Thread by @dunkhippo33

We @hustlefundvc are going to be launching something w @ViewSonic on Oct 6! #TheAffies #AFAawards

Capital, knowledge, & networks are 3 key parts to startup success. Traditionally, those have been limited to a small # of entrepreneurs, but now are becoming more accessible to all.

1) This reminds me of what helped me / would've helped me w/ my own startup journey.

I started my co in late 2008 - right as the financial crash was happening. I couldn't raise any $$ for many yrs.

Capital has always been challenging for many entrepreneurs & I was no exception.

2) The recession was certainly part of the problem, but the bigger problem is that I didn't know what I was doing and had horrible business ideas:

https://twitter.com/dunkhippo33/status/1366857806876340225?s=20

3) To make ends meet, I did a lot of side gigs:

https://twitter.com/dunkhippo33/status/1201177928752480256?s=20

4) Besides $$, I wish I had had advice around what makes for a good business idea and why? Obviously ppl have multiple opinions on every idea, but even to hear a few would've been helpful feedback.

I wish I had had guidance on cust acq, hiring, and gen company building.

5) At that time, not a lot of knowledge on "how to think about building a startup" existed publicly.

Moreover, even though I was in the Bay Area, what ppl did know was largely kept within close circles within Silicon Valley.

6) But over the next decade, things started changing.

Frameworks from these circles started emerging and becoming common knowledge.

For ex, in 2010/2011, @ericries' Lean Startup philosophy really changed the world.

7) With Lean Startup, entrepreneurs globally have saved so much time by de-risking their businesses earlier.

But, pre-Lean Startup, it was common for ppl to just build things to oblivion hoping something would work.

8) Reading @ericries' 1st blog post on how to think about de-risking your company changed my entire approach to building.

In fact, at my startup, we *stopped* building and decided we would only build something if we could validate it first through pre-sales or signups

9) In fact, there are now even *publicly traded companies* that used the Lean Startup methodology to get started -- by doing pre-sales before building anything to make sure they were building the right thing.

10) This is just one of many examples where bringing frameworks, learnings, and strategies into the public has really helped propel startup ecosystems everywhere.

Knowledge should be accessible to all.

11) We now see slow changes in how capital is deployed, and public knowledge on how to build a startup is being documented.

I'm optimistic for future entrepreneurs.

12) Stay tuned - on Oct 6 we'll reveal more about what we're doing with @ViewSonic as we think about advancing capital, knowledge, and networks.

#TheAffies #AFAawards

More info soon here:
bit.ly/3CmM4qB