The Lean Startup process builds new ventures more efficiently. It has three parts: a business model canvas to frame hypotheses, customer development to get out of the building to test those hypotheses, and agile engineering to build minimum viable products.
I would never be able to work on a photo-sharing app or ‘Internet startup XYZ.’
Ten Internets ago, when PayPal was started, it was all these tools that no one had built yet to bring commerce to the Internet. My first startup used PayPal.
I basically apply with my teams the lean startup principles I used in the private sector – go into Silicon Valley mode, work at startup speed, and attack, doing things in short amounts of time with extremely limited resources.
In a startup, in the early days, it can be hard to explain what you do.
When Thomas and John Knoll launched Photoshop 1.0 in 1990, the software couldn’t even handle color images. But their offerings got the startup noticed by Apple and Adobe, both of whom became key to the fledgling company’s later success.
If your startup is only in the development or idea stage, there is almost no better predictor of failure – I mean, utter failure, scorched-earth bankruptcy – than raising too much money in the first round.
One of the issues we face here in San Francisco and Silicon Valley is a sense that the people all around us are as conversant in startup and tech culture as we are. But we need to remember, and remind ourselves repeatedly, that we’re a small minority in a larger population.
Building a great team is the lifeblood of any startup, and finding great talent is one of the hardest and costliest tasks any CEO will ever face.
Valuations are actually quite simple to grasp. A company is only worth what two acquirers are willing to pay for it. Don’t you just need to find that one buyer? If there is only one potential company interested in buying your startup, chances are you won’t be hearing the word ‘billion’ in the offer.
In 2016, you no longer have to be in Silicon Valley to launch a successful startup. Colorado is home to many.
HubSpot has used the lean startup method to build a spectacularly successful company. What I particularly love about HubSpot is that they are so geeked out on data analysis and making evidence-based decisions, which are at the heart of the Lean Startup process.
At a startup, it’s hard enough to get a single thing right, much less a whole bunch of things. Especially if the things you are trying to do are not only dissimilar but actively impede each other.
The best founders are extremely thoughtful and have an eye for quality. I don’t know if there’s any generic advice here that would be helpful. Startup knowledge is a moving target.
I was just 21 when I met Eren Bali and Oktay Caglar at Founder Institute, the largest pre-seed startup accelerator. There were over 40 business cofounders looking for technical partners.
A startup is literally just a series of unfortunate events where you failed, failed, failed, and failed until you succeed.
Campaigns are crazy things. They’re half startup, half enterprise.
When I came to the United States in 2004 to attend university at Stanford, I was instantly inspired by the stories and advice from startup leaders in Silicon Valley and beyond, who had endeavoured to create new opportunities and improve lives around the world.
A hardware startup with no funding is a risky venture.
State funds, private equity, venture capital, and institutional lending all have their role in the lifecycle of a high tech startup, but angel capital is crucial for first-time entrepreneurs. Angel investors provide more than just cash; they bring years of expertise as both founders of businesses and as seasoned investors.
Startups, by their nature, are entrepreneurial – testing new things, launching new products, and disrupting themselves. That’s why you join a startup in the first place – to create, to stretch beyond your current capabilities, and to make an outsized impact.
I’m a creature of startups. For example, I don’t want government interference in the startup ecosystem.
Customer Development changes almost every aspect of startup behavior, performance, metrics, and, as often as not, success potential.
Face-to-face customer feedback refines or validates every component of the startup’s business model, not just the product itself.
The truth is, you cannot run a political campaign like a tech startup. Technology is a field that fetishizes disruption. The old ways are suspect, and we place an almost irrational trust on new tools. That’s fine for developing games, but it was a failing playbook for politics.
Founding a successful startup is no different than forming a rock band.
In 2000, just before the first dot-com bubble burst, it cost a whopping $5 million to launch a tech startup.
A hardware startup with a lot of funding and a lot of momentum has a lot less risk.
For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn’t matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.
Nvidia’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, is an engineer and a chip designer. He cofounded Nvidia and still runs it like a startup.
I believe a board in a small startup company should never vote on anything.
One thing I never thought about in my big-company job? Cash flow. When your business has billions of dollars in revenue, you can make a lot of mistakes and still have a viable business. But in a startup, make a few hiring mistakes, and you can find yourself in real jeopardy fast.
It’s harder, but we’re still finding oil in Oklahoma today. The bar has been raised on startup companies, but it can still be done. Every regulation and every rule limits you, but, yes, it can still be done. That’s the beauty of living in a free country and having the freedom to have an idea and become an entrepreneur.
One of the top causes of startup death – right after cofounder problems – is building something no one wants.
I think my gift lies in being a startup entrepreneur and creating environments and experiences.
