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Is the Startup Life a Sprint? A Marathon? Nope, it’s an Ironman

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Is the Startup Life a Sprint? A Marathon? Nope, it’s an Ironman

“It’s not a sprint—it’s a marathon!” We hear entrepreneurs with some experience use this phrase to caution new founders about going too fast too soon and burning out. We absolutely agree with part of this expression—starting a company is certainly not a sprint. But as endurance athletes ourselves, we would put a twist on this. Getting a startup going is a lot more like a multisport endurance event such as an Ironman than it is like a marathon. Why? Because it takes several different skillsets to launch a successful venture, not just one. Like a triathlon, there are at least three major categories of uncertainties founders must navigate—working with people, understanding the market, both competition and customers, and developing the product. We call these the human, marketing, and technical oceans.

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Startup Sales: Up and To the Right?

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Startup Sales: Up and To the Right?

Every startup pitch has a slide that shows a future revenue or sales forecast. Can you guess what the overall shape of that revenue growth looks like? If you thought “hockey stick,” then ding, ding, ding – you are right! For those that don’t know what a hockey stick sales growth chart looks like, check out the figure below. But, is that shape of the sales growth curve realistic for startups? It could be.

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The Power of Getting Customer Input for Startups

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The Power of Getting Customer Input for Startups

One of the toughest questions startups have to answer is how they create value for customers. We’ve already shared how to avoid the customer value void. But recently, we were reminded about just how powerful getting customer input can be. So, we wanted to share three examples to inspire you to get your own feedback.

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A Principle and Two Numbers for Startups

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A Principle and Two Numbers for Startups

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday, we saved this blogpost until Monday…

In the “little known facts” category about the Titanic, we thought we would share some seemingly random factoids that had an interactive effect to help sink the Titanic. It involves a principle and two numbers—I know, it sounds like an episode of the high school musical show “Glee” (but that would be PrinciPAL…).

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Startups Need to Master the NOW and the NEXT

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Startups Need to Master the NOW and the NEXT

We’ve recorded a number of podcasts lately. Somewhere in the conversation we get asked this question, “What do you say to the entrepreneur who feels overwhelmed and can’t figure out where to start?” We tend to see two different approaches. First, there are those entrepreneurs who just start doing things. Sometimes doing creates momentum and that’s a good thing. But, their activity is kind of scattered because they don’t really have a plan. On the other hand, we also see entrepreneurs who plan, plan, plan but never really take any action. So, we thought we would share the NOW and the NEXT as a way to help you figure out what to do tomorrow.

 

Building a Good Brand Name for your Startup

Building a Good Brand Name for your Startup

After more than 30 years of working with startups and new products, it still shocks us at how difficult finding a good brand name is. Just last week, we were talking with a founder who shared her startup’s name and then asked what we associated with that name. I can assure you our immediate associations were quite different from what the startup does. Her response, “Yes, we hear that all of the time. So, here’s our tagline – We’re not an X. Instead, we’re an Y.” So we thought it was time for Brand Naming 101.

Smart Startups Plan for Product Improvement and Evolution

Smart Startups Plan for Product Improvement and Evolution

It’s so exciting! You have a few customers or users and your product is off the ground! A startup finally gets momentum. Customers are increasing in number. It’s hard not to relax, have a beer, and bask in the glory of a newly released product. However, this is only the beginning. 

So many startups that make it through the early, treacherous waters of launch end up foundering at the discipline required to operate continuously. More and more of the venture’s activity migrates out of the direct sight lines of the founding team. During this stage of a company, it’s important to keep the hunger and enthusiasm that was there at the beginning. Easing up now could diminish all of the hard work put in. 

What does Minimally Viable Marketing look like for a Startup?

What does Minimally Viable Marketing look like for a Startup?

By now you’ve heard us use the term MVP (Minimally Viable Product) many times. A few weeks ago, we did a talk about avoiding startup failure with SCORE, the small business mentoring group of retired executives. One question we were asked at the end – “Would you agree that it’s better to just have a Facebook page than a bad website?” We gave a most emphatic – No! So let’s talk about what is the Minimally Viable Marketing you need.

What is my Quid for Your Pro Quo?

What is my Quid for Your Pro Quo?

The phrase “quid pro quo” seems to be getting a lot of press these days. In simple terms quid pro quo is a favor for a favor, tit for tat, or according to Merriam-Webster “something given or received for something else.”

Quid pro quo has very different connotations in different contexts. The degree of specificity of the exchange may be very explicit in terms of numbers or it can be less specific:

·       Loans. I’ll loan you this money for 10% interest paid back over 3 years

·       Behavior. I’ll help you move this weekend if you let me use your boat next weekend 

·       Negative. I won’t loan you this money unless you help me with another favor

When there is more certainty about the terms and the associated behaviors, quid pro quo can be explicit, specific and even transactional. At the same time, quid pro quo can also be implied and/or less specific. I will help you and we both know that I may call on you for an unnamed favor in the future, or not. But, I am going to help you know anyway. 

How to Pitch Your Startup Like a Pro

How to Pitch Your Startup Like a Pro

First, let’s celebrate that this blog, supporting the startup book The Titanic Effect: Successfully Navigating the Uncertainties that Sink Most Startups has been active for one year. Yes, that is right - these timely tidbits have been coming to you for 1 year. How do we know it’s been one year? We know, because we wrote the first blogpost on our way to the How I Built This (HIBT) Summit in 2018. Next week, we return for the 2019 HIBT Summit.

In honor of the HIBT Summit, we want to share words of advice we heard last year from Natalia Oberti Noguera who founded Pipeline Angels, has been dubbed “The Coach” by Marie Claire, and who hosts a podcast on pitching called Pitch Makeover. She did a segment on teaching people how to pitch in one minute. We appreciate her formula for pitching and want to share it with you all:

  1. Talk about the Problem you are trying to solve. This is the critical setup where you show you understand customers and their needs. If you don’t know customers’ pain points and what they are willing to pay for, you will not be successful.

  2. Describe how your Solution solves their Problem. You have to show that you are offering a value to customers. You have to improve on the functionality they already get. Some people think you should have 10x functionality or 5x functionality. The key here is that you have to offer something better than what they have today. This also demonstrates that you have business model.

  3. Say how you are better than the Competition. Startups sometimes want to say “we have no competitors.” This is a huge red flag to investors. All startups have competition. It might be indirect, or do nothing. But, there is competition. So, take the competition head-on. Say what they do and what you do. Showcase how you are better.

  4. Share who is on your Team. While the solo founder taking on the world has romantic connotations, the reality is that investors like to see that you can recruit others to help you. Not having a team suggests you either cannot partner with others or don’t understand what it takes to scale. They want to bet on a team of people who can overcome barriers and create a successful startup. So, build a team.

So, think about your investors before you pitch. Understand the metrics that they will use to assess your pitch and your startup. Tell them about the issues they are expecting to hear about. Anticipate their questions and you will be more successful.