co-founders - short lessons learned

@andreasklinger

Co-Founders

Lessons Learned

Co-

Founders#1 searching

#2 considering

#3 joining

#4 working

(short lessons learned)

@andreasklinger

TL;DR:

I do startups…

LOOKK.com, die.socialisten.at, seedcamp mentor, leancamp fanboy

Slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger

@andreasklinger

#1 searching

Searching sucks.

Waiting sucks.

Being dependent sucks.

If I find a technical

co-founder…

There is no “if” in

entrepreneurial

grammar.

And there is

too much stuff to do

to wait or just search…

Startup phases…

Problem/Solution

Product/Market

Acquisition

Company building

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

Source: Steve Blank’s

Customer Development

Startup phases…

Problem/Solution

Product/Market

Acquisition

Company building

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

“Talking” Land

(problem validation,

first customers)

Startup phases…

Problem/Solution

Product/Market

Acquisition

Company building

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

“Talking” Land

(problem validation,

first customers)

“Public Hacked

Prototype Land”

(solution validation,

more customers)

Startup phases…

Problem/Solution

Product/Market

Acquisition

Company building

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

“Talking” Land

(problem validation,

first customers)

“Public Hacked

Prototype Land”

(solution validation,

more customers)

“Fix that crap” Land

(Becoming a real

product and

company,

Fixing legacy,

Channel optimization)

Startup phases…

Problem/Solution

Product/Market

Acquisition

Company building

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

“Talking” Land

(problem validation,

first customers)

“Public Hacked

Prototype Land”

(solution validation,

more customers)

“Fix that crap” Land

(Becoming a real

product and

company,

Fixing legacy,

Channel optimization)

“Mystery Land”

(Fighting Dragons,

Saving princesses,

etc)

Startup phases…

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

5-7 Months 3-5 Months

Source: Startup Genome Project

Startup phases…

Discovery Validation Efficiency Scale

Source: Startup Genome Project

Enough time to

kill your first

startup idea.

You can do dozens of

iterations of your potential

problem and solution

without ever touching code.

How to kill your

first 100 startup

ideas…

without biasing customersvisualizing the solution

testing the solution ( www.Keynotopia.com )

committing customers

CustDev is the

most efficient way

to kill your dreams.

Ever.

Learn coding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.

Learn coding.Coding is not a sacred art, it’s a craft.

Everyone can learn to code on

“hacky prototype level”.

GetClients.Money talks.

GetTraction.There are millions of reasons

for not having traction.

But none of them is an excuse.

Good problems to have:

“I got clients’ money, I need development

support” (real)

“My hacked-together prototype gets too

much traffic, can you help me” (concrete)

@andreasklinger

#2 considering

Before

you join:

Write down

your first impressions and concerns.

Positive and negative.

Revise this every two weeks.

People don’t change &

Your gut is always right.

Before

you join:

Have a VERY honest talk

about WHY each of you

wants to do that startup.

Keeping the product abstract

helps in that talk.

Goal: Find real intrinsic motivation

E.g.

Becoming known in the startup “scene”.

Making money.

Being known worldwide.

Building software people use.

Coding in that new language.

Being innovative

Helping underdogs.

Sounds more fun than my agency job.

Play the VC/Startup game.

Why?

Intrinsic Motivation

affects Values and Comfort Zone.

Both affect Strategies.

People only do what people like to do.

See finding a co-founder

as hiring process.

It’s the most expensive job

of the company. (equity intense)

Still people spend less time on assessing

their co-founders than their employees.

Why?

Loose projects…

Loose contracts…

Loose hopes…

Loose (but honest) or no promises…

Start

Loose…

@andreasklinger

#3 joining

54% of all marriages end in divorce.

Co-Founding

~= Marriage

54% of all marriages end in divorce.

Co-Founding

~= Marriage

Set up vesting.

54% of all marriages end in divorce.

Co-Founding

~= Marriage

Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).

54% of all marriages end in divorce.

Co-Founding

~= Marriage

Set up vesting (with 6-12 month cliff).

(seriously do it)

@andreasklinger

#4 working

“Some startup founder teams have a

unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”

~ Devin Hunt

Clear

Leadership

“Some startup founder teams have a

unified vision. Most have one strong leader.”

~ Devin Hunt

Clear

Leadership

Be clear who defines (and changes) the vision.

Be clear about who decides in the end, if needed.

Don’t confuse common agreement with democracy.

Daily calls.

Weekly progress check.

Clear process for each of them

Make communication

a habit.

Daily calls.

Weekly progress check.

Clear process for each of them

E.g. Daily calls (only one person talks at a time, 10 mins max, discussions are done in a seperate call):

1) What did i do today

2) What am i going to do tomorrow

3) Problems i face

4) Announcements

5) Ways i found to improve (e.g. myself) [idea by buffer]

Make communication

a habit.

Co-

Founders#1 searching

#2 considering

#3 joining

#4 working

(short lessons learned)

recommended presentations

by @robfitz on custdev/lean:

http://leanca.mp/2012/01/intro-to-lean-startup-with-no-buzzwords-by-robfitz/

http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2012/05/how-to-do-and-what-to-expect-from-

early-stage-customer-development-sales/

Pictures by “Where the Wild Things Are” by Warner Bros

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/

And if they haven’t killed

each other they are living

happily ever after…

@andreasklinger