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Life At A Startup
The document outlines the experiences and insights of Ozzie Diaz's journey through multiple startups, highlighting the energy, camaraderie, and challenges associated with startup life. It emphasizes key factors for startup success, including commitment, focus, and effective mentorship, along with the common pitfalls that lead to failure. The author reflects on the dynamic nature of startups and encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace the journey and develop their passions despite uncertainties.
Life At A Startup
- 1. The Wonderful andTerrible Reasons I Work(ed) at Startups Ozzie Diaz Serial and Parallel entrepreneur/intrapreneur, Lover of Change (now on an Intel salary ) ozdiaz@gmail.com www.ozziediaz.com www.linkedin.com/in/ozdiaz @ozdiaz © 2017 by Ozzie Diaz
- 2. My Startup Journey 20002003 2004 2009 2010 2012
- 3. First Day ata Startup
- 4. What It’s REALLYLike
- 5. What It’s REALLYLike
- 6. What It’s REALLYLike
- 7. After the FirstDay: Build, Build, Build
- 8. Life Blood =Money
- 9. Life Blood =Money
- 10. Life Blood =Money
- 11. Cash in Bank-to-StressExperience 0 LOT$ Cash In Bank Stress Level HIGH LOW Behavioral Modification Zone
- 12. Cash in Bank-to-StressExperience 0 LOT$ Cash In Bank Stress Level HIGH LOW Behavioral Modification Zone My 1st startup (or my 1st wife)
- 13. Cash in Bank-to-StressExperience 0 LOT$ Cash In Bank Stress Level HIGH LOW Behavioral Modification Zone My 1st startup (or my 1st wife) My 2nd startup
- 14. Cash in Bank-to-StressExperience 0 LOT$ Cash In Bank Stress Level HIGH LOW Behavioral Modification Zone My 1st startup (or my 1st wife) My 2nd startup My 3rd startup
- 15. Cash in Bank-to-StressExperience 0 LOT$ Cash In Bank Stress Level HIGH LOW Behavioral Modification Zone My 1st startup (or my 1st wife) My 2nd startup My 3rd startup Zero salary experiences: Bivio (6 months) Firetide (6 months) Peoplepower (1 year) AirPatrol (6 months) Liquid Grids (1 yr redux)
- 16. “Working for astartup is…electric. The energy and passion derived from the team is unparalleled, and as a result so is the camaraderie amongst the employees. No day is the same, the word ‘boredom’ does not exist, and if you're not flexible and adaptable you won't succeed.” – Supply Team, HotelTonight
- 17. Day in theLife of a Startup Testing Decision Option X Option Z Option X Option Y Option Z Option Z Brainstorm
- 18. Day in theLife of a Startup Testing Decision Option X Option Z Option X Option Y Option Z Option Z Brainstorm IMPROVEIMPROVE …but don’t forget
- 19. Why Did IKeep Going Back?
- 20. Why Did IKeep Going Back?
- 21. Why Did IKeep Going Back?
- 22.
- 23. Startup Success 101 •Founders are driven by impact, resulting in passion and commitment • Commitment to stay the course and stick with a chosen path • Willingness to adjust, but not constantly adjusting • Patience and persistence due to the timing mismatch of expectations and reality • Willingness to observe, listen and learn • Develop the right mentoring relationships • Leadership with general and domain specific business knowledge • Implementing “Lean Startup” principles: Raising just enough money in a funding round to hit the next set of key milestones • Balance of technical and business knowledge, with necessary technical expertise in product development The Ecommerce Genome by Compass
- 24. The REAL Reasonsfor Failure • Lack of focus • Lack of motivation, commitment and passion • Too much pride, resulting in an unwillingness to see or listen • Taking advice from the wrong people • Lacking good mentorship • Lack of general and domain- specific business knowledge: finance, operations, and marketing • Raising too much money too soon • No market need • Ran out of cash • Not the right team • Got outcompeted • Pricing/cost issue • Poor product • Need/lack business model • Poor marketing • Ignore customers Statistic Brain CB Insights
- 25. The REAL Reasonsfor Failure • Lack of focus • Lack of motivation, commitment and passion • Too much pride, resulting in an unwillingness to see or listen • Taking advice from the wrong people • Lacking good mentorship • Lack of general and domain- specific business knowledge: finance, operations, and marketing • Raising too much money too soon • No market need • Ran out of cash • Not the right team • Got outcompeted • Pricing/cost issue • Poor product • Need/lack business model • Poor marketing • Ignore customers Statistic Brain CB Insights “75% of startups will fail” – FastCompany article, Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail “Failure rate is 50% after 5 years, 70% after 10+ years” – Statistic Brain, Startup Failure Rate by Industry
- 26. Relevance to MBAStudents • Passion • Change the world • Wear many hats • Venture out of your comfort zone = lots of ambiguity • It’s NOT a sprint, it’s not a marathon...it’s a journey! • Aaannnddd, better (and faster) risktaking and decisionmaking!!!
- 27. What Are YourPassions and Challenges?
Editor's Notes
- #2 From Intel Decision Quality Program Office Q&A: What was it like working at a startup? What did you enjoy and what did you hate? What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?) Ultimately, what was it that kept drawing you to startups? How do big decisions get made at a startup and how does that differ from decision-making at a company like Intel? Are there things Intel could learn from startups when it comes to decision-making? If you looked at the Program Office as a startup, what advice would you have for us?
- #9 What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
- #10 What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
- #11 What was it like working against the "burn-rate" clock? (i.e. at a start-up, in the absence of additional rounds of funding, you have some idea of how much time the business has to "make it" based on how much cash you have remaining, what was it like living under that kind of pressure?)
- #23 Sources: The best comprehensive research that helped to answer the “reasons for success” question that I could find was from The Ecommerce Genome by Compass in their Startup Genome report, which looked at 650 internet startups. According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. This statistic is based on a Harvard Business School study by Shikhar Ghosh. In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry
- #24 Sources: The best comprehensive research that helped to answer the “reasons for success” question that I could find was from The Ecommerce Genome by Compass in their Startup Genome report, which looked at 650 internet startups. According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. This statistic is based on a Harvard Business School study by Shikhar Ghosh. In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry
- #25 Sources: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288769 In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years. In another study, CB Insights looked at the post-mortems of 101 startups to compile a list of the Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail.
- #26 Sources: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/288769 In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years. In another study, CB Insights looked at the post-mortems of 101 startups to compile a list of the Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail.
- #27 You have passion for what you’re doing and truly believe in it. It’s your dogma, it’s your value system. You want to change the world because what you’re doing is good for it. You have to wear many hats because you don’t know what you’re going to encounter in a consultation or facilitation. You used to have more traditional “jobs” before. You decided you want to venture out of your comfort into the world of ambiguity. What you’re doing is not traditional, not mainstream, not the status quo. It’s a journey because you will pivot as you learn more to correct your course, enhance your approach and scale the “product”.