Hi Hugh
Again, some great food for thought. Thanks.
I will call you out on one point, though. The only idea that is worthless
(or almost worthless) is the unexplored idea. Everything starts with an
idea.
Elly
On Wednesday, March 18, 2015 at 10:17:41 AM UTC+11, Hugh Stephens wrote:
>
> 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
>> *W*: http://www.greenshoresdigital.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 6:23 PM, Dave Kuhn <david....@gmail.com> 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> 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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