems, and necessary product features are all “knowns.” In sharp contrast, startups operate in “search” mode, seeking a repeatable and profitable business model.” – Steve Blank

78. It turns out that search mode is more fun

79. It’s hard to feel passionate about increasing profit margin by 0.3%

80. It’s hard not to feel passionate about fighting for survival

81. When you’re one of 5,000 employees, you rarely feel like you’re making a difference

82. When the company is 5 people, everything you do matters

84. You’ve now seen reasons you should or shouldn’t join a startup

85. So where do startups fit in your career?

86. 1. Join an established company 2. Join a small startup 3. Start your own company

88. At least once in your career, join a big, established company

89. Try to join one of the leaders in your industry

90. A “Google” on your resume will benefit you your entire career

91. You will work with amazing people

92. You will make a good salary (pay off your loans!)

93. You will learn how a successful company operates

94. You’ll also learn how not to do things

96. At least once in your career, join a small startup

97. Now is the golden age of the startup.

98. Average tenure for a firm in the S&P 500: 1958: 61 years 1980: 25 years 2012: 18 years

99. “On average, an S&P 500 company is now being replaced about once every two weeks […] At current churn rate, 75% of the S&P 500 will be replaced by 2027.”

100. Open source 19+ million repositories on GitHub. Services AWS, Twilio, Stripe, MailChimp, Slack, DesignCrowd, RocketLawyer, … Distribution Mobile, email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, Meetup.com, YouTube, AdWords, … Information Books, classes, blogs, accelerators, incubators, conferences, … Money Venture capital, angels, crowdfunding, government grants, self-funding, …

101. So why join a startup instead of starting your own?

102. If you start a startup, you are stuck with it for up to a decade.

103. In that same time period, you can join 3-4 startups.

104. Earning experience, connections, and stock at each one.

105. “The 100th engineer at Facebook made far more money than 99% of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.” – Dustin Moskovitz

106. Some people chase ambulances

107. Some people chase IPOs

108. How do you find a good startup to join?

109. 1. Look to your network. 2. Look at the products you use. 3. Look at elite VC portfolios.

111. You’ll probably have more fun and make more money joining someone else’s company.

112. As a founder, you will make roughly 10x the sacrifice.

113. 10x more stress 10x more risk 10x more time

114. So is it ever a good idea to start a company?

115. Yes: When you can’t not do it.

116. You have an idea or passion that you simply must do.

117. You’ve worked on it for years, even while at other jobs.

118. You just have to bring your dream into the world.

119. Just remember: a startup is one way to accomplish your dream.

120. 1. Do a side project. 2. Go into politics. 3. Do volunteer activities. 4. Build a community. 5. Join someone else’s company. 6. Invest in someone else’s company. 7. Start a non-profit. 8. Start a lifestyle business. 9. Start a startup. 10. Do academic research. 11. Publish articles, papers, and books. 12. Give talks. 13. Create an open source project. 14. Become an advisor or mentor. 15. Become a teacher.

121. 1. Do a side project. 2. Go into politics. 3. Do volunteer activities. 4. Build a community. 5. Join someone else’s company. 6. Invest in someone else’s company. 7. Start a non-profit. 8. Start a lifestyle business. 9. Start a startup. 10. Do academic research. 11. Publish articles, papers, and books. 12. Give talks. 13. Create an open source project. 14. Become an advisor or mentor. 15. Become a teacher. A startup is merely one means to an end.

123. So how do you start? How do you build a good career?

124. “You need to be good at something before you can expect a good job.” – Cal Newport

125. “The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas […] The way to have good startup ideas is to become the sort of person who has them.” – Paul Graham

126. The way to have a great career is not to search for a great career but to make yourself great.

127. How to become great: 1. Study 2. Build 3. Share

129. Read books

130. Read papers, articles, blogs

131. Take classes

132. Go to meetups, conferences, and talks (like this one!)

133. Aim to be a “T-Shaped Person”

135. When I was a kid, I didn’t like reading.

136. When I was in college, I didn’t like reading.

137. When I was starting my career, I didn’t like reading.

138. You know what finally got me to love reading?

139. Becoming a person who needs reading.

140. What kind of person is that?

141. A maker.

142. As I tried to build software, teams, & products, I realized:

143. I have no idea what I’m doing.

144. It turns out that the knowledge I needed was in books.

145. The more I built, the more I had to learn, the more I read.

146. Go make things.

147. Work projects, side projects, learning projects, open source, hackathons, prototypes, inventions, art, music, teams, communities, …

149. Share everything you’ve learned

150. Write

151. Speak

152. Open source

153. Why?

154. Quality: you do better work when others are looking.

155. Branding: you become an expert by sharing your expertise.

156. Mastery: the best way to learn is to teach.

157. That’s why I’m here today.

158. To share what I’ve learned with all of you.

159. To learn more, see Hello, Startup hello-startup.net

160. Questions?

161. Office buildings: Floriane Vita Man in suit: energiepic.com Ladder: Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho Cubicles: Tim Patterson Office Space: 20th Century Fox The Social Network: Columbia Pictures Silicon Valley: HBO The 4-hour Work Week: Tim Ferriss Ping pong: SageChimera Biz Stone: Joi Ito Coding: Hitesh Choudhary Steve Jobs: Matthew Yohe Mark Zuckerberg: Brian Solis Reid Hoffman: Joi Ito Idea maze: Chris Dixon Robert Heinlein: Wikimedia Primitive Wheel: John O’Neill Camp Fire: Eric Dufresne Code: Ilya Pavlov Software frustration: Tim Gouw Coffee: David Mao Steve Blank: Eric Millette Paul Graham: Dave Thomas Dustin Moskovitz: Dustin Moskovitz Ambulance: Paul Sableman Stressed woman: Aledander Dummer Woman writing: Startup Stock Photos Man and whiteboard: Startup Stock Photos Classroom: Wokandapix Journals: Lum3n Meetup: Sebastiaan ter Burg T-Shaped Person: Valve Writing: Alvaro Serrano Teaching: Pop Tech Pair coding: Startup Stock Photos Expert: Graham Lavender References & image credits