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Startup Lessons Learned The Expensive Way
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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
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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”
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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
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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
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FUNDING IS A CRAP SHOOT Three F’s Misadventure capitalists The curse of competitions Sucking from the EI teat Sales!
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BIG SHIPS TURN SLOWLY Google and social networking Facebook and search Mobile operators and LBS
The environment changes faster than large organisations
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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
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BE AGILE NOT FRAGILE Use rapid iteration Release early, release often Quality?
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BAT ABOVE YOUR WEIGHT Multinationals do partner with small
companies sometimes by luck
Franchise organisations Channel partners System Integrators
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PIGGYBACK BRANDS #1 Christmas app 2009 and again Summer
2010 from TV show Jedward: Let Loose (Aug
24)
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BEWARE THE SCOPE CREEP The Scope Creep ♥
Feature Bloat
“Making a product better often requires removing features” Marco Arment,
Instapaper
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BLOOD ON THE BLEEDING EDGE Technology evolves quickly Window of opportunity is
small
Locle’s cell-tower positioning system was irrelevant within 2 years
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THE MARKET IS NOT READY FOR YOU
2000-2012
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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
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IGNORE CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATES Assume they will not come Bus Time
Estimated 50,000 Got 10,000 4% of passengers
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BE READY TO FAIL 90% of startups fail It’s OK to fail Failing = Trying
Two types of “failing” Not pleasant fail Iteration fail
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FAILING BETTER Pivot, pirouette, exit or axe?
Funda.ie – a 6 month affair
Mediocre product Low user traction Lawsuits Price war Property implosion
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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
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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
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INCUBATE Or Accelerate Early cash for old rope Discipline of mentors Coworking End date
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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
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KEEP LEAN AND MEAN Small is beautiful, and cheap Telepathy and osmosis Nimble herds
70 Employees $3.4 million revenue/person
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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
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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”
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AND FINALLY…