In less than 7 minutes this video shows us that kindergarteners are the natural champions of the lean startup methodology and every business class we take further dilutes our successful, natural instincts.
“Business students are trained to find the single, right plan…what kindergarteners do differently is that they start with the marshmallow and they build prototypes” (Biz Students vs. Kindergartners starts at 1:50)
“With each version kids get instant feedback of what works and what doesn’t” (3:11)
“Sometimes, a little prototype of this experience is all that it takes to turn us from an uh-oh moment to a ta-da moment.” (6:34)
I think this “marshmallow challenge” could also be a great interview activity for lean startups.
We don’t pay you to work here—we pay you so you can work here.
This presentation explains how to use Survey.io to measure product/market fit. You will get more out of it if you visit the source of this presentation at Venture Hacks and take a look at the sample survey. You should also consider reading the transcript or listening to the audio that goes along with this presentation.
There are lots of ways to make money, if you have a lot of traffic. It is kind of a solved problem. We want to make more money than a short term opportunity provides. We want a business that is organic to the product itself.
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Evan Williams on making money with Twitter
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The Lean Startup methodology does not advocate using optimization techniques to make startup decisions. That’s right. You don’t have to listen to customers, you don’t have to split-test, and you are free to ignore any data you want. This isn’t kindergarten. You don’t get a gold star for listening to what customers say. You only get a gold star for achieving results.
What should you do instead? The general pattern is: have a strong vision, test that vision against reality, and then decide whether to pivot or persevere.
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Eric Ries
Go read the full article ”Learning is Better than Optimization” because the idea that we don’t have to use optimization techniques to make startup decisions is heresy in a lot of circles and this quote just doesn’t capture the whole article.
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The best thing about starting a company in Indianapolis
The best thing about starting a company in Indianapolis is you can avoid the “startup” hype. Indianapolis in general (not the tech community, but the general community) doesn’t care about startups. The only way they’ll pay attention to you is if you’re successful.
This is a good thing.
Even the most good intentioned founders can get caught up in the hype.
- The hype is what makes you seek unnecessary press, twitter followers, facebook fans, and other vanity metrics.
- The hype is what makes you worry about how much money you’re raising, who you’re investors are, and who your partners are regardless of how it’s helping you serve your customer.
- The hype is what makes you feel like you’ve accomplished more than you have or less than you have.
- In general, the hype distorts the reality, which is lethal
If you phrase that another way, you also get the worst thing about starting a company in Indianapolis - it’s harder for legitimate startups to attract any hype.
- The hype helps you get press, twitter followers, and facebook fans which help market your product
- The hype helps you raise money, attract strategic investors, and strategic partners to better serve your customers
- The hype can make you feel like you’ve accomplished more than you have which is good for morale, or less than you have, which pushes you to achieve more
- In general, the hype distorts the reality, which if channeled correctly, can be helpful
As they say, “all things in moderation.”
In the predator model, the entrepreneur’s advantage is analytical - he’s better at figuring out a sure thing than the rest of us
Startups are Like Puppies
“…a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model.” -Steve Blank, Teaching Entrepreneurship-Logistics
Emphasis on the “temporary.” A lot of people like to say they’re interested in startups (just look at a lot of twitter profiles, you’ll see), but that seems ridiculous to me. Startups have their charms, but most of the fun seems to be had by those running profitable, sustainable companies. That’s what I’m interested in and the sooner we can get Pocket Tales there the better.
It’s like when people say they love puppies. I wonder if they hate when their puppies become mature dogs. Puppies make a ton of mess and are mostly a chore. No. I’d much rather have a fully trained dog.
I feel lucky to be interested in something that isn’t so fleeting. Puppy lovers are just setting themselves up for heartbreak.
The problem is, it’s hard to find a fully trained dog suited to you and your personality and that’s true of companies too. It be near impossible for me to get hired as the CEO of a profitable consumer web application that is as much aligned with my interests and skill set as Pocket Tales (or let’s be honest, the CEO of any promising web application, aligned or not).
So I put up with the startup mess, and even learn to appreciate its charms, because one day it will be a fully trained (i.e. “profitable) company. I’ll probably even miss how in the “startup” days it was easy to change direction or how quickly we could make big decisions.
Profitable companies, like fully trained dogs, just aren’t as easy to teach new tricks.
The difference between me and David Hampton isn’t that he’s a con artist and I’m not; the difference is that I only told lies I could live up to, and I knew when to stop. That’s not a different type of behavior, it’s just a different amount.
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Clay Shirky explains why sometimes we need to be “self-promoting narcissists, anti-social obsessives, or pompous blowhards, even a little bit, even temporarily, even when it would be in (our) best interests to do so.”
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