Being a first-time founder is hard!
Everything takes 2x time and 3x money.
Here are a few tips to help first-time founders stay focused and keep moving! π§΅
Celebrate small wins! πΎπ
As a founder, the highs and lows are so drastic and you feel like you're not getting anything accomplished. It's SO important to celebrate every win.
Share on social media, make a #kudos channel in Slack, have mimosas for a product launch.
Pick up the phoneπ±β¨
Call your leads. I know you want to strategize and hire and send emails but nothing beats a good old fashion phone call to the customers you NEED.
Pick up the phone and call them. Listen to their needs. Sell them on your product! You are the expert.
DEV = REV π°
"Dev to Rev" means that you should only focus on development that will bring revenue to the company. Don't get shiny-object-syndrome.
Everyone in my company knew what it meant and it helped us with cash control while bootstrapping.
Benefits > Features π₯
Put this on a sticky note and put it on your computer. This is important in every aspect of business from VC pitching to marketing copy to cold calls. If you can remember this, it'll change how you communicate your brand.
Mentors are key!π
Find peer mentors who are a few steps ahead in the startup journey & can help with problems that no one else would understand.
Find digital mentors you can look up to by taking in their written and audio content. You don't have to be BFFs to learn from them.
Avoid burnout! πΏ
Don't work yourself to the bone. It's just not worth it. Give yourself some time to rest, reset, and come back stronger. Take breaks, get outside, sleeeeeep, enjoy your weekends. Everything will be there when you get back. I promise.
Sales cures all. π°
Get that MVP to revenue ASAP. You will be embarrassed, there will be bugs, and you will likely have some naysayers. All of that is normal. Ignore the noise and keep moving to get your first dollar. Everything changes when you have revenue.
Take off the rose-colored glasses π
If you're not finding PMF, burning through cash, and unable to make it work, you need to be honest with yourself, your team, and investors. Go to them. Ask for help. They might have an idea. It's hard but it could save you and your business.
Your worth is not your work π
As a first-time founder, your identity is tied directly to your company & it can be hard to untie but the sooner you realize that your worth is not your work, the happier you will be.
Ask yourself: Who am I besides a founder?
And be THAT proudly.
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First up is the obvious... @joinClubhouse
- Founders @pdavison & @rohanseth confirmed Series B led by @a16z and now has 180+ investors
- Said to be valued at $1B+
- 2M weekly active users
- Monetization soon through subscriptions, tickets, tipping
- Black-owned by @thatayinde (creator of iheartradio app)
- Competitive advantage: accessibility at the forefront through keywords search and transcriptions
- monetization through tips, tickets & comments
- photo, video, live streaming, and long-form content app that lets you monetize your posts through subscribers
- Black-owned by @IsaacHayes3
- raised $2.3M through the community on start engine
One year ago today, my SaaS tech company that started as a sketch on an airplane napkin, was officially acquired.
Here's my short story. π§΅
In 2009, I was a paralegal at a law firm with too much ambition and mad entrepreneurial vibes.
On the side, I was an aerial photographer and eventually framed and sold my art in galleries and out of my tiny studio apartment. I spent more printing than I made but I enjoyed it.
I realized I could make more working virtually for attorneys across the US so I created The Paralegal Team, a virtual paralegal firm.
I sent my resume to attorneys on Craigslist looking for paralegals. But it was hard to convince them to let me work virtually in 2011.
Non-technical founders always ask how they can build an app if they don't have a tech team. I was in the same boat.
Let's break down some solutions. π§΅
If you want to solve a problem in tech, chances are you are going to be building a web app or a mobile app. Figure out where your customers are and what your business model is and then decide on which one you will start with. Let's go with web app for the sake of this thread.
You (the non-tech founder) need to figure out the BIGGEST pain points by talking to potential customers. Make a list of everything you want to solve and then cut it down by half and again, and again, until you have the bare bones of what you can launch with. This is your MVP.
Two days after my post above, I made a decision that I would be investing ONLY in underrepresented and overlooked founders because I felt like there were enough tech bro clubs excluding a huge group of opportunities.
But then out of nowhere, I got an invite text to join Clubhouse and I had to see what the hype was about.
I immediately was greeted with an onboarding @NotionHQ doc from @iiiitsandrea and when I showed up on the app with my party cone π, I was warmly welcomed by everyone.