Short article outlining some insightful success factors for consumer web startups. Also, if you just read the highlighted portions you’ll get a good sense of what this article is about.
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.
Mint continues to serve up great real-world examples of how to successful start and operate a new company. Here are a couple gems to demonstrate why you should read this article:
“The Product. Maybe we didn’t have a high viral coefficient but we had a great net promoter score…The delight after a quick setup, and having all those graphs and balances was palpable and emotional.”
“Blog / Original Content. Noah talks about the pre-launch days here but quite simply we focused on building out a unique personal finance blog…Eventually the blog became #1 in personal finance, and drove traffic to the app.”
Startup Usability Testing presentation from Cindy Alvarez. See a collection of usability resources from Carter Cleveland.
Lean Startup Usability Testing presentation from Meetup.com’s Andres Glusman. See a collection of usability resources from Carter Cleveland.
A free, online book about the smarter, faster, easier, way to build a successful web application from everyone’s favorite agile software company.
Mint CEO Aaron Patzer - Presentation on Budgeting, Hiring, and Raising Capital
The following video and presentation contain actual numbers from Mint.com’s startup story. It shows how Patzer and team budgeted expenses, hired developers, and raised multiple rounds of capital from “Garage” round to exit.
And it’s all wrapped up into a succinct 20 minute presentation.
This is extremely useful information; especially, for early-stage Indiana tech startups who see few if any examples of this type locally.
Patzer’s revenue model slide is particularly ingenious.
About this Blog
The primary purpose of this blog is to record for prosperity the experience of starting my first company. I’m a forgetful and nostalgic person. I expect to search this blog constantly for my own advice, for quotes of inspiration, and for links to useful resources. Also, many years from now, I expect to read these posts and laugh at how much and how little has changed.
The secondary purpose of this blog is to inform and connect other early stage entrepreneurs in Indianapolis, IN. There are no shortage of people telling me that Indiana is not the place to start an emerging technology/ low-cost internet company. There is little to no capital here for pre-revenue companies and similarly, its harder to find developers and other professionals desiring to work for a startup.
