A SHORT AND CONCISE GUIDE OF WHAT NOT TO DO IF YOU INTEND TO STAY ALIVE IN THE OVERLY COMPETITIVE

WORLD OF STARTUPS

(PART 1 OF MANY)

by @herval

KNOWING WHAT TO DO IS EASY

have an idea

work a little bit

profit!

MISTAKES SLOW YOU DOWN

Success = making less mistakes (and learning from the ones you make)

Learning from others’ is a shortcut

“I’ll fail until I succeed”(I just hope I’m not 90 years old when I do)

HERVAL FREIRE

Starting up since 2002

Founder of 4 companies, a dozen projects

Helped founding a gazillion other companies (mostly as a hacker)

THIS PRESENTATION SPONSORED BY...

(we’re hiring!)

&

DON’T DELAY THE PAPERWORK

DON’T OVERENGINEER

Build as few things as possible

Solve specific problems, don’t generalize too soon

Be quick - that’s your only weapon as a startup

DON’T HIRE INTERNS FREELANCERS NOOBS

A strong foundation requires a brilliant team

No time for unexperienced people or mistakes

The first 10 employees will determine your company’s DNA. Make the best of it.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE COSTS

Starting with empty pockets will only bring you frustration

Hidden costs, taxes and accidents

Having money to eat is peace of mind

DON’T EXPECT ANYONE TO SUPPORT YOU

Your friends will think you’re crazy (unless you’re in the Valley, in which case they’re probably crazy too)

Your family will ask you to get a job

Users won’t flock at your door

Ignore the naysayers and do your stuff

DON’T ASK CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT

“If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse”- Henry Ford (that dude that went broke 5 times before Ford Motors)

Measure everything!

DATA is King

DON’T PANIC

Nothing is as easy as it looks

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong

Everything will take longer than expected to get done (rule of thumb: 3 times longer)

Expect the best, plan for the worst

DON’T BLAME OTHERS

The economy downturn

Those pesky developers

My disappointing sales team

The weather

Blame yourself and yourself alone

DON’T PIVOT TOO MUCH...

“so many opportunities out there! Gotta catch them all” - Pokemón entrepreneur

“It didn’t work at first try, so it sucks, let’s do something completely different”- Glass-half-empty entrepreneur

“revenue is so 90‘s! We should gamify those micropayments. Everyone is doing it!”- The trend-follower

...BUT PLEASE DON’T BE STUBBORN

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”- Albert Einstein (that kid who didn’t speak until he was 4!)

(that MMORPG)(SMS group messaging) (Bourbn - another Foursquare)

DON’T DIE

Paul Graham’s “How not to die” - http://bit.ly/nYDNaT

Rovio: 52 games, 8 years, almost zero

revenue before Angry Birds

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. “- Thomas Edisson, that dude that invented the lamp (and a thousand other things)

QUESTCHUNS?

about.me/herval