What Makes a Startup?

A definition by Russell D'Souza, Co-founder of SeatGeek

"It stops being a startup when people don't feel as though what they are doing has impact. I spend a lot of my time cutting partnership deals with other companies and you can tell which companies people feel really invested and which companies people don't really give a crap. They are just going through the motions. I've seen tech companies that might traditionally be considered a startup that are squarely in the second camp. So I don't think the tipping point is a certain number of people, but an atmosphere that people individually and collectively can't will the company to success.”

Interesting Startup: SNAPCHAT

SNAPCHAT

Snapchat is a photo and video messaging app. The difference is that the media sent lasts for only a very brief amount of time and is deleted forever after. The time the media lasts is defined by the user sending it. Snapchat received a great response from teens and young adults and was very commonly used for something known as sexting, i.e. sending media having sexual content.

Why I find it Interesting?

- Easy to use; Having a good interface
- Limited Usage; Users want a product which has a very clear offering; On using the app, users defined a dominant use case (in this case sexting) which made the app viral

My Concerns

- Risk of Competition; Whatsapp has become the default messaging app; Adding a time cap for certain message would be easy to implement

Snapchat has shown fantastic growth in the past. Facebook tried to acquire it around 2 years back. Turning that down, Snapchat's valuation has grown over 5 fold since that.

Is Your Idea 'Disruptive'?

A question which is asked time and again. To understand this, we need to first understand what 'disruptive' means.

Disruption in any Industry refers to an innovation which questions the current working of the Industry and comes out with a model which creates so much value that it displaces the current one. To be judged disruptive, an innovation must result in the following.

Creation of a Market: The establishment of a new market within an existing Industry is a must. This market keeps expanding, eventually encompassing most of the Industry itself.

Establishment of a New & Sustainable Business Model: The actual value lies in this model and the products/services attached to it.

Change in Consumer Behavior: A disruptive idea changes the way consumers perceive and use products and services relating to the Industry.

Some examples of powerful disruptions in the past include -

UBER - changed the way the taxi market completely using technology and innovation. All stakeholders benefited from this.

APPLE (IPAD) - challenged the idea of a portable computer.

SKYPE - changed the way people communicate with each other by offering a service which is much cheaper than traditional telecom services.

ZYNGA - introduced people to the concept of social gaming. There was always a need to connect with new people to play games with. Zynga did just this and how well it worked.

Phases of the Entrepreneurial Process

There are a total of 7 phases in the journey of any startup.

Investigation Phase: This is where we identify an opportunity. We start with researching the viability of the idea, the market size and the feasibility of executing it. This involves a thorough analysis of the idea.

Planning Phase: Once we feel that the idea has passed the test, we start making a plan to execute it. We list down the requirements in implementing the idea. A business plan is made, clearly stating what we require to execute and how we intend to do the same.

Start-up Phase: We start executing as per the business plan. The initial hiring is done, prototype is built and some sales activity starts.

Operating Phase: We try to scale up the business and look at establishing systems and processes which can enable the business to move faster.

Problem Phase: This is when we face our first major set of problems. This is the stage when an entrepreneur has to assess the business and its growth and pivot the business if necessary.

Renewal Phase: After implementing the solutions identified at the end of the problem phase, the business is allowed to run again. Again the emphasis is to assess whether the problems faced by the business have been resolved and whether the business is back on a growth trajectory.

Retirement Phase: As in most cases, this is where the entrepreneur feels that he/she should exit the business as greater value can be created by selling/transferring the business to some one else (generally a bigger company in the same space).

These are the 7 phases of the birth and growth of any startup. Missing any phase can prove to be detrimental.

Start up and Stick it out!

Your time will come. You need to stick it out till then. Keep at it and don't give up!!!

Be Empathetic

Empathy is your ability to relate to and understand someone else’s situation and perspective. Strong, enduring relationships are almost always built on empathy. It’s a life skill that requires self-awareness, practice and experience. The ups and downs of your personal and professional life will influence how you empathasize, and with whom.

Common experience connects people through an instant bond and a shared level of trust. For example, I can easily empathize with others who have lost a job, started a business, had cancer, struggled with finances, or written a book because I too, have experienced those circumstances.

Just be aware, empathy does not mean you have to agree with others’ opinions or try to please everybody. Instead, consider the feelings of your employees, partners and colleagues when you make decisions. To cultivate this skill, react less, listen more and try to put yourself in the other person’s position.

