A Presentation made during the Entrepreneur Week in Nov 2009, at Warwick University as part of there Internet Enterprise Day. It describes the steps needed to build a startup in 13 slides. Note: The Video is at http://www.vimeo.com/7872885

1. IDEA TO A BUSINESS IN 30
MINUTES
I. GANDHAM
(pron: ik-ba-al, gand-ham)
“IT’S A SCIENCE NOT AN ART”
WARWICK:20 NOVEMBER 2009
Feel Free to Use
Content, But Give
Credit Where It’s Due

2. THE IDEA....VALIDATE IT
 CREATE AN ELEVATOR MARKETING PITCH
 10 PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW
 WRITE IT DOWN IN DETAIL
 DO IT ALL AGAIN (OR QUIT)
£30, T=8 WEEKS
TOTAL=8WEEKS

3. WHO WILL PAY YOU
✓ WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER ?
✓ TYPE 1 - CUSTOMER PAYS
✓ TYPE 2 - SOMEONE ELSE PAYS - ADVERTISERS
✓ TWO REASONS TO BUY/USE ?
✓ TAKE ME AWAY FROM A PAIN
✓ TAKE ME TOWARDS A GAIN
£30, T=3 WEEKS TOTAL=11
WEEKS

4. DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS UNIT
✓ WHAT IS A BUSINESS UNIT ?
- IT’S THE SMALLEST FUNCTIONAL UNIT THAT WILL BUY AND
USE YOUR PRODUCT
✓ 3 YEARS TO 1 DAY ROADMAP ?
£30, T=2 WEEKS TOTAL=13
WEEKS

5. THE BUSINESS PLAN
✓ KEY DRIVERS ✓ METRICS TO MEASURE
- INTERNET USAGE - IS IT THE REVENUE, OR THE
CLICKS THAT LEAD TO REVENUE
- CREDIT CARDS
✓ SALES
✓ HEDGING RISK
✓ TAM, SAM, SOM
£100, T=4 WEEKS TOTAL=17
WEEKS

6. THE TEAM
PRODUCT
✓ 2 TYPES
- BUILD THE PRODUCT
- GET YOU CUSTOMERS KEEP THEM
USERS
HAPPY
✓ INTERNAL/EXTERNAL
✓ PASSION:
- DO THEY GET THE IDEA FROM THE MARKETING PITCH !!!!
✓ DON’T HIRE CXO’S & DON’T BE ONE
£150, T=0 WEEKS TOTAL=29
WEEKS

7. THE PROOF OF CONCEPT
✓ PEN & PAPER - GET FEEDBACK
✓ WIREFRAME - GET FEEDBACK
✓ DESIGN - GET FEEDBACK
✓ DEVELOPER - GET FEEDBACK
✓ GET FEEDBACK
✓ YOU GET THE IDEA :-)
£500-1000, T=12 WEEKS
TOTAL=29 WEEKS

8. THE LAUNCH
✓ WHAT DOES IT MEAN ?
✓ MOMENTUM
- SMALL WINS ANYWHERE !!!
£1200, T=2 WEEKS TOTAL=31
WEEKS

9. STARTUPS HAVE A FINITE
LIFESPAN
✓ YOU HAVE 3-5 YEARS
✓ IT IS A RACE
✓ IF YOU ARE TOO SLOW YOU WILL FAIL
- RAISE MONEY TO SAVE TIME
YEAR 1 = BUILD, YEAR 2 =
CUSTOMERS, YEAR 3 = EXPAND/
SCALE

10. RAISING FUNDING
✓ HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED ?
- WHY ? (PROTOTYPE, SCALE/EXPANSION)
✓ WHAT’S MY VALUE
- IP
- PEOPLE
- REVENUE
✓ I WILL BE LEFT WITH NOTHING :-(

11. SKYPE EQUITY SPLIT
Control of Percentage ownership
equity
(millions)‫‏‬
At buy-out After angel initial
round
Founders $1,180 45 % 62 % 100 %
+ team
Angels $700 27 % 38 %
VCs $720 28 %
TOTAL $2,600 100 % 100 % 100 %
Source : EF

12. A S
W
F IT
A S Y,
“I E
H I S N E
T R Y O
E
V LD B E
E
O U I T ”
W NG
O I
D

13. STAY IN TOUCH
IQBAL GANDHAM
E: IQBALGANDHAM@YAHOO.CO.UK
S: FEELIN_TIRED
L: WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/IQBALGANDHAM
T: @IQBALGANDHAM