Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

    

  

Edited By    ujjwal.trivedi@headstart.in   

Licensed under Creative Commons. Feel Free to Distribute as is.

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

Where do I begin? Right here, right now. Please consider that by beginning to read this little piece of text you’ve already taken your first real step towards starting up. It takes 3 things to make a successful startup, you will need at least 2 to begin your journey:

1. IDEA (To solve a real problem for real people)

2. MONEY (To support yourself and team, until business starts making money)

3. TEAM (To get things done faster and better)

If you have any two of them, the third one can be acquired. If you have only one of them, please try to get at least one of the remaining ones. Most people have ideas and should look for either team or money. We strongly recommend you look for team, because money is usually required much later in the course.

I have an idea but...

...What if someone copies it? Nothing dies faster than a new idea in a closed mind. Write the following on a piece of paper and read it 108 times. "Idea has no value". It is painful to accept, but it is true. Even if it seems extremely unique and valuable, no one else will have the same passion to think through it like you do. There is a lot that goes into building a business than just the idea. The fact is that most likely hundreds of people around the globe are working on the same idea or a different flavor of it. It's just that you are not aware of it. So, best bet is to feel free in talking about it anywhere you get an opportunity to do so. You will get a lot of feedback and ideas. The only bad thing that might happen is that someone might tell you who else is working on that idea. You may start losing interest. It's actually good, because a) it is a validation of your idea. and b) that would positively affect your preparation and research and thus, increases the likeliness of your success. So do not worry about someone stealing your idea. People are interested in stealing your idea as much as you are interested in stealing their idea. Which is zero point zero five percent. If you are still worried, channelize that fear to act quickly on the idea.

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

...I don't have the money.

You have the money, you just don't see it yet. There are hundreds and thousands (if we consider crowdfunding) of people waiting to give you money. You have to prove it to them that you can earn much more and return to them. Funding should be the lowest of your priorities during idea phase. Focus on building the idea, validating it with prospective customers and building prototypes. It requires more effort and creativity than money. You really do not need to create the product itself before asking for validation. Please know that validating idea is much different from taking feedback on product. You don’t need to put your idea and ask for feedback. Here’s a step by step plan for you:‐

1. You have to list down all your assumptions about the problem, about prospective customers and about the solution.

2. Select your 2 riskiest assumptions(typically these are ‘this problem exists for my target customer segment’, ‘they are willing to pay me this much for solving this problem’, ‘the solution I have in mind solves this problem effectively’, ‘I can reach this customer segment with the resources at hand’).

3. And then, you’ve to test those assumptions by talking to your prospective customers. Real people. You cannot do this research with Surveys. You have to move your butt, walk in the sun and talk to real people out there. Do this with at least 20 prospective customers.

If your idea requires a huge investment upfront, you may want to start somewhere else. E.g. You want to create an apparel brand, start by selling T‐shirts. Learn more about Lean Startup (Google is your friend). Once you have validated your idea and potentially have a 2‐3 customers willing to pay for your solution, you can start raising money. Start with your family and friends. Tap into your chacha‐mama network. Trust me, if you can’t convince them to bet on you, you’ll probably never be able to convince anyone else. Don’t give them more than 10% of your business. Once your business model has been validated and you need money to scale it up, approach angel investors and VCs. Talk to one of Headstart volunteers, we’ll help you if you are ready.

...I am not sure about it

That's a good state to be in. Brainstorm more about it with like minded people, Not Friends and family(unless of course, you are raising money from them). Don’t ask them how’s the idea. Don’t even tell them the idea. Even if people say it’s a great idea don’t give much value to their comments. Observe what your target users/customers think about the problem. How

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

big is the problem for them? What are the things they do to solve it now? Are they spending money solving it? How your solution will change the world for them? Create your network, look for mentors and team. Start somewhere, try a few small things. It is like walking in the fog, if you can see two steps take them, you’d be able to see two more.

...I have a day job Awesome! Nothing like it. You can be assured of your regular income. Your mind will have enough time to focus on creative stuff than earning bread. Use off hours, vacations and holidays. Take a few leaves if you need. You do not need to quit your job, until you want to, or until you can’t do justice to it. In fact, it is a good way to assimilate some initial funds so that you can survive the time till your start‐up starts earning. If you are already in a job, do not quit your job, until you have at least six months of runway. We’d recommend a year and a half. Remember, only 1% of new businesses get funded. Rest have to sustain on customer money. It typically takes half to two years to break even operationally. Eventually, you’d have to quit, but you’d know when the time has come.

...I don't have a team

It is fun finding a team. Dig into your ecosystem you'd find great people. It is not easy, but if you look hard you'd discover the right folks. You may NOT need to hire or look for a co‐founder initially. Everyone recommends that most ‘successful’ startups have 2 to 3 co‐founders. You may get a few interested folks in your network who can help. Just Help, because they love your passion. Really, a lot of stuff that you need to start doesn't need a team. If you are passionate enough you'd attract good people. In worst case, you can get a few freelancers or outsource part of the work that you do not want to handle. Very successful companies have outsourced technology/marketing/sales. Understand what is CORE to your idea/business and stick to that, rest can be outsourced. Also remember, don’t make your spouse or best friend your co‐founder unless it’s a dream you’ve dreamt together. 90% of the time, that doesn’t work and the relationship gets screwed. Instead, look for co‐founders with complementary skills. If you are good at sales, look for someone who can take care of technology and visa versa.

...I don't have the experience

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

And you’d not have experience even after 10 years of job. But, probably because you’ve never done any real business your lack of confidence is understood. There is nothing much you can do about it. I have known people who took jobs and quit them after N years (N = 2 to 15) and pursued their interests. I’ve also known people who jumped right in and are making good bucks. I’ve also known people who are still in job and still thinking of starting up since last 15 years. So, there are no real answers here. You have to take a decision based on your situation and determination. No decisions are right, you’ve to make them right.

...I don't have the skills Do you really need the skills? This country celebrates Jugaad. You can always Jugaad your way out. But, the best idea is to develop the needed skills. You may not need to get a degree for it. You can learn most things yourself with the help of books, free online courses, friends and connections. You cannot shy away from it. During the initial phase you’d be everything for your startup. You’d be the Sweeper as well as the CEO. You’d need to be good at both. Identify what skills are required to implement your idea and learn the skill at least so much so that you can team‐up/hire a person with the required skills. I am assuming that the skills you need is one of the things required, and you have the other required skills. If you have none of the related skills and neither are you interested in learning them, you can always give the idea to someone skilled and think of another idea. Find and Read the Su‐Kam story in the book “Connect the dots By Rashmi Bansal”.

...I don't have a network Really? Did you say you are from Saturn? I didn’t hear that. You may be new to a city and may have extremely few contacts ‐ but that’s ok. All startuppers have to create their own. Read about ‘customer discovery’ and it is a great way to build a network. There are lot of articles and ebooks available on the internet about it. Start exploring the meetups (read meetup.com) around you, it is a great way to build your network in the relevant field. While networking, always focus on what how you can help. Practice saying this small sentence ‐ “I am <myname>, and I do <stuff‐you‐are‐good‐at>. Is there a way I can help you?”. You may exchange business cards, but it is not a must. I seldom have them. I’d just keep my phone unlocked and quickly note down their email and some notes that will remind me of who they are. It is the best way to make contacts with people

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

you have just made acquaintance. I have tried several ways and have discovered that there are no tricks to it. You just have to be in a position to help people out and that makes the best connections.

...I don't have an office This is most ridiculous of all excuses. What do you need the office for? Only to feel that you own a company. Which product do you buy based on the office they have? Most successful companies started in a garage. Right now, in India