Next time a client or employee is struggling, take a few moments to listen and, if you can relate, share a personal story.

(taken from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233709)

Build a Prototype First

A good prototype is very important for a startup as it is the first offering by the startup which gets to interact with the target market. The most important deliverable we can get from this is good, authentic market feedback.

A good prototype should

: convey exactly what the startup intends to do. Never confuse the product by adding features which do adhere to the core business idea. We tend to add more features to the product so as to make it more acceptable by our TG. For example, if I am trying to create a website to sell premium teas, I should not add other beverages to increase acceptance by the market. The aim of the prototyping stage is purely to get a feedback for the core business idea. So build a prototype which does exactly that.

: be a minimal product which can be easily modified. Sorry for being repetitive but the aim of prototyping is purely to get market feedback and make necessary amendments before going full steam ahead.

Prototyping is really important and is a stage which a lot of us tend to ignore completely. We go with our gut and end building a final product without taking any market feedback. This leads to a waste in resources as once we enter the market and get feedback, making amendments to a more complicated product is a much more costly affair.

Hiring a Co-Founder

Probably the first very important task of an entrepreneur, building a strong founding team. An entrepreneur should first sit down and identify what skills would be required to execute the business idea well. Once you have the skills listed down, you can start the process.

Look Within your Network: You know the skills you require. Start looking within your network of family, friends and acquaintances. Finding someone you already know is beneficial as you already have some background about the person.

Listing on Websites: There are various websites for finding cofounders, some being https://www.cofounderslab.com, angel.co, http://hiringdecoder.com.

Networking: Start joining clubs and networks in your country which are based on themes/skills which are required by you. For instance, in Beveragewala, we were looking for someone with Tea/Coffee retailing experience. I had joined the different Tea/FMCG marketing groups in Delhi & Mumbai to meet and identify people who could possibly join us.

Events: Attend startup events and try to meet as many people as you can who may be interested in startups. Keep pitching your idea to people who interest you. You never know when and where you might find the right one.

Take your time in identifying the right person to join you. Do not hurry this up as it is very crucial to induct someone who will be a good fit. Also in the meanwhile, keep pushing the idea yourself.

Learn from Benjamin Franklin, One of the Founding Fathers of United States of America

Journaling is one of the best ways to get your work done. A journal helps you keep track of time as well as how you choose to spend it. Most people write diary to express their thoughts, but writing one to track your day and time will be more productive in the long run.

A journal not only helps in recording your daily life, but it also helps in organising and planning your day. There are two ways of going about a journal; either recording your daily life or your thoughts about it, or by writing about the things you plan to do every day – the time you wake up, your commute, work, etc. There is no need to get in the philosophical and pondering mode for the day. Initially, this task might be boring, but eventually you will get the hang of it.

Benjamin Franklin had his diary divided into two parts. On the left side of the page, he used to write about one good deed he did during the day and in the evening he used to ponder on the same question once again. The center part of the diary is divided into a planner that lists all the waking hours. On the right side people can write what they did throughout the day at each hour. One of the great things is that he used to document even the hours he spent in leisure.

This would also help him reflect on the hours he wasted on contemplating and doing nothing. In order to be more productive, monitoring is important. What can be a better tool than noting down what you do! You can either use online note taking tools or go the old school way by writing things down. Now that you know how to go about it, pick up a notebook and start journaling today to be more productive.

(taken from http://yourstory.com/2016/03/benjamin-franklin-productivity-hacks)

How Bill Gates Started

His father was a lawyer. A very successful one. His mother a teacher. Reading magazines in middle school he first thought about how cool it would be to open a company. You could say that’s how he started – with a childish dream. Many kids have dreams though, so what happened next?

How Bill Gates  Started To Hack

Next, Bill Gates saw a computer at 13. The school he went to bought one machine and a teletype. He paid for the time to use it. When money ran out, he hacked into the computer to use it for free. Then he got banned by the school. Then the school realized he had a rare skill so they asked him to use the computer and help them find bugs. He started to be a hacker.

Started to Hustle

Next, Bill scored 1590 out of 1600 on SAT. He went to Harvard. Only to find himself unsure about where to start – as a pre-law major or as something else? Reading Popular Mechanics one day in college he read an ad about a new computer. He called them to say that he wrote a programming language for it. (He hadn’t.) He asked if they might buy it. He hadn’t even started to write the language. But, he started to be a hustler. And, yes, the computer company was very interested in buying.

