the hardest thing to get right (geekwire startup day 2015)
TRANSCRIPT
THE HARDEST THING TO GET RIGHT,
HOW I GOT IT WRONG, AND WHAT I LEARNED FROM IT.
Jordan RitterF OU N DE R & C E O, I V Y S OF T WOR K S
MY BACKGROUNDA quick semi-illustrated primer
GROWIN’ UP
HIGHLIGHTS
Paid Hacker Netect
Company acquired » Golden handcuffs » Boredom
Founding Developer Napster
Summer ’99 » Bay Area » Craziness
Founder, CEO » CTO Cloudmark
Anti-spam » Messaging Security
CTO Columbia Music
Music2 – Built a software incubator inside a big Record Label
Founder, CTO CloudCrowd » Servio
Modern crowdsourcing on steroids
Founder, CEO Ivy Softworks
A better model for building early stage startups
• Tons of open-source stuff
• Nominated, Software Designer of the Year, WIRED Rave Awards
• Interviewed in Playboy Magazine
• Taught a class at Harvard
OTHER FUN FACTS
THAT ONE TIME
A brief story about
( I T WA S ON LY ONC E , I S W E A R . )
• First true time off, thinking about what’s next
• Random reconnect from a prior investor
• Beers, crowdsourcing, and an instant vision
• He’d run the business, I’d build the tech & team
BACKSTORY
Well…
SOUNDS PERFECT, RIGHT?
• Dysfunctional culture
• Atmosphere of fear and mistrust
• Imbalance of power at BOD
• Tragic miss of a bigger opportunity
BIGGEST IMPACTS
FIRST, THE LOGIC OF
NOT ACCEPTING DEFEAT
Why I stuck with a bad partnership
OR ,
Why I left
THEN, THE DECISION TO
ACCEPT DEFEATOR ,
THE LEARNINGS
And now,
• Will the tech work?
• Will anyone use the product?
• Will anyone pay for the product?
TYPICAL PROBLEMS I’M USED TO
DIAMOND MAKING MACHINES
Startups are like…
+ ≈
MARRIAGES
Startups are like…
EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTERS
Startups are like…
YOU WILL SUFFER
(And boy does it suck to be alone in your suffering!)
• Raise money
• Find talent
• Engineer the product
• Market the products and company
“Ugh, if only I could find someone to…”
• Run operations
But…
IT IS BETTER TO
IT IS BETTER TO
SUFFER ALONE
IT IS BETTER TO
SUFFER ALONE
THAN TO
IT IS BETTER TO
SUFFER ALONE
THAN TO
SUFFER WITH FOOLS
But…
WITH THE
WITH THE
RIGHT PEOPLE
WITH THE
RIGHT PEOPLE
YOU WILL
WITH THE
RIGHT PEOPLE
YOU WILL
SUFFER HAPPILY
• Always interview for values first
• Critical Thinking > Problem Solving
3 C’s: Culture, Capacity, Craft
• Capacity for Mastery > Current Skills
ALRIGHT THEN, HOW?
IN CONCLUSION
• Make peace with doing it all, by yourself (at least once)
• Define values early & stay true to them
• Master how to evaluate values in others
THE HARDEST THING: PEOPLE
• Suffer happily, or choose to stop suffering
( I T C A N B E T H AT E A S Y )
