Thread by @haridassharanya

⚡️Thread. In case you’re thinking of starting up!⚡️

Last week I had the pleasure of being a part of @Accel_India’s Startup Roundtable for founders to be. Here are some of the key insights from veteran VC investor @skirani.(Thanks @Accel @avinashraghava for organising this!)

1)💡Entepreneurs are in the business of conviction. Believe in your idea & convince others of it too. Get good at the art of storytelling*.

(*As a marketing professional, I 💖 this underrated point! Customers & other stakeholders must relate to your business emotionally.)

2)💰Startups are in the business of profit. Unit economics is key— understand the day to day cost of running your biz, cost of acquiring customers & their life time value. Do the math in advance.

3)💪🏽 Prepare > Pivot: Benchmark your idea. Find everyone you can solving similar/analogous problems and speak to them. Cultivate the ability to talk to a wall. Expect rejection but persist anyway.

4)📚Playbook: Low cost of acquisition, high LTV, large customer base makes for viral products. Are you a “pull” product that draws customers easily or “push” business that must work to change existing behavior? Are you an X of Y business or Blue Ocean? (contd)

4)📖Playbook contd.

X of Y models replicate existing business models in a new geographies/ categories. 🍊🔶

Blue Ocean ideas do something very novel that’s never been done before. (Eg- matrimony websites in India have no equivalent abroad) 🌊

5)📈Growth Rate: How many new customers are you acquiring each month? What’s the cost of acquiring them, cost of maintenance, margins?

6)🔝Market Size: Large industry, fragmented, with no major player is ideal. Can this business scale? Can a new player break in easily? There’s a first mover advantage but also a late mover advantage. (Eg: Swiggy, a late entrant in food delivery is now a leader)

7)💸 Funding: You can absolutely build a great bootstrapped biz, but to be VC fundable, you need to be large, scalable, demonstrate good unit economics & high growth, be profitable & exitable.
♥️(Another gem) Know the area deeply & know more than your investor.

8)🧐How to decide on your startup: Do many people share this pain point? Is there a better way to solve an existing problem? Speak to your customers. Use product thinking to evaluate if your solution is better & has a differentiated value proposition. Clarity before execution!

9) 🧝🏽‍♀️🧚🏾‍♀️🧞‍♂️ Building A Team:
2-3 cofounders are better than 1.
Seek comfort & chemistry, transparency & trust, resourcefulness, scalability & complementary skills. Split equity equitably not equally. Learn to spot talent & hire teammates who have skills + strong intent.

10)🛣The entrepreneurial journey: You’re in the long game, so choose a problem you connect with & relate to deeply. Prepare to commit a few years of your life to it. Get good at making decisions with little data. Learn to deal with rejection. Compartmentalise. Keep learning.🙏🏼