SocialStartups.com

 Hooray, it works! And a photo…

Yay!  

As a followup to yesterday’s startup reading list for new Internet startup entrepreneurs, here’s some advice:

1. Have a fantastic founding team. This means someone technical and someone who lives and breathes product / user experience / design. One or both (or somebody else) should be a domain expert. One or both (or somebody else) should be business savvy.
2. Identify the core problem you are solving for people. Most successful startups aren’t about sexy technology, they solve real problems. Really think about your business plan (even if you don’t write it). Who are your target customers? How many are there? How will you reach them? How will you make money?
3. Identify your risks and address the biggest one first. This is a great way to stay focused and avoid doing what’s easy or fun. Maybe your biggest risk is “Is my idea technically possible?” or maybe it is “Will anyone pay for this?”. Figure out the cheapest, fastest way to get to an answer, even if it’s paper prototypes or calling up potential customers and pitching your idea.
4. Launch as soon as possible. If you’re not embarrassed about what you’ve launched, you’ve waited too long. The only way you’re going to really know if you’re got something is by launching it. Chances are some / most / all of your assumptions are wrong, so why waste time developing the wrong thing?
5. Listen like crazy. Your customers will tell you if you’ve solved their problem in a way that works for them. Don’t be afraid to change – change the product, change the business model, be open to opportunity.
6. Design is key. Fantastic design makes lasting impressions, and you usually only get One Shot at impressing a new customer or investor. Pay for a professional designer if you aren’t one yourself – get a nice logo and a nice homepage. People make snap judgements about your product and your company based on design.

What am I missing? 

My friend Chrissie is taking over a startup that Kyle and I had started in June but set aside because we got too busy, and she asked me to put together a reading list for first time entrepreneurs. So, here we go…

• Marc Andreesen’s startup guide series Oh no, I think he deleted them all! Here’s what I could find thanks to google and the internet archive. READ EVERY SINGLE ONE:
  • Part 1 - Why not to do a startup
  • Part 2 - When the VCs say no
  • Part 3 - “But I Don’t Know Any VCs!”
  • Part 4 - The only thing that matters
  • Part 5 - The Moby Dick theory of big companies
  • Part 6 - How much funding is too much funding?
  • Part 7 - Why a startup’s initial business plan doesn’t matter much
  • Part 8 - Hiring, managing, promoting, and firing executives

• Eric Ries and Steve Blank‘s customer development blogs
• Josh Kopelman’s blog, especially his post on the Penny Gap
• Most essays by Paul Graham, like yesterday’s essay on being Ramen Profitable and Startups in 13 Sentences.
• Umair Haque on helping your customers create value for themselves, instead of extracting as much from your customers as you can.
• Josh Porter‘s blog on social web design, like activity-centered design, the social web usage lifecycle, etc. Actually, just go read his book.
• Definitely the book Founders at Work.
• Steve Barsh’s talk on de-risking.
• Fred Wilson’s A VC blog. Start with the Freemium post, if you’re brand new to the industry. Other excellent VCs to read are Bijan, Albert, and Brad.
• For all of your marketing needs, Seth Godin is your man. 

Do you have suggestions for the reading list? 

 Update: @ianmcall astutely recommended Getting Real by 37signals.

You just gotta ask for it

Steve Blank gives some good career advice: Ask for it. It’s amazing how many people sit around hoping that someone will come and drop a gift in their lap.

As Steve writes:

 From that day forward, in my business and personal relationships, I would calculate the consequences of a “No” for an answer against the benefits of getting a “Yes.”  The math said that it was almost always worth asking for what you want. And the odds in your favor are even higher, as most of your peers wouldn’t even get into the game due to some unspoken belief that in a meritocracy, good things will come to those who wait. Perhaps if you have a union job based on seniority, but not in any startup I’ve ever seen.

For entrepreneurs good things come to those who ask.

Etsy wasn’t looking for someone to run their Product Management group – I just applied and told them why they needed someone like me. And they hired me (after interviews, of course).

It’s a lot easier to create your own opportunities than wait for them to come to you.