Is starting a startup about living the dream?
Here are some uncomfortable truths about starting. It looks glossy & it feels like you are part of the group putting a man on Mars, but NO. It's not. But first, a startup is not a small SME or a small version of a big business.
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Here are some uncomfortable truths about starting. It looks glossy & it feels like you are part of the group putting a man on Mars, but NO. It's not. But first, a startup is not a small SME or a small version of a big business.
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A startup is also not about tech innovation or invention, it's about new “business models” & generating value in new unproven ways. Its not about the word technology, although that would be nice. Its centered on scale & repeatable. Failure is guaranteed, success is a plus.
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A start-up is a company confused about
1.What its product is.
2.Who its customers are.
3. How to make money
–Dave McClure, 500 Startups
Success depends on speed to figure the above while everything is going against you.
HERE IS SOME OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME EVERYDAY!
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1.What its product is.
2.Who its customers are.
3. How to make money
–Dave McClure, 500 Startups
Success depends on speed to figure the above while everything is going against you.
HERE IS SOME OF WHAT YOU HAVE TO OVERCOME EVERYDAY!
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On Failure.
You will fail, almost everyday. It will hurt-everytime, like its the first time. What you don't have going for you is that our culture looks down on failure. You will be mocked for each failure, remember failure is where great ideas get built, not where they die.
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You will fail, almost everyday. It will hurt-everytime, like its the first time. What you don't have going for you is that our culture looks down on failure. You will be mocked for each failure, remember failure is where great ideas get built, not where they die.
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On Team.
Bad news; calling yourself CEO & Founder means nothing. A startup is not about being boss. Your co-founders, early team will most likely quit on you. All their reasons will be RIGHT. Those who stay, will hate you even more for the uncomfortable process of DISCOVERY.
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Bad news; calling yourself CEO & Founder means nothing. A startup is not about being boss. Your co-founders, early team will most likely quit on you. All their reasons will be RIGHT. Those who stay, will hate you even more for the uncomfortable process of DISCOVERY.
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On Capital
No one will tell you but you don’t deserve the capital. It will only come after you’ve built up some value. Don't chase it, focus on your value & the type of capital you need because if the wrong capital comes, its terms could make you worse off even kill you.
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No one will tell you but you don’t deserve the capital. It will only come after you’ve built up some value. Don't chase it, focus on your value & the type of capital you need because if the wrong capital comes, its terms could make you worse off even kill you.
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The Pioneer gap..
The hardest of them all but one you cant wish away. The gap between when your startup launches but is not yet investable & when it is at a later stage where it is investable. No one wants to touch you here. If you don’t die here, you might never die.
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The hardest of them all but one you cant wish away. The gap between when your startup launches but is not yet investable & when it is at a later stage where it is investable. No one wants to touch you here. If you don’t die here, you might never die.
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On Family..
Most will not understand you, don’t be unfair to them by expecting them to. You decided to work on something you dont clearly understand with no guarantee of success. But make no mistake, you must understand them & be there for them even when it seems impossible
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Most will not understand you, don’t be unfair to them by expecting them to. You decided to work on something you dont clearly understand with no guarantee of success. But make no mistake, you must understand them & be there for them even when it seems impossible
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On Fear.
You will feel the fear - EVERYDAY. Worrying itself is a form of fear enough to kill you. You have to learn to feel the fear and do it anyway. Your head will be handed to you everyday by something you didn’t anticipate. You have to find a way of coming back everyday.
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You will feel the fear - EVERYDAY. Worrying itself is a form of fear enough to kill you. You have to learn to feel the fear and do it anyway. Your head will be handed to you everyday by something you didn’t anticipate. You have to find a way of coming back everyday.
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On Mental Health..
A big one mostly taken for granted by our culture as a sign of weakness. Ignore at your own risk. Self care is key because the hardest part will not be when others cannot understand you, it will be when you can’t understand yourself. It just wont be once.
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A big one mostly taken for granted by our culture as a sign of weakness. Ignore at your own risk. Self care is key because the hardest part will not be when others cannot understand you, it will be when you can’t understand yourself. It just wont be once.
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On Time...
Staying longer at the game, is not a guarantee of success. Unfortunately, you can still work on it 2 or 3 and even 5 years and failure is an option. If you still want to #StartaStartup after this, lets discuss how to improve your odds of success. (No guarantees 😊)
Staying longer at the game, is not a guarantee of success. Unfortunately, you can still work on it 2 or 3 and even 5 years and failure is an option. If you still want to #StartaStartup after this, lets discuss how to improve your odds of success. (No guarantees 😊)
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