An entrepreneurship tale - From lowly dev to funded founder and the missteps and lessons along the way
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An entrepreneurship tale - From lowly dev to funded founder and the missteps and lessons along the way
- 1. Richard White Founder, CEO An Entrepreneurship Tale
- 2. Richard White Founder, CEO An Entrepreneurship Tale If I Can Do It You Can Do It
- 3. Limited Life Experience + Overgeneralization = Advice Paul Bucheit Creator of Gmail, Co-founder of FriendFeed
- 4. my story
- 5. Market leading customer feedback & support solution 21 strong in San Francisco & Raleigh 90,000+ organizations have used us $2M+ raised over 2 funding rounds Tens of millions of registered users 182 people/sec see our product Learning stuff. Having fun.
- 6. Had graduated from State school Toiling as a developer at a local dev shop Had never even visited Silicon Valley Writing Java... ... to generate reports ... ... for companies that inspect urinals Meh. in 2005
- 7. 3,000 miles 3 failed startups Too many failed investor pitches to count 2 ex-cofounders 1 ex-girlfriend 2 months of homelessness A lot of good stories in between...
- 12. I see you’ve built a calendar. Cool! It has a lot of functionality. But it’s really ugly and hard to use. I’ll fix that for you
- 20. Oh, Shit!
- 23. 4 ideas ACT II
- 24. AjaxScaffold Open Source Project Simple Record UI One line of Code 36K Downloads 725K Visitors
- 25. AjaxScaffold Open Source Simple Record UI One line of Code 36K Downloads 725K Visitors The Team
- 26. AjaxScaffold SlimTimer Time tracking for freelancers
- 27. AjaxScaffold SlimTimer Time track for freelancers I really hate timesheets
- 30. Prototype 6 weeks - December 2007
- 31. Prototype December 2007 Initial Test 1 week - December 2007
- 32. Prototype December 2007 Initial Test December 2007 Angel Funding $35K - February 2008
- 33. Prototype December 2007 Initial Test December 2007 Fool Funding $35K - February 2008
- 34. Prototype December 2007 Initial Test December 2007 Fool Funding February 2008 Launch April 2008
- 35. Oh, Shit!
- 37. Stealth Startup
- 39. Stealth Startup Amazing Team Raised $1MM
- 40. Stealth Startup Amazing Team Raised $1MM
- 41. Stealth Startup Amazing Team Raised $1MM Starstruck
- 42. picture of Ron Conway / Mitch Kapor
- 43. Yes We Can ACT IV
- 44. Cofounder Quits
- 46. Cofounder Quits Girlfriend Too Kinda Homeless
- 48. Cofounder Quits Girlfriend Too Homeless Market Not So Great
- 51. Ahhhhh!! ACT V
- 52. I <3 Dad
- 55. I <3 Dad Relocation Three’s Company Momentum 0 0 0 0 0 April May June July August September October November Accounts - 2008
- 56. I <3 Dad Relocation Three’s Company Momentum April May June July August September October November Accounts - 2008
- 57. Breakthrough! Funded! $800K Seed Round - May 2009 - uservoice.com/blog/founders
- 59. Hiring Sucks Founder Drama We’re Spending What?!? Now What?
- 60. lessons
- 61. Beware of people with all the answers To a first-time entreprenuer everyone seems to have more experience than you but that doesn’t mean you should listen to them.
- 62. Start learning to go with your gut Most successful people I know have never been afraid of making decisions about things they had absolutely no prior experience to prepare them for :)
- 63. Don't expect anyone to answer the hard questions for you No MBA or expert advisor is going to drop of the sky and answer that difficult business model question for you. Make a decision. Build on it. Don’t wait for a white knight.
- 64. Be sure to check what domains you already own I’m a dumb ass.
- 65. Market then Team then Product You’re a creator so your tendency will be to rush into building something. Don’t **. ** but don’t write a 30 page business plan either
- 66. Be sure you love the problem you’re solving My test: Am I helping people have more time to waste or wasting more of people’s time? YMMV
- 67. Passionate people can love all sorts of problems More important than what you already love is finding new problems, even un- sexy problems like customer service, that you can pour yourself into.
- 68. When it comes to investors often no data is better than some data Easier to craft a big story and not get bogged down with projections
- 69. Getting funded is a lot like losing your virginity Except the TechCrunch article. Don’t get caught up with who’s (funding) whom. You’ll get yours.
- 70. Be sure to have a sense of urgency. Create one if necessary. Getting outside investment, of any kind, keeps you “honest” and ensures you’ll take it things seriously.
- 71. Don’t be so fucking clever In your product and in how you setup your company. Cleverness is the enemy of maintainability.
- 72. Be a joiner not a loner. Going it alone is HARD. Check your ego and your “great” idea and find a good group of people to work with.