Startup Lessons Learned The Expensive Way

THINGS ENTREPRENEURS LEARN1. Ideas grow on trees2. Solve problems3. Partners in crime4. Funding is a crap shoot5. Big ships turn slowly6. Be agile not fragile7. Bat above your weight8. Piggyback brands9. Beware the Scope Creep10. Blood on the bleeding

edge

11. The market is not ready for you

12. Timing counts13. The market is small14. Be ready to fail15. Fail better16. First mover disadvantage17. Sell or Build18. Incubate19. Keep lean and mean20. Great products sell

themselves

IDEAS GROW ON TREES It’s all in the execution NDAs are for amateurs Patents hard to enforce The real threat is out there

“20 competitors by Christmas”

SOLVE PROBLEMS Needs vs Wants Market-led development vs Product-led

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” ~ Henry T. Ford

“It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” ~ Steve Jobs

PARTNERS IN CRIME Founders

Everybody needs somebody, to lean on 1+1=3

Team full of Talent Hire entrepreneurs, not employees 1 great developer = 4 good ones

Academia Long term friends

FUNDING IS A CRAP SHOOT Three F’s Misadventure capitalists The curse of competitions Sucking from the EI teat Sales!

BIG SHIPS TURN SLOWLY Google and social networking Facebook and search Mobile operators and LBS

The environment changes faster than large organisations

BE AGILE NOT FRAGILE Classic “waterfall” project management is

important for capital intensive work where early errors can be catastrophic later

Not so valuable for small, resource-limited works where specifications change regularly and errors can be fixed post-launch

BE AGILE NOT FRAGILE Use rapid iteration Release early, release often Quality?

BAT ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT Multinationals do partner with small

companies sometimes by luck

Franchise organisations Channel partners System Integrators

PIGGYBACK BRANDS #1 Christmas app 2009 and again Summer

2010 from TV show Jedward: Let Loose (Aug

24)

BEWARE THE SCOPE CREEP The Scope Creep ♥

Feature Bloat

“Making a product better often requires removing features” Marco Arment,

Instapaper

BLOOD ON THE BLEEDING EDGE Technology evolves quickly Window of opportunity is

small

Locle’s cell-tower positioning system was irrelevant within 2 years

THE MARKET IS NOT READY FOR YOU

2000-2012

TIMING COUNTS Is all luck Will make or break you Perseverance vs Insanity

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” ~ Einstein

Media Buzz ≠ Market Signals

IGNORE CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES Assume they will not come Bus Time

Estimated 50,000 Got 10,000 4% of passengers

BE READY TO FAIL 90% of startups fail It’s OK to fail Failing = Trying

Two types of “failing” Not pleasant fail Iteration fail

FAILING BETTER Pivot, pirouette, exit or axe?

Funda.ie – a 6 month affair

Mediocre product Low user traction Lawsuits Price war Property implosion

KILL PROJECTS BEFORE THEY KILL YOU “You’re killing startups before they’ve

even made it out of nappies” ~ Shane McAllister, Mobanode

But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater

Every kill has a carcass

FIRST MOVER DISADVANTAGE Pioneers are the ones with arrows in their

backs Learning from others is cheaper Easy to copycat 2nd gen tech is cheaper

Unless Deep pockets Patents

INCUBATE Or Accelerate Early cash for old rope Discipline of mentors Coworking End date

ACCELERATORS INCUBATORS

Dogpatch Labs Wayra Academy NDRC LaunchPad

The Digital Hub DBIC Guinness Enterprise Centre DIT Hothouse Tallaght IT M50 Incubator DCU Invent Ryan Academy Propellor Venture

Accelerator NOVA UCD Trinity Technology & Enterprise

Campus IADT MediaCube LINC IT Blanchardstown IGAP Launchbox

KEEP LEAN AND MEAN Small is beautiful, and cheap Telepathy and osmosis Nimble herds

70 Employees $3.4 million revenue/person

SELL OR BUILD Technologists love technology But somebody has to sell

Accelerator programmes teach developers to sell first

“Lead, follow or get out of the way”~Idiocracy

GREAT PRODUCTS SELL THEMSELVES Invest in design Customer service obsession Turn customers into sales force The difference between PR and

marketing

“Brands are built, not bought”

AND FINALLY…