TThe early stages of startup are full of challenges for both new and repeat entrepreneurs alike. Minimum Viable is 25 of my best startup advice posts from behind Medium's paywall, covering the period from the very beginning of the idea stage to the growth stage. This isn't business plans and pitch decks. It's proven strategies and new ideas for making, leading, selling, and growing.
Coming May 28th, 2019
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Startup burnout is a real thing. As the stigma traditionally associated with mental health issues melts away, we’re seeing a lot more entrepreneurs and startup employees raise their hands when the stress levels get too high.
Startups are founded on the premise of disruption, and the tech we use to facilitate that disruption likely has multiple efficiencies coded into it that can be reapplied to other use cases. This is where the crazy money is made, because it can elevate our company from niche product player to new market dominator.
To succeed in startup, you not only have to land the best talent, but you have to land and keep the best talent at the most value. Here’s how you do that, with four secrets no one else might tell you.
Does it make sense to split the duties of a CEO in order to make a company stronger and more effective? Let me first make it perfectly clear that I understand the disaster scenario. Two leaders means a series of split decisions and bickering. Two leaders means mixed messages and incongruent priorities. Two leaders means everyone has two bosses. So first, let’s think about why any company would want two CEOs.
Entrepreneurs and investors are placing bets that the gig economy is about to normalize and become an even greater share of the real economy. Here’s what I’ve learned about building the basics of a gig market platform MVP.
Let’s talk about fallback strategies for when your biggest customer breaks up with you. I’ll prescribe a fix, but more importantly, I’ll lay out a strategy for prevention.
Let’s talk about how a startup founder gets funded. And why they don’t. I get about a dozen questions a week via my website from first-time entrepreneurs asking me to help them get their company funded. I don’t do that. But I do know a ton of VC and angel investors, so I asked a bunch of them questions about what works, what hurts, and what they look for from the very first contact with an entrepreneur.
I used to think salary didn’t matter, because I love what I do. But along the way I’ve learned that it’s critical to get employee pay right from the beginning.
Listen up. If your company is being acquired, or if you’re planning for an acquisition as your exit, you need to know what’s coming. Because a lot of it isn’t pretty.
Good entrepreneurs worry so much about where the next customer is going to come from that we never think twice about whether we should take on, or keep, a customer that's more trouble than they're worth.
* Featured in TechCrunch *
Making a mistake launching a new product feature is costly, and I’ve done it at least a dozen times. Never again. We’re all familiar with the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) strategy. What’s gaining traction now is the strategy of repeating the MVP process with every new feature, even down to every new version. How do we do that?
Do you feel like an outsider when it comes to startup, entrepreneurship, or starting or running a business? Are there rules and processes and terms you don't fully understand? Does it feel like a closed club sometimes?
Everything You Should Know About Startup is all the stuff I wish I knew when I was first starting out, run through the lens of having done it for so long and still doing it. It's not Silicon Valley buzzwords and mantras. It's nuts and bolts and logic that applies in the real world.