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Proprietary and Confidential
START UP SECRETS
An insider’s guide to unfair competitive advantage
Do you have what it takes?
@underscorevc startupsecrets.com
Proprietary and Confidential
Have a Question? Tweet it!
2startupsecrets.com @underscorevc
@underscorevc#startupsecrets
Proprietary and Confidential 3
Where does this all fit?
startupsecrets.com @underscorevc
Vision(Market)
StartupRoadmap
Enduring Company
Value Proposition
PeopleTeam
Execution
Cultural ConsistencyThe
Founder
It StartsWith YOU
Proprietary and Confidential
Technology platform is here
Lower cost barriers
Faster time to launch
More accelerators and mentors
Better ability to test product market fit
Does it mean you should just jump in and startup?
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Context…
startupsecrets.com @underscorevc
Proprietary and Confidential
A question for you…
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What does success look like to you?• Lifestyle?• Fame?• Power?• Money?• Other?
Proprietary and Confidential
Founder’s Dilemmas – Rich vs. King
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Most entrepreneurs want to get rich AND run the show
Tough to have both money AND power…• To make a lot of money on a venture means
getting financial resources to capitalize on opportunities in front of you. Tradeoff is loss of control
• To remain in charge you need to retain equity. This means fewer financial resources to fuel your venture.
If you don’t figure out which matters more to you, you’ll wind up being neither rich nor king
Proprietary and Confidential
Reality of what’s involved
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“I want to change the world.”• Pressure • Sacrifice (not if your passion)• Money “Rent and Ramen”
Uncertainty • years to outcome: 7 to 10 yrs. ~ ‘000s: 1 funding~ 1 in 10 breakouts
(Anecdotal: only 45 “Unicorns” in the past decade)
Proprietary and Confidential
The path to success…
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Proprietary and Confidential
The roadmap to success…
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Pivots?
Ideation
Repeatability?
Predictability?
Scalability?
Validation?
Profitability?
Funding?Creation
What will yours be?• Make it up!
Proprietary and Confidential
What will yours be?• Expect the unexpected…
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The roadmap to success…
startupsecrets.com @underscorevc
Pivots?
Ideation
Repeatability?
Predictability?
Scalability?
Validation?
Profitability?
Funding?Creation
Outliercustomers
Business Model Reworking
FundingMirage
Iterations
The unexpected:“near death” experience
Team Upgrades
Growth vs Leverage?
Re- Creation
(See LinkedIn article here)
StartupEuphoria
Proprietary and Confidential
What will yours be?• Expect the unexpected…
Longer, harder, maybe even bigger
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The roadmap to success…
startupsecrets.com @underscorevc
Pivots?
Ideation
Repeatability?
Predictability?
Scalability?
Validation?
Profitability?
Funding?Creation
Outliercustomers
Business Model Reworking
FundingMirage
Iterations
The unexpected:“near death” experience
Team Upgrades
Growth vs Leverage?
Re- Creation
StartupEuphoria
Proprietary and Confidential
BREAK-through
-out
Get used to the UNgame
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UNexplored
UNdefinedUNexpected
UNcertainty
Proprietary and Confidential
Playing the UNgame My 5 watchwords: REALITY, CLARITY, HUMILITY, CREDIBILTY, CERTAINTY
• Reality Confront it head on, shine a spotlight on it to get…
• Clarity Do everything you can to get people to fully understand the situation, problem, opportunity
• Humility Show humility with customers, partners, employees, investors, media, etc. first by listening before
jumping to conclusions / answers
• Credibility Establish what have you learned and then move on fast to … Build credibility by delivering improvements before promising anything
• Certainty Confirm it’s turning things around from the outside in – check with customers etc Expect it to be fleeting if you’re growing fast!
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Proprietary and Confidential
But founders are oftenUNconventional
Proprietary and Confidential
Genius?
Thomas Edison
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imho: being right isn’t always as important as being practical, or enabling others
Proprietary and Confidential
Genius?
He was right…
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Proprietary and Confidential
Why are you doing this?
Inspired?• Change the world
Meeting a need?• Personal or market?
Addressing a pain point?• Scratching an itch?• Healing a wound?• Positively motivated?
Or just to prove someone wrong?
Fun or Fundamental?
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Proprietary and Confidential
UNconventional founders
Are usually
• FUN AND FUNdamentally driven
The combination of BOTH fuels them for the UNgame
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Proprietary and Confidential
Question?
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What would you choose to do
if today was your last day of work?
Proprietary and Confidential
Timing…
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When do you think is the right time to become an entrepreneur? Right out of school, college? After you’ve got some real work experience? After you’ve been in a startup? If you’ve worked your way up a corporation? Whenever ?!
Is it age related?
Proprietary and Confidential
The Age Old argument: Youth vs. Experience
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0-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
Age of U.S. Tech Entrepreneurs - At Time of Funding
Proprietary and Confidential
The Age Old argument: Youth vs. Experience
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• Youth• Ignorance is bliss
• Unaware = unlimited• Open mind = open to possibilities
• less to lose• Experience
• Confidence• Stronger networks
• Deeper pockets • also more to lose
Proprietary and Confidential
Networks and Relationships
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Cultivate, Curate your network Attract, Select, Grow people Find mentors
The number one relationship• Your potential customer
Proprietary and Confidential
Shoe Leather
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Customer intimacy• Vital in product development, support, etc.
Proprietary and Confidential
Career path… so how do I gain that experience?
Proprietary and Confidential
Career paths for founders?
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PeopleSoft
Outcome Founder(s) Relevant Prior Experience
David Duffield Aneel Bhusri$9.5B
Yahoo & InfoseekMichael Baum, Rob Das,Erik Swan
$3B
PayPal & Socialnet.comReid Hoffman$7.8B
Odeo, Audioblog, Pyra Labs, Blogger
Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone & Noah Glass
$31.6B
Proprietary and Confidential
Big Company vs. Startup Experience?
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I’ve been incredibly successful at Global Enterprises• Does that set me up for success as an entrepreneur?
IMHO = NO!
If you want startup experience• Go and work in… A STARTUP!
Find a mentor within the startup
Proprietary and Confidential
Outliers…
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10,000 Hours• 3 hours a day for a decade
Deep ExpertiseOnshape
Proprietary and Confidential
A tale of two cities…
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Deep ExpertiseOnshape
On The Job
Proprietary and Confidential
Stages…
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One size fits all?
Ideation Confirmation Creation Validation Repeatability Scalability Profitability Predictability
Proprietary and Confidential
Stages…
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Ideation Confirmation Creation Validation Repeatability Scalability Profitability Predictability
Increasing VALUE
Decreasing RISK
Innovator
Entrepreneur
Builder
Operator
Enabler
Proprietary and Confidential
YOU are your biggest investor
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VCs, investors, advisor• Invest some of their time• Some of their money• Part of their portfolio
You invest • Your life• Your reputation• And there is only ONE of you to invest
It takes• Dedication• Focus
Proprietary and Confidential
Innovation & Entrepeneurship
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Don’t set out to create a billion-dollar company
Set out to solve a multi “billion-dollar problem”
MINDFUL of what it takes to build an enduring company
Proprietary and Confidential
T 617.303.0064 @underscorevc
53 State Street, 10th Floor, Boston, MA 02109, USA