Being a Workaholic

Next Bill sat down with his friend Paul from high school, and the two wrote that programming language that he talked about on the phone. Bill wrote 50% of the code, using Harvard’s computers. Bill coded all day long, slept at the computer, woke up and picked up programming exactly where he left off. Bill started to be a workaholic.

Being a Copyright Guru

When they were done, Bill flew to New Mexico to show this new language he had written called BASIC. The computer company bought it for $3,000. But Bill kept the copyright. Did he somehow know it would be worth a lot in the future? So he started to be a copyright guru.

Started to Visualize the Future

Five years later IBM knocked on Bill’s door to see if he had written an operating system they could buy. Bill hadn’t. But he said, “Yes.” Real quick, he found an operating system from another person in Seattle and bought it. With the copyright. Then he sold it to IBM. For a lot more. This was DOS. And without copyright – they never asked for it. “Who would pay for software?” they reasoned. It’s the hardware that people are after. Bill saw the opportunity to make people pay for software. Bill started to see the future. He was now a visionary.

Bill Gates Started to Be a Perfectionist

Then Steve Jobs showed up. He wanted Bill to write new software that was visual. Programs like Excel and Words. Programs that looked human. Bill got down to work. Jobs thought Bill’s team’s product was tasteless, but Bill kept at it. He got better and better until he got really good. Bill started to be a perfectionist.

Being a Visual Thinker

But Bill was not going to spend his life working on Jobs’ brilliant ideas. Ideas, after all, are worthless until executed. Plus, Jobs’ ideas were stolen anyway. And so it was fair game to do the same. Bill remembered where he saw this idea of visual interfaces – it was Xerox. And now he wanted to create a visual operating system of his own. He called it Windows. He started to be a visual thinker.

Being a Tough Cookie

When Jobs heard about Windows, he went ballistic. He lashed out at Bill calling him down to Cupertino. In front of ten Apple employees Jobs accused Gates for robbing Apple. Bill listened calmly and replied that Jobs stole the idea just as he did himself. Bill started to be a tough cookie.

When Windows launched, Bill visualized a world where every home had a computer, and that computer was running Windows. Bill started to become very rich. And as his vision materialized, by 39 he became the richest man in the world.

(taken from http://fundersandfounders.com/how-bill-gates-started)

The Devil is in the Details

I came across this article (taken from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/271646) on how an entrepreneur should develop a skill of paying attention to details and going into the nitty gritties of the business.

'We’ve all heard the old saying -- “The devil is in the details." I personally believe it would be better to say, “Your ultimate success is in the details." Managing details is likely the most important skill of any successful business person. 

People who are weak in this area will tend to ignore the details. They will categorize them as “little things." But if you let enough “little things” build up, they will turn into a “big thing." Big things kill businesses! As the primary of your own business, you need to become an expert (and example to others) of how to deal with the details.

Examples of important details are reviewing, and understanding, your daily financial reports, emailing your key people with little “thank-yous” for a job well done, managing email in general and about 1000 more things.

If you are struggling in any of these areas, you already know it. Let this little piece be your slap in the face. Your company, and employees, are depending on you to make the venture successful.'

Challenges of Starting Up after 40

Most people in the startup ecosystem (and even others) think that people under 35 are the ones who innovate while people over 45 don’t really have much to contribute in terms of new ideas. But do people stop being creative as they reach middle age?…

Well, if you come to think of it, Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod when he was 44. Henry Ford introduced the Model T when he was 45. Sam Walton built Walmart in his mid-40s. McDonald’s was built by Ray Kroc in his early 50s. Even in the field of creativity, Ray Kurzweil published ‘The Singularity Is Near’ in his 50s, Alfred Hitchcock directed Vertigo when he was 59, Frank Lloyd Wright built his architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater, when he was 68. Beethoven created his one of the most popular works, Symphony No. 9, when he was almost deaf and at the age of 53, just three years before he died. Need I say more!

However, here in India we have a different issue. There is a tremendous investor bias against mature founders . VCs prefer startups founded by young millennials. There could be many reasons for that. Startups require one to invest long hours and investors may feel that with all those social obligations and supposedly dwindling health, those over 50 may not be able to put in that kind of hard work. At the same time, others may feel threatened by the fact that they cannot manipulate you into signing a term sheet, which guarantees that while you slog, they’ll reap the benefits.

Whatever their reasons, the fact that can’t be ignored is that there is a huge bias towards funding startups whose founders have crossed the 40+ age bracket. But don’t lose hope. If your conviction is strong, nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams. Remember, even Steve Jobs, known to be the greatest innovator of recent times, gave shape to his most significant innovations – iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone, and iPad – after he was 45.

(taken from http://inc42.com/entrepreneurship/challenges-of-being-an-entrepreneur-at-50)

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Potential customers say, ”Give me feature X,” “Give me feature Y,” and sometimes you do what they want, maybe sometimes you’re going to do what you want, and then they get mad at you. Pretty soon you’re chasing your own tail a little bit because you’re not operating against a clear, long-term vision of what you’re trying to accomplish.

The idea of minimum viable product is useful because you can basically say: our vision is to build a product that solves this core problem for customers and we think that for the people who are early adopters for this kind of solution, they will be the most forgiving. And they will fill in their minds the features that aren’t quite there if we give them the core, tent-pole features that point the direction of where we’re trying to go.

So, the minimum viable product is that product which has just those features (and no more) that allows you to ship a product that resonates with early adopters; some of whom will pay you money or give you feedback.

(Interview with Eric Ries, published on http://venturehacks.com/articles/minimum-viable-product)

You, Me & Your Startup

A blog post by another stakeholder in the startup ecosystem - the spouse of the entrepreneur. My wife has written this to express the experience which the spouse of an entrepreneur goes through.

'There’s lots that is said about startups, entrepreneurship, funding, investments etc. these days. Also words like co-founder, partner, technology, marketing are not limited to the people working in or as a part of any venture, these terms are now part of so many other individual lives as well, which are directly or indirectly related to that one big thing which is rocking the world today and is called a “START-UP”.  But I still intend to write something about it, which is not said earlier or even if it is I am not very sure if  it has reached many people. I can say this because as a normal 29 year old, I didn’t come across anything like this.

Now what is this flip side of a start-up; it is that part of a start-up which is not directly involved in the functioning of it but has a major role to play in the lives of the people running it, the spouse of the entrepreneur.

And yes I am one of them. My husband is a struggling entrepreneur and has some ‘not very successful ventures’ on his CV. And when I say not very successful, it doesn’t mean that he failed, what I mean here is that they could not secure valuations in the multi-million league. His passion and madness for creating something that the entire World will know about started much before his craziness for me came into his life.

We had an arranged marriage but I think we both were pretty sure about each other. We both had assumptions about married life like all normal people getting married do.

In the initial year I use to be fascinated by his love for his work and used to

think that I would love being part of his start-up and help him in every possible way. Even he made me part of his work with lots of hope and happiness. We used to be very positive and energetic about our work and efforts that we put into it, but as the results were not in our favor, the positivity and optimism faded away slowly. He used to be very low on energy and there was no motivation. Also I realized my efforts and contributions were not sufficient because I was unable to match up to his zeal and dedication. Later I realized the prime reason behind it was that our ultimate ambitions were different. For him it was about creating something that the world will know and he used to believe his existence has a reason and he needs to discover it. On the other hand I was more laid back, never use to think on those lines. For me working was primarily helping him and about keeping myself busy and occupied.

As the years went by, his confidence and mine as well started shaking and it used to lead to lot of disagreements and conflicts. There use to be good days and bad days, which were directly connected to good and bad days at work. Funds used to be challenging as the startup always needs a lot of liquidity and when you have limited resources there are tough choices to make. Despite this, he ensured that I had a comfortable life, because of which he had sleepless nights and stressful days.

What I learnt from this journey of four years with him was that patience is what he always expected from me and when he was low, nothing could shatter him if he had experienced a good day at work. People who are very ambitious are mostly dissatisfied and rarely content. But at the same time, the spark in his eyes when he was motivated would motivate me so much.

Today when I am writing this article I feel very secure and stable in my head because I understand him, his needs, his demands and somewhere hoping he understands me as well. I would not say it is an easy journey as it takes sacrifices, commitment, self motivation because your struggling partner may not be there to motivate you, but nevertheless it will all seem worthwhile when someday you will be called the wife of “ Mr. ENTREPRENEUR” and you will see him happy, satisfied and most importantly smiling.'

(She blogs on justlikethatfrompuja.blogspot.com)

Having Too Many Co-Founders

A good founding team is a very important part of a good business plan. Co-founders bring in a multitude of skill sets which help in executing and growing the business idea. So does that mean the bigger the team, the better it is? The answer is no.

During Bitequest, I started it as a single founder. I soon asked a friend to join in. Sometime later we got another two to join us. Once we were 4 in number, the growth did increase but so did the conflicts. There were constant conflicts in how we should work and grow our startup. This led to a lot of discontent amongst the team members and eventually was a big reason for me exiting the startup.

Co-founders do bring their skill sets to the table. However, with the skills, they bring in their experiences, vision, mindset and emotions as well. These variables of one co-founders interact with the variables of the other co-founders. In big teams, with so many variables interacting, a conflict or clash of variables is bound to happen, leading to eventual destruction of value in some way or the other.

Personally, I feel a team of 2 is ideal. However, is there is a need of additional skill sets, the number can go upto 3 at maximum.

Learn to Grab Opportunities

Carlos Slim Helu, Mexican business magnate and philanthropist, said, “When there is a crisis, that’s when some are interested in getting out, and that’s when we are interested in getting in.”

Learn to identify open doors when they appear, then consider the risks and weigh them against potential benefits. An opportunity can be a great one regardless of whether no one or everyone is rushing to grab it -- if no one is, that’s your cue to move forward; if everyone is, that’s your chance to prove you’re better than the rest.

(taken from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/271703)

"We didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”

During the press conference to announce NOKIA being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia CEO ended his speech saying this “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”. Upon saying that, all his management team, himself included, teared sadly.

Nokia has been a respectable company. They didn’t do anything wrong in their business, however, the world changed too fast. Their opponents were too powerful.

They missed out on learning, they missed out on changing, and thus they lost the opportunity at hand to make it big. Not only did they miss the opportunity to earn big money, they lost their chance of survival.

The message of this story is, if you don’t change, you shall be removed from the competition.

It’s not wrong if you don’t want to learn new things. However, if your thoughts and mindset cannot catch up with time, you will be eliminated.

Conclusion:

The advantage you have yesterday, will be replaced by the trends of tomorrow. You don’t have to do anything wrong, as long as your competitors catch the wave and do it RIGHT, you can lose out and fail.

To change and improve yourself is giving yourself a second chance. To be forced by others to change, is like being discarded.

Those who refuse to learn & improve, will definitely one day become redundant & not relevant to the industry. They will learn the lesson in a hard & expensive way.

(written by Ziyad Jawabra on Linkedin.com)

Your Business Idea Chooses You!

Read this amazing and thought provoking post by Brian D.Evans on how you and your business idea come together.

'I’ve realized over time that we DO NOT own ideas, in a spiritual sense, and that they aren’t “ours”. The idea owns itself. In fact, it’s looking for a host. And if you don’t act on that idea within a period of time, it’s gone. The idea is not “yours” and travels to you, rather than you are the unique creator of the idea.

I’ve heard it time and time again, “oh my god, that was my idea!”. People get so bent out of shape when they see “their idea” being done by someone else. That’s because you didn’t execute the idea. The idea moved on. It’s like not feeding your dog very well, it’s going to go looking for a better source of food when it’s hungry and sick of you not taking care of it properly.

The idea picked you because you were the best host. You have everything you need to execute on that idea, whether you believe it or not.'

(taken from http://www.influencive.com/not-idea-dont)

Validate Your Idea

Discuss your startup idea not only with friends, but also other people who are strangers to you. I promise that you will definitely learn a lot here. The concept of your idea getting stolen is 99.99% impossible. Visit barcamps, hackerspace, geek terminals and bounce your ideas to different people.

We failed to do this step and hence overestimated the Singapore market. We found that the Singapore market for such a service turned out to be very small. People are SMS crazy in Singapore, but that does not mean that they were ready to pay for the service.

Looking back I would say this is the most important step which we could have done to save a lot of disappointment later.

(written by Vijay Ganesan, founder of failed startup SMSnoodle)

Focus on Your Customer's Experience

In a competitive world, businesses don't sell products/services, they sell experiences.