1. Nobody told me:
Practical Startup Advice
jason.trost@smarkets.com
twitter.com/jasontrost
GeeknRolla London - April 2010
2. The experience
• You marry your
co-founders
• Roller coaster
• Little things take up
the most time
• You’re in it for the long
haul
“Think big, think positive, never
show any sign of weakness.
Always go for the throat.”
3. Lawyers
• Recommend Chris Grew
(Orrick) and Barry and
Danvers (Winston &
Strawn)
• Legal cost should be less
than 5% of the round
• Always ask for a flat rate
• Be fair with their time
• Ballpark £5-10k per round
“I'd like to explain a little bit
about the Peter Blunt system.”
4. Meeting Investors
• Introductions!
• Key angels in London:
Stefan Glaenzer, Saul and
Robin Klein, Sherry Coutu,
Brent Hoberman et al
• Balderton, Index,
PROFounders, Eden,
Mangrove, Dawn et al
• Seedcamp
• Everybody wants to hear
something di erent “I got a meeting with the Bobs in
• “Interested” and “too a couple of minutes”
early” mean “no”
5. Raising Money
• Raise from friends and
family first
• Figure out how much to
raise -> burn * months
• Equity: pick a pre-money
(£500k - £1m)
• Convertible Note: 1 year,
20-50% discount, 8-10%
interest
“We’re not just doing this for
• Always set a close date money! We’re doing this for a
• Maintain a deck shit load of money!”
6. Hiring
• Only hire closers
• Get involved with local
hacking groups
• First hire is almost as
important as co-founder
• Trial your new employees
• Interns good way to
groom talent
• Ballpark pay £20-50k
• Equity options vary
widely (0.01% - 10%) “Co ee is for closers”
7. O ce Space
• Your flat
• White Bear Yard,
TechHub, The Hub at
Kings Cross, British
Library, Moo,
Songkick, TalkTalk
• £100-400 per desk
“We’re looking down on Wayne’s
basement. Only that’s not
Wayne’s basement.”
8. Networking
• Seedcamp, Barcamp,
MiniBar, Open Co ee,
DrinkTank, founder/VC
poker, conferences,
Digital Mission, Web
Mission, launch parties,
Open Soho, sponsored
days, et al
• Have business cards
(they matter) “Raised lettering.
• Somebody from your Pale Nimbus. White.”
startup should always be
networking
9. Marketing
• Think about this early
• Biz dev partnerships
• Newspapers
• SEO
• Facebook/Adwords
Advertising
• Viral loop
“You think the pet rock was a
really great idea?”
10. Accounting & Insurance
• Pain in the butt
• Peter Rogol (Goodman
Jones) or Complete
Accounting Solutions
• Online: Xero or Free
Agent Central
• £5k / year
• Insurance: E&O, Key Man,
Liability, Property,
Business Continuity “That’s as good as money sir.
Those are IOUs.”
11. General Tips
• Be able to explain your
business in a sentence
• Hang out with other
founders
• Be ready for the hard
knocks
• Don’t listen to
anything I just said
“The main thing is to keep the
main thing the main thing”