Since the acquisition of her first startup, Mint.com, Poornima Vijayashanker has transitioned from the role of founding engineer to founder for two startups: BizeeBee and Femgineer.  In this talk, Poornima will shed light into the first steps founders need to take when it comes to bringing an idea to life, building a product, and a creating company.

1. First Steps for Startup Founders
Poornima Vijayashanker
poornima@femgineer.com
@poornima
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2. Background
• R&D Engineer @ Synopsys
• Founding Engineer @ Mint.com
• Founder & CEO @ BizeeBee
• Founder of Femgineer.com
• Instructor @ Duke University
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3. Agenda
• First 3 Steps
• Financing
• Time
• Success
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4. Got ideas?
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5. Idea
Money Team
Product
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6. Overwhelmed.
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7. Stuck.
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9. Business vs. Technical?
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10. Step 1?
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11. Idea Market
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12. Idea
Outside Help Customers
Domain Expertise
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13. Step 2?
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14. starting small
vs.
BIG VISION
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16. Step 3?
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17. Know what you know.
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18. Take stock of your skills and expertise.
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19. Recruit for the rest.
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20. Alone vs. Team
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21. MONEY INTELLIGENCE vs. mint
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22. • Identify your skills and look for complementary skills.
• Don’t do a sales pitch. Instead get people involved in the process e.g.
brainstorming.
• Be wary of those who come after you!
Co-Founders
Supplemental Reading: Conversations Potential Co-Founders Should Have
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23. Co-Founder Conversations
• Conversation topics to cover:
• Bad experiences you both might have had in the past.
• Setup a clear standard for communicating both the positive and negative.
• Make sure there is alignment when it comes to values and the direction of
the company and product.
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24. Co-Founder Conversations
• Gauge the following:
• Level of interest
• Quality of contributions
• Chemistry and camaraderie
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25. Advisors
• Areas of Expertise
• Setup expectations
• Make contribution clear
• Fluid relationship
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26. Right time to recruit.
Supplemental Reading: How to Keep Your Startup Engineer Sane, Recruiting for a Startup?
First Figure Out Who & What You Want.
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27. Vision vs. Implementation
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28. Communicate your vision clearly.
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30. People follow those who show passion.
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31. • Abilities vs. Capabilities
• What skill set do you absolutely need?
• Allocation time to train and understand direction
• Micromanaging vs. Delegating
• Polling vs. check-ins
• Test: can focus on just your role and contributions?
Team Building
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32. • Outsourced or Part-Time Team
• Set a budget
• Set clear deliverables
• Hire those that demonstrate self-leadership
• Start with sample projects
Part Time or Outsourced Team
Supplemental Reading: How to Make Progress with Part Timers, Optimizing Outsourcing
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33. Dissolve a Partnership
• What is the stake they leave with?
• Who controls the assets?
• Bringing someone new in.
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34. Keep going!
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35. Time to build...
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36. Product
Customers Financing
Company
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37. £ OR €
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38. Financing
• Bootstrapping: savings, full time job, or pre-sales
• Crowdfunding: friends & family, campaigns
• Private Capital: angels, VCS
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39. Timing.
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40. Timing
Employees
Understanding
Credibility with
Customers
Mistakes
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41. Tough.
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42. Temptations to quit.
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43. Success vs. FAILURE
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44. Many ingredients.
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45. Your definition.
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46. What’s your goal?
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47. Review
• First 3 Steps
• Financing
• Time
• Success
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48. Additional Resources
• Office Hours
• Online Mentoring
• Courses
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49. Q&A
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