Читать книгу: «Startup, Please», страница 6

In a nutshell

If you have absolutely no time on your hands, that’s a chapter for you. That’s the essence, the gist.

Trust your gut – your first feeling is very often the right one. Don’t dismiss it. Even after a very comprehensive analysis mistakes will happen. I’m not saying, you shouldn’t do your research but always take it with a grain of salt.

Know your product – know your product and be able to concisely articulate your idea to the audience, be it your customers or investors. Avoid using sentences like Uber for boats, or Airbnb for airplanes. Even if you think it explains your product really well, it doesn’t make you look good.

Hire for a task not for the time – not every hire will be able to transform with your company and thus stay with you for a longer period of time – that’s ok. Don’t hold on to people. Some people will perform really well, whenever you’re starting out but will struggle really hard when there’s the time to introduce some processes. Others won’t be able to work in a chaotic environment but will perform certain tasks really well. Choose the right people for the job in any particular point in time.

Fire people – don’t be afraid of correcting your hiring mistakes. There will be mistakes. Do your best to explain to people that it’s not their fault but yours. Not correcting a hiring mistake may cost you your company (remember John Sculley/Steve Jobs story).

Promote your product – contrary to popular believe build it and they will come doesn’t work, full stop! Even if some companies claim, they have never promoted their product – that’s bullshit. Once you have a somewhat working product that has value – start promoting. Use all available channels, use your personal contacts, use everyone in your network.

Launch early – don’t wait until you will have a perfect product. You can get into the loop of constant change. There will always be something you won’t be happy about. Launch as fast as possible. Remember Reid Hoffman: If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late. The feedback you will get from the first customers will blow your own testing out of the water. Also, keep in mind that you can launch your product as many times as you want.

Ignorance is a bliss – a little bit of ignorance definitely helps in starting a company. It’s a hard but a rewarding journey that lies ahead of you and you cannot even imagine how hard or frustrating it will get and it’s a good thing! Keep believing in your idea and continue working on it.

Age doesn’t matter – but being young helps. When you’re young, you don’t have a lot of obligations, so you can dedicate yourself to your startup.