Date post: | 21-Oct-2014 |
Category: |
Business |
View: | 8,902 times |
Download: | 0 times |
@andreasklinger
Co-Founders
Lessons Learned
Co-
Founders#1 searching
#2 considering
#3 joining
#4 working
(short lessons learned)
@andreasklinger
TL;DR:
I do startups…
LOOKK.com, die.socialisten.at, seedcamp mentor, leancamp fanboy
Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger
@andreasklinger
#1 searching
Searching sucks.
Waiting sucks.
Being dependent sucks.
If I find a technical
co-founder…
There is no “if” in
entrepreneurial
grammar.
And there is
too much stuff to do
to wait or just search…
Startup phases…
Problem/Solution
Product/Market
Acquisition
Company building
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Source: Steve Blank’s
Customer Development
Startup phases…
Problem/Solution
Product/Market
Acquisition
Company building
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
“Talking” Land
(problem validation,
first customers)
Startup phases…
Problem/Solution
Product/Market
Acquisition
Company building
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
“Talking” Land
(problem validation,
first customers)
“Public Hacked
Prototype Land”
(solution validation,
more customers)
Startup phases…
Problem/Solution
Product/Market
Acquisition
Company building
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
“Talking” Land
(problem validation,
first customers)
“Public Hacked
Prototype Land”
(solution validation,
more customers)
“Fix that crap” Land
(Becoming a real
product and
company,
Fixing legacy,
Channel optimization)
Startup phases…
Problem/Solution
Product/Market
Acquisition
Company building
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
“Talking” Land
(problem validation,
first customers)
“Public Hacked
Prototype Land”
(solution validation,
more customers)
“Fix that crap” Land
(Becoming a real
product and
company,
Fixing legacy,
Channel optimization)
“Mystery Land”
(Fighting Dragons,
Saving princesses,
etc)
Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
5-7 Months 3-5 Months
Source: Startup Genome Project
Startup phases…
Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale
Source: Startup Genome Project
Enough time to
kill your first
startup idea.
You can do dozens of
iterations of your potential
problem and solution
without ever touching code.
How to kill your
first 100 startup
ideas…
without biasing customersvisualizing the solution
testing the solution ( www.Keynotopia.com )
committing customers
CustDev is the
most efficient way
to kill your dreams.
Ever.
Learn coding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.
Learn coding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.
Everyone can learn to code on
“hacky prototype level”.
GetClients.Money talks.
GetTraction.There are millions of reasons
for not having traction.
But none of them is an excuse.
Good problems to have:
“I got clients’ money, I need development
support” (real)
“My hacked-together prototype gets too
much traffic, can you help me” (concrete)
@andreasklinger
#2 considering
Before
you join:
Write down
your first impressions and concerns.
Positive and negative.
Revise this every two weeks.
People don’t change &
Your gut is always right.
Before
you join:
Have a VERY honest talk
about WHY each of you
wants to do that startup.
Keeping the product abstract
helps in that talk.
Goal: Find real intrinsic motivation
E.g.
Becoming known in the startup “scene”.
Making money.
Being known worldwide.
Building software people use.
Coding in that new language.
Being innovative
Helping underdogs.
Sounds more fun than my agency job.
Play the VC/Startup game.
Why?
Intrinsic Motivation
affects Values and Comfort Zone.
Both affect Strategies.
People only do what people like to do.
See finding a co-founder
as hiring process.
It’s the most expensive job
of the company. (equity intense)
Still people spend less time on assessing
their co-founders than their employees.
Why?
Loose projects…
Loose contracts…
Loose hopes…
Loose (but honest) or no promises…
Start
Loose…
@andreasklinger
#3 joining
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Co-Founding
~= Marriage
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Co-Founding
~= Marriage
Set up vesting.
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Co-Founding
~= Marriage
Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).
54% of all marriages end in divorce.
Co-Founding
~= Marriage
Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).
(seriously do it)
@andreasklinger
#4 working
“Some startup founder teams have a
unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”
~ Devin Hunt
Clear
Leadership
“Some startup founder teams have a
unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”
~ Devin Hunt
Clear
Leadership
Be clear who defines (and changes) the vision.
Be clear about who decides in the end, if needed.
Don’t confuse common agreement with democracy.
Daily calls.
Weekly progress check.
Clear process for each of them
Make communication
a habit.
Daily calls.
Weekly progress check.
Clear process for each of them
E.g. Daily calls (only one person talks at a time, 10 mins max, discussions are done in a seperate call):
1) What did i do today
2) What am i going to do tomorrow
3) Problems i face
4) Announcements
5) Ways i found to improve (e.g. myself) [idea by buffer]
Make communication
a habit.
Co-
Founders#1 searching
#2 considering
#3 joining
#4 working
(short lessons learned)
recommended presentations
by @robfitz on custdev/lean:
http://leanca.mp/2012/01/intro-to-lean-startup-with-no-buzzwords-by-robfitz/
http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2012/05/how-to-do-and-what-to-expect-from-
early-stage-customer-development-sales/
Pictures by “Where the Wild Things Are” by Warner Bros
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/
And if they haven’t killed
each other they are living
happily ever after…
@andreasklinger