The document outlines key principles for starting a successful startup, emphasizing the importance of a strong team, a scalable business model, and a product that customers love. It also provides advice on founder dynamics, execution strategies, customer engagement, and fundraising. The insights stress the critical nature of product quality, effective management, and maintaining focus amidst challenges.

1. ‫آیدین‬‫پرنیا‬
‫اوسن‬ ‫شرکت‬ ‫مدیرعامل‬
‫اندازی‬‫راه‬ ‫کارگاه‬‫های‬‫استارتاپ‬‫سالمت‬
‫برگزاری‬ ‫تاریخ‬
31‫تیرماه‬98

2. How to Start a Startup
Aidin Parnia, M.D.
​Healthcare Investment and Startup Consultant - Digital Health Expert
Co-Founder and CEO of AVECEN Co.
draparnia@gmail.com | @draparnia

3. Do you have an entrepreneur
like experience?

4. What is a Startup?
extreme uncertainty | repeatable and scalable business model
Your goal as a startup is to make something costumers love.
How to start a great startup?

6. TEAMIDEA PRODUCT EXECUTION

7. Don’t start with a bad Idea!
What are you building and why?
Who desperately needs your
product?

8. The founders
need to have
shared sense of
mission.
How big is the
market and how
fast it’s growing?
Build something
fundamentally
NEW.
The best ideas
sound bad, so
TALK about it.

9. What if I don’t have an idea but
want to start a startup?
Maybe you shouldn’t!
Learn about a lot of different
things, practice noticing problems,
work on projects you find
interesting and be patient.

10. TEAMIDEA PRODUCT EXECUTION

11. UnstoppabilityDetermination
FormidabilityResourcefulness
IntelligencePassion
What makes a great founder? Low-stress to work with
Contradictory traits
Unusually responsive
Great communication skills

12. Choose a
cofounder that
you know well.
Cofounder
breakups are one
of the leading
causes of death.
Talk about terms
and equity split
early on.
Business
Developer
Technical
Expert
Marketing
Expert
Product
Developer

13. TEAMIDEA PRODUCT EXECUTION

14. The secret to success
Startups are the point in your
life when tricks stop working
LEAN
CYCLE

15. Know the
customer
very well
Founders need to do
sales, customer
support, etc.
Recruit customers
manually, and make the
products so good the
customers you recruit
tell their friends.

16. 1. Don’t Plan too far out.
2. Don’t batch everything into
one big public release.
3. Don’t make product too
complicated.Very often the
product isn’t
good enough.
If the company
isn’t growing
Talk to your
customers.
If you don’t
know what to do
next with your
product
Best founders care a little too
much about product quality.
Remember, if you haven’t
made a great product,
nothing else will save you.

17. TEAMIDEA PRODUCT EXECUTION

18. You have to turn it into a
GREAT COMPANY
You have to do it YOURSELF
Anybody else
• Won’t understand customer
as well
• Wont have the same
product instincts
• Won’t care as much
You have to Make Money!GREATEXECUTION

19. GROWTH
The key to
GREAT
EXECUTION
GROWTH
Solves all the
problems
Have a
SINGLE METRIC
for the company
If the company is growing but
everything seems broken and inefficient.
It’s okay
Don’t think about problems
too far in future
10X

20. GROWTH
But
you need
good reason
It’s ok to have bad
unit economics in
the early days
Sales and
Marketing
are not bad
1 founder has to get
good at asking people
to use your product
and give you money
o Building products users love
o Big press launch
o Deals with other companies
o Recruiting users manually first
o Doing more of what works
o Testing lots of growth strategies

21. FOCUS&INTENSITY
You are not
different from
other startups
Only on your
PRODUCT &
GROWTH
A very, very
common cause of
startup death is
doing too many of
wrong things
You will get a lot
of conflicting
advice
The market
doesn’t care
how hard you
work

22. FOCUS&INTENSITY
Keep doing what they’re doing
Thinking about their personal brand and
enjoying the status of being a founder
Startup founders who
start to have initial
success have a choice

23. CEO
1. Set the vision and strategy
2. Evangelize the company to everyone
3. Hire and manage the team
4. Raise money
5. Set executive quality bar
6. Whatever part of business you love
JOBS OF CEO
It’s an
intense job
Needs
extreme
focus and
intensity
Not the
best choice
for
work-life
balance
You should
be super
responsive
You will be
lonely

24. CEO
A successful
startup takes a
very longtime,
At least 10 years Don’t give up
quickly
and don’t
postpone a
pivot
Write your
culture values
and mission
down early
Innovate in new
products and
solutions Don’t innovate
in well-trodden
areas of
business

25. HIRING&MANAGING
About Hiring
That kind of people you want to hire can
start their own companies if they want
You should
spend 25% of
your time
Don’t
compromise on
the quality
Don’t hire
chronically
negative people
Value aptitude
over experience
Look for people
you like
Invest in
becoming a
good manager
At Recruiting Mode

26. HIRING&MANAGING
Don’t go into HERO mode
Have everyone in the same office
Fire
Quickly
Fire people who
are TOXIC to the
CULTURE
Culture is defined
by who you are
HIRE, FIRE and
PROMOTE

27. COMPETITORS
Competitors
are startup
ghost story
Worry instead about all of
your internal problems
99% of time you
should ignore
competitors

28. MAKINGMONEY
You have to get people to pay
you more than it costs you to
deliver your good or service
Make enough
money so that the
founders can live
on ramen
RAMEN
PROFITABILITY
Watch your cash flow obsessively
Customer Life Time Value
LTV
Customer Acquisition Cost
CAC
LOW LTVHIGH LTV
Digital MarketingDirect Sales

29. FUNDRAISING
Or when it’s
available on good
terms
Raise money when
you need it
Don’t try to raise
money when your
company isn’t
good enough
The secret to successful
Raising Money
Investors looking for companies
that are going to be successful
whether or not they invest
Always explain why
you could be a HUGE SUCCESS

30. FUNDRAISING
Best companies so
often look bad at
the beginning
Don’t get
demoralize if you
struggle to raise
money
Have just one
founder do
fundraising
Have fundraising
conversation in
parallel
VCs don’t know much about
most industries
Metrics
GOODINVESTOR
BADINVESTOR
Addalotofvalue
Detractalot

31. FUNDRAISING
1. Mission
2. Problem
3. Product / Service
4. Business Model
5. Team
6. Market and Market Growth
7. Financials
In Pitch at a minimum
Make your story as
CLEAR and EASY as possible
at Pitching
Accelerators and
Incubators
Angel Investors and
Venture Capitals
Co-working Spaces
and Innovation
Factories
Media
Mentors and
Consultants
Government and
Authorities
Startup Ecosystem
Startups

32. TEAMIDEA PRODUCT EXECUTION

37. Aidin Parnia, M.D.
​draparnia@gmail.com | @draparnia