StartupsBest Practices
Jan 2013
Ido GreenDeveloper Advocate
http://plus.ly/greenido
greenido.wordpress.com
Agenda●Tips from my experience
●Campus TLV - way of life
●Mentors
●Q&A
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."
Drug Dealers Get It Right
● Great product - you can give free samples.
● Like MC Donalds in terms of Organization &OPs.
● 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' - So try before you hire.
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.
● Progress is execution against our plans.
● We are the only one who do X.
What to do fast?
Build --> Ship --> Measure --> Improve -->
Campus TLV - Way Of Life● Entrepreneurs lead
● Give before you take/get○ Contribute and help others. Little is
fine.○ Accept a random meeting
● Don't complain. Just do it (c).
Campus TLV - Mentor● Talk the talk and walk the walk - practice
what you preach.○ Know what you don’t know.
● Listen too! It should be 50/50 talk/listen time.
● Be direct. Tell the truth, however hard.
Campus TLV - Mentor● Be responsive.● Adopt at least one company every X
days. ● Clearly commit to mentor or do not. ● Guide, don’t control. ● Provide specific actionable advice.● Be challenging/robust but never
destructive.● Remember that startups are hard.
Great Ones To Follow
● http://www.avc.com
● http://www.davidgcohen.com
● http://www.feld.com
Q & AThank you!
http://plus.ly/greenido
greenido.wordpress.com