First Steps for Founders
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17-Oct-2014 -
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Business
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description
Since the acquisition of her first startup, Mint.com, Poornima Vijayashanker has transitioned from the role of founding engineer to founder for two startups: BizeeBee and Femgineer. In this talk, Poornima will shed light into the first steps founders need to take when it comes to bringing an idea to life, building a product, and a creating company.
Transcript of First Steps for Founders
Background
• R&D Engineer @ Synopsys
• Founding Engineer @ Mint.com
• Founder & CEO @ BizeeBee
• Founder of Femgineer.com
• Instructor @ Duke University
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Agenda
• First 3 Steps
• Financing
• Time
• Success
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Got ideas?
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Idea
Money Team
Product
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Overwhelmed.
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Stuck.
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Business vs. Technical?
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Step 1?
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Idea Market
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Idea
Outside Help Customers
Domain Expertise
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Step 2?
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starting small vs.
BIG VISION
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Step 3?
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Know what you know.
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Take stock of your skills and expertise.
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Recruit for the rest.
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Alone vs. Team
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MONEY INTELLIGENCE vs. mint
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• Identify your skills and look for complementary skills.
• Don’t do a sales pitch. Instead get people involved in the process e.g. brainstorming.
• Be wary of those who come after you!
Co-Founders
Supplemental Reading: Conversations Potential Co-Founders Should Have
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Co-Founder Conversations
• Conversation topics to cover:
• Bad experiences you both might have had in the past.
• Setup a clear standard for communicating both the positive and negative.
• Make sure there is alignment when it comes to values and the direction of the company and product.
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Co-Founder Conversations
• Gauge the following:
• Level of interest
• Quality of contributions
• Chemistry and camaraderie
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Advisors
• Areas of Expertise
• Setup expectations
• Make contribution clear
• Fluid relationship
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Right time to recruit.
Supplemental Reading: How to Keep Your Startup Engineer Sane, Recruiting for a Startup? First Figure Out Who & What You Want.
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Vision vs. Implementation
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Communicate your vision clearly.
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People follow those who show passion.
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• Abilities vs. Capabilities
• What skill set do you absolutely need?
• Allocation time to train and understand direction
• Micromanaging vs. Delegating
• Polling vs. check-ins
• Test: can focus on just your role and contributions?
Team Building
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• Outsourced or Part-Time Team
• Set a budget
• Set clear deliverables
• Hire those that demonstrate self-leadership
• Start with sample projects
Part Time or Outsourced Team
Supplemental Reading: How to Make Progress with Part Timers, Optimizing Outsourcing
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Dissolve a Partnership
• What is the stake they leave with?
• Who controls the assets?
• Bringing someone new in.
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Keep going!
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Time to build...
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Product
Customers Financing
Company
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£ OR €
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Financing
• Bootstrapping: savings, full time job, or pre-sales
• Crowdfunding: friends & family, campaigns
• Private Capital: angels, VCS
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Timing.
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Timing
Employees Understanding
Credibility withCustomers
Mistakes
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Tough.
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Temptations to quit.
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Success vs. FAILURE
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Many ingredients.
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Your definition.
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What’s your goal?
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Review
• First 3 Steps
• Financing
• Time
• Success
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Additional Resources
• Office Hours
• Online Mentoring
• Courses
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Q&A
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