Hi Elly,
Some great advice on this thread. I would hazard a guess that Silicon Beach
has more "technical" people than "business" people, but it's definitely
worth noting that these days most startup founders will have elements of
both: a 'business' person with some *limited* code skills and knowledge
helps a LOT in them understanding what is and isn't possible for a roadmap,
and who knows, maybe in the early days they'll help to cut code or fix bugs!
It is definitely true that unless you have a solid background (multiple
previous 6-figure exits), you're not really going to pull any funding until
you have some kind of "product", ideally with validation (even just
intent-to-convert from landing pages etc will at least give you something,
but as Nigel mentioned, people paying is the ultimate sign). oDesk and
Freelancer are indeed good options on how to do this, but you need to do
these kinds of outsourcing projects with extreme care...unfortunately as a
non-technical person it becomes hard to know what his BS and what isn't,
and I've seen (as have others here probably) a $2k project become $20k with
no reasonable explanation as a result. That's not to say that it's not a
great way to produce a simple MVP, just that some basic technical
understanding goes quite a way.
Finally, as Dave mentioned, the reality is that ideas are (almost)
worthless. Anyone has hundreds of ideas, some of which may become viable
businesses, many of which won't. And it's hard to pick sometimes what is
'good' and what is 'bad' – that's why Lean Startup type principles exist
(books mentioned here all great, would also recommend the Business Model
Generation book that the Canvas is named after...their followup Value
Proposition is also worthwhile), and they work very well. What seems to me
like a great idea, with a clear market need and a big gap has become a
situation where people 'want' or 'nice to have' rather than 'need', and
it's hard to build a business on top of that. Some I discovered early,
others I went through a whole process of an MVP build only to discover the
market I thought needed what I thought they did, actually needed something
else, or was happy with their index-card type existing processes.
"Finding a tech cofounder" is a tricky proposition. You need to find
someone who believes in the same cause as you (startups want to change
something, and the cofounding team needs to believe in the change), who
obviously has technical abilities but most importantly, who gets along with
you. The "Ramen" stage is very hard to go through when you don't have
someone else with you (trust me as a sole founder of many things, it's
bloody hard), and it's even sometimes hard to celebrate victories when you
don't have anyone to celebrate with. I'm sure that from your perspective
there is a big sense of urgency (what if someone else has the same idea and
executes it while I'm looking?!), but getting it right is the key to
something that lasts. As is being able to let go of the idea – sometimes
ideas are actually bad, and you discover this, and then you pivot, and you
need to be okay with that!
If you have the time, I would also recommend doing some basic online
programming training. You can do one of the paid courses, or do one of the
'video series' type things, but pick a language and do it. Ruby / Ruby on
Rails is popular as is NodeJS, but more 'classic' languages like Python can
be a lot easier to learn if you're new to programming altogether, and
almost every developer will be able to abstract something into Python
because most have at least a moderate level of knowledge in it.
I'm sure there are people here who might sit down for a coffee with you
(I'm assuming you are in Sydney, I'm also in Melbourne) and chat, but check
out your local Meetups etc as well, go to conferences/hackathons and
whatever you can find. Fishburners and the similar would also be good
places, or you can approach some of the people (nicely) who frequently post
here.
Cheers
Hugh
On Tuesday, 17 March 2015 19:34:48 UTC+11, Nigel Sheridan-Smith wrote:
>
> Hi Elly,
>
> There is a wealth of information online and available at low-cost... make
> sure you have picked up copies of Lean Startup by Eric Ries and any of the
> books by Steve Blank, such as the Startup Owners Manual, etc. That goes
> without saying...
>
> At this early stage, Dave is right. Incubators will be interested when you
> have a product and some early-stage {customers | users} and possibly some
> early revenue. If you are paying them, they will be less concerned about
> the phase, but if they are offering you cash and assistance in exchange for
> equity then they will want to ensure that you (and your team) will hit the
> next milestone - e.g. the 'next big fish' investor, whether that is more
> angels, seed funding, or something bigger. In general terms, if they are
> investing $20k they are looking for a $200k upscaled investment.
>
> Whatever you concept is, you should focus on a few key areas:
>
> - *Find potential users who have a 'need', not just a 'want'* - and
> get feedback from them to help validate the business model. Would they use
> it? How often? Would they pay for it? How much? Don't just rely on friends
> and family who will give you all 'yes' answers.
> - *Document the business model*, using at the minimum, the 'Business
> Model Canvas' - search google for PDFs and Wikipedia
> - *Work towards weekly or bi-weekly validation steps* and hold
> yourself to these goals - how can you confirm you are on the right path?
> That you are building something that matters? That you are going about it
> the right way?
> - *Sales and Marketing* - probably 50% (or more) of the execution is
> here. What channels apply to your business to reach your potential
> customers?
>
> If it is a tech product you should attempt to draw up some mockups (pencil
> and paper if necessary) about how you want your product to work and what it
> should look like. You would take this to your developers (if required) and
> should test them visually with some potential customers in your target
> market. Walk the customers through key scenarios (can you achieve X if I
> start at screen Y) and see if they can tell you how they would do it. There
> are good free tools such as Pencil for this too, although some freemium /
> paid tools are dedicated to your chosen platform (Windows, Mac, iOS,
> Android, etc etc).
>
> Using the lean startup methodology, you should be able to set hypotheses
> regularly and get a good idea of whether your idea will translate into a
> viable business, hopefully without spending too much money upfront. Keep
> testing the users with each iteration to see if you have hit the mark.
>
> I'm a Melbourne based Ruby on Rails (and more) freelancer, but if you want
> a chat, you can reach me on the mobile number below.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Nigel
>
>
>
>
> *Dr Nigel Sheridan-Smith PhD* / Principal
> *Green Shores Digital*
>
> [image: Twitter] <https://twitter.com/GreenShoresAU>[image: Linkedin]
> <http://au.linkedin.com/in/nsheridansmith>
>
> *M*: +61 403 930 963
> *E*: ni...@greenshoresdigital.com
> <javascript:>*W*: http://www.greenshoresdigital.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 6:23 PM, Dave Kuhn <david....@gmail.com
> <javascript:>> wrote:
>
>> Hey Elly,
>>
>> Having been through Startmate and 500 Startups there are good reasons
>> behind their selection requirements.
>>
>> Let's take accepting teams over individuals for example. Being a solo
>> founder, whilst not impossible, is extremely demanding mentally and
>> emotionally. Few are cut out for going it alone, as such teams are a safer
>> bet. Not only do they support each other but if one falls, the others can
>> continue.
>>
>> Secondly I've yet to come across an incubator or investor that will back
>> a concept or a business plan. They are going to want to see something
>> tangible like an MVP, sales/pre-sales and a team that can execute. Without
>> these you're going to have a tough time convincing anyone that you are
>> worthwhile investing in. Think about it from your own position. Would you
>> give someone a huge wad of your own cash and hours of help and advice based
>> on a flashy presentation? I hope not. They'll be looking for at least some
>> evidence that you're not a snake oil salesperson.
>>
>> I hope that this doesn't come across as harsh, though it's better to
>> learn these things before you start pounding the pavement. At least you'll
>> have time to do something about it.
>>
>> Dave
>> On 17/03/2015 5:59 pm, <mosman...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I was wondering if anyone would mind sharing their thoughts and advice
>>> about the best starting point (e.g. incubator program) for a first-time
>>> founder. I have a tech start-up in concept phase. It has global potential,
>>> strong differentiators and, most importantly, it fills a market gap.
>>> Startmate looked like a good option but it requires tech-savvy groups of
>>> two to four people, generally.
>>>
>>> Does anyone have some wisdom / constructive advice to share?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Elly
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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