Mistakes, learnings and other musings on startups from Geoff Allen, serial entrepreneur and current CEO/Founder of ZipList.

1. Geoff Allen on Startups
Mistakes, Learnings and other Musings
www.ziplist.com

2. Attitude First
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3. Build Companies on Fundamentals
“Built
to
Flip”
• Crazy, irrational valuations are anomalies
– For every YouTube and Bebo, there are innumerable
of money-losing, hype-driven failures
• Just focus on building a great business
– Based on a solid business model with long-term earnings potential
www.ziplist.com

4. Use (and love) your Own Offerings
• Use it as a consumer
– Don’t make excuses for
your own products
• Don’t be afraid to scrap
components
– Nothing is sacred
• If you don’t who will?
– If you can’t, find someone
who isn’t afraid to be
critical
www.ziplist.com

5. Don’t (always) Listen to your Customers
• After all, you’re the entrepreneur
– If they knew better, they would have invented it themselves
www.ziplist.com

6. Beware of Glamour
• “Rock Star” execs
– Trust but confirm
• “Sexy” customers aren’t
always great customers
– Be careful what you give
away…It could be the market
(precedent)
• Awards are a tactic
– Important, yes – but not the
end goal
www.ziplist.com

7. Listen to Analysts/Media with a Grain of Salt
• Again, you’re the
entrepreneur
– If you believe an analyst
knows the market better
than you do, you’re in real
trouble
• They are called “stories”
for a reason
– Write your own
www.ziplist.com

8. Be Capital Ef cient
• Know your core competency
– Focus, focus, focus on that
• Make quick, small bets
– Iterate quickly before scaling
– Data wins
• Invest in Great People
• Outsource everything else
– HR/Payroll (Administaff),
Hosting (Amazon), Mail/Docs
(Google), Bugs/Schedule (Jira/
Pivotal), Accounting
(Quickbooks Web), 800#
(PhonePeople), etc.
• Capital = stored choices
www.ziplist.com

9. Clean Cap Table & Balance Sheet
• Avoid early pitfalls
– Trading equity for professional
services
– Poor (or no) shareholder
agreements; messy/unclear rights
– Arbitrary ownership stakes
– Lack of documentation
– Lots of individual angels (use an LP)
• Important to be “investment easy”
– Don’t underestimate the value of
being easy to finance
– Investors have only so much time
www.ziplist.com

10. Know that Dilution & Value are not Equal
• Don’t’ be dogmatic
– The focus is on value
• Control rests with those
who generate success
– This is irrespective of
ownership
• IPOs are dilutive by nature
– Bring on the dilution!
www.ziplist.com

11. Understand your Investors’ Businesses
• They have investors, too
– They are in a specific asset class – know it
• They don’t want to run the company
– So don’t fret about it
– Investors want financial leverage,
not to be operators
• #1 Goal – Keep your interests aligned
– Understand their objectives, expectations,
timelines and capital reserves
• Not all investors are alike
www.ziplist.com

12. Mediocrity leads to “The Living Dead”
• Indecision is the Enemy
– Slow decision is worse than no
decision
• Often from unclear bets
– Unmeasurable, murky feedback
• Failure is a temporary state
– Just another data point
• “The Living Dead”
– Won’t succeed, but won’t fail
www.ziplist.com

13. Be Honest & Open
• “I don’t know” is OK
– That’s why you have a team
• You only have one reputation
– The market is ruthless
• Investors are on your side
– “Good news, bad news, just
give me the news”
www.ziplist.com

14. Thank You!
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