startups tips in il-tech-talks
DESCRIPTION
Since 1995, I've started six companies (so far). The last one is highGearMedia.com In this talk, I will share some of the best practices that I learned (the hard way). We will talk about technology, design and following your dreams with the best tools you can harness at a certain point of time. For more events please checkout ILTechTalks meetup group - http://www.meetup.com/ILTechTalks/events/125115382/TRANSCRIPT
StartupsTips
7th July 2013
Ido GreenDeveloper AdvocateGoogle
http://plus.google.com/+greenido
greenido.wordpress.com
Agenda●Tips from my experience
●A Failed Story
●BS To Avoid
●Q&A
Entrepreneur
A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.
Mark Cuban
"Don't start a company unless it's an obsession and something you love. If you have an exit strategy, it's not an obsession."
Companies should be planning a legacy not exit strategy
Keep In Mind● Companies are efficient
● Technology is becoming
commodity
● Aim for real need
● Avoid a 'little feature'
startup
Freemium, Premium and BlaBla
● Great product - you should/cloud give free samples.
● Agile & Organization &OPs are CSF.
● If you not sure about returning users - improve your product.
Hiring The Right People
● Do it yourself (Hire only when you must)
● Don't pass on great people
● CV are full of 'years of irrelevance' (Try before you hire)
● Empower your team - Level 5 Leader
Good Is Fine
● MVP - When good enough get the job.
● Agile as you move○ Many small decisions are
better then a huge one.○ Small wins to keep
momentum.
● It's a speed boat○ Pivots quickly to
increase the success rate○ Money/Air/Time - you have a limited amount of it.
Start A Business Not a Startup
● Is it la-la land? ○ "We will use some ads here and there"○ First we wish to gain users...
● Build to 'exit' --> Build to flop.
Belief And Reality
● We know what 'they' want.
● We can predict the future because...
● Progress is execution against our plans.
● We are the only one who do X.
How To Move The Needle?
● Focus - Focus and more focus
● Passion
● Execution (Everyone got wonderful ideas)
● Plan / have a clear strategy but be agile
● Find good advisors and be willing to listen
What to do fast?
Build --> Ship --> Measure --> Improve -->
A Failed Story
Background (2003-2004)● Classified Ads are one of the Internet's best cash cows
with $1.4bn in 2001, 20% of all Internet advertising.
● Market may grow to replace the $20bn printed
newspapers classified sales.
● The company operates a successful classifieds search
tool in Israel as a joint venture with a leading portal, and
prepares to implement the concept in the USA.
The Need● There are thousands of classifieds websites
across the web with diverse specialties and
geographic focus.
● Consumers don't know all relevant websites.
● Searching takes too long.
The Product● A dedicated portal for classified● Offers added value services:
○ Ad history
○ Geo/local
○ Price predictor
○ Trends
Penetration / Revenue Models
● The service is sticky, and characterized by repeat users and multiple impressions.
● Thus, ROI on buying traffic and running campaigns is high.
● A click in means several clicks out.
● Per-click referral fee
● Expect ~30 cents per
click, 10s of millions
clicks per month.
● Display advertising
● eCPMs in verticals like
'cars' are high.
What Went Wrong?● Listen to users
("We need a faster horse")
● Fail often fail quickly (try to avoid 'known' mistakes)
● Follow people advice (Ignore some and try to understand it)
● Distribution / Market penetration(Harder - you think)
WTF?● Strategic partners
○ "Win-Win" situation(or not)
○ Don't put all your eggs in one basket (Even if you must)
Lessons Learned● Focus: solve one main
pain-point.
● Founding Team
Budget: You will need
more than you think.
● Partners
The “management
team” is not the
“decision making”
team. It’s a support
function.
What To Avoid
Entrepreneurs and BS
● “No one else can do what we're doing.”● “Our product will go viral.”● “Our projections are conservative.”● “The large companies in our market are too big /
slow to compete with us.”● “Fortune 500 companies are set to do X with us.”● “Hurry up because other investors are about to do
our deal.”● “We filed patents so our intellectual property is
protected.”● “All we have to do is get 1% of the market.”
Investors and BS
● “Show us some traction, and we will invest.”● “This is a plain, vanilla term sheet.”● “We love to co-invest with other firms.”● “I liked your company, but my partners didn’t.”● “We have lots of bandwidth to dedicate to your
company.”● “We are patient investors who want to help you
build a great company.”● “There are no companies in our portfolio that
conflict with what you're doing.”
Resources
● avc.com
● paulgraham.com
● Entrepreneurship Corner @ Stanford
● feld.com
● onstartups.com
● venturehacks.com
Q & AThank you!
http://plus.google.com/+greenido
greenido.wordpress.com