TEN things every startup founder can do to un-fail their startup Colin Kinner Founder, Startup Onramp 2 September 2017 @ColinKinner 1
billion billion 2
Startup = growth Paul Graham, Y Combinator NOT Scalable $ Revenues Costs time 3
NOT Scalable Revenues $ Costs time Scalable Revenues $ Costs time 4
1. Think BIG 5
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2. Do some market research 7
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Source: https://steveblank.com/2013/11/08/a-new-way-to-look-at-competitors/ Attribute 1 Attribute 2 Attribute 3 Attribute 4 Us Competitor A Competitor B Competitor C Competitor D 9
Competitor D Us Attribute 1 Competitor C Competitor B Competitor A Attribute 2 3. Tell EVERYONE about your idea 10
NDAs 11
4. Build a great landing page 12
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If you need a designer... get a designer. 14
29 5. Validate your idea with CUSTOMERS 15
THERE ARE NO FACTS INSIDE THE BUILDING A startup is a company that's confused about (1) what its product is, (2) who its customers are, and (3) how to make money Dave McClure, 500 Startups 16
Lean Canvas PROBLEM List the top 1-3 problems SOLUTION Outline a possible solution for each problem UNIQUE VALUE PROPOSITION A single, clear, compelling statement about why customers will buy your product UNFAIR ADVANTAGE What advantages do you have that can t be easily bought or copied CUSTOMER SEGMENTS List your target customers and users EXISTING ALTERNATIVES List how these problems are solved today KEY METRICS List the key numbers that tell you how your business is doing HIGH-LEVEL CONCEPT One-line description of your business (eg. YouTube = Flickr for videos) CHANNELS List your path to customers EARLY ADOPTERS List the characteristics of your ideal customers COST STRUCTURE List your main fixed and variable costs REVENUE STREAMS List your sources of revenue www.leanstack.com 17
Business plans are as good as following directions given by a blind chimpanzee. Franck Nouyrigat Co-Founder, Startup Weekend Business plans are as good as following directions given by a blind chimpanzee. Franck Nouyrigat Co-Founder, Startup Weekend 18
6. Bring technical skills into the team We won t back founders who have an agency as a co-founder. Employees care 10x less than founders. And agencies care 10x less than employees. Source: https://medium.com/blackbird-ventures/what-blackbird-is-looking-for-in-2017-bfada0be5aa1 19
A tech startup without dedicated, in-house technology expertise is a recipe for failure and disaster. With no tech skills in your founding team, your startup is broken at multiple levels. Source: http://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/advice/business-planning/steve-baxter-on-why-a-founding-team-with-no-tech-skills-is-doomed/ No, I will NOT be your technical co-founder. 20
7. Implementfounder vesting 100% Percentage vested 75% 50% 25% One year cliff Monthly vesting 0% 0 12 24 36 48 Months 21
Most startup teams will not survive the first year intact. If someone leaves after six months but keeps all the equity, that s a bad situation for us and for the rest of the team. Source: http://www.afr.com/brand/boss/the-one-mistake-every-startup-founder-should-avoid-20170214-gucm6i Rick Baker, Blackbird VC 8. Get your name right 22
Choose a name that s easy to spell 23
Choose a name that s easy to pronounce 24
A great name is Simple Memorable Available Repurposeable Timeless Get the.com 25
Avoid domain hacks 26
Like these... facebo.ok face-book.com getfacebook.com facebookapp.com facebook.io facebook.fm facebook.biz facebook.net 27
9. Understand metrics 28
Pirate Metrics Acquisition: Activation: Retention: Referral: Revenue: Customers acquired from various channels Customers have a positive first visit and plan to come back Customers care enough to come back multiple times Customers love your product and refer others Customers pay for your product GET KEEP GROW North star metric = The single most meaningful metric for your startup Daily active users Nights booked Messages sent Gross transaction value 29
10. Understand investors 3Fs Accelerators Angels VCs 30
Smart, involved money Dumb, passive money > > Dumb, involved money Startups Return Blue chip listed stocks Speculative listed stocks Government bonds Risk 31
Return Risk 11. Become a pig (not a chicken) 32
> 12. Join a community of entrepreneurs 33
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@ColinKinner colin@startuponramp.com Ph 0411 122 976 www.startuponramp.com 36