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Last active December 9, 2020 10:30
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Startup 101
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startup101.md

So, building a startup is "easy". Building a company is hard. Dropping the most obvious things. Gist so I can update it and you see the diff.

What you must know

  • No one will take you seriously unless you have your first 20 paying customers. This includes raising money. Unless you already built a successful startup in the past.
  • You don't need a business cofounder if you feel yourself able to find your 20 first customers.
  • Your lawyer and your accountants are your best friend. Even regarding your relationship with your cofounder.
  • If you start dating one of your company C-level, and have raised money already, you'll have to tell your investors, and they might force one of you out. I know, this seems odd in a "startup HOWTO" but believe me, I put that here for a reason.
  • If you want to do business with the US, then the CEO must live in the US (might change after COVID though) or no one will take you seriously.
  • Don't target corporations unless you know how they work. If you don't have a deal after the second meeting, it's dead.
  • If you're not ashamed with your first release, you've released too late.
  • Tech conferences are a waste of time and won't bring you money.
  • Most startups start as a side project, you don't have to leave your job already.
  • Don't think about your exit (selling, IPO etc...) already
  • Building a company is like doing an ultra man (31 iron man in a month), you need to take care of yourself and your team on the long run

What you must do

  • Find a revenue model: one shot, recurring, license?
  • Find a pricing
  • Learn how to pitch your product: why should people give you their money? What does it bring them? Hardest part with security is persuading people they need to pay so something (really nasty) WON'T happen.
  • Find your target: CEOs? CTOs? Someone else? The higher you aim at, the harder they're to reach.
  • Solve your own problems first. If your tool is solving a problem you have, then someone else will need it.
  • Code, test early (with your customers / users), iterate.

Raising

  • Raising is like getting married. You trade a part of your company for money. And it means freedom to do what you want and freedom to screw up without getting fired FROM YOUR OWN COMPANY.
  • Only raise when you have traction to accelerate. If you raise to build your product or because you're running out of money, you're already dead and out of your company. Accelerating: hiring 20 people, opening an office in a foreign country...
  • Read Guy Kawazaki' The Art of Start, he explains what you need to know about not raising.
  • Series:
    • seed round: > 50K < 100K USD, usually love money or business angels, sometimes small VS funds.
    • series A: > 1M < 10M USD, VCs, banks, insurance companies
    • series B: > 7M < 25M, VCs, banks, insurance companies
    • series C: > 30M < ...., VCs, banks, insurance companies
    • etc...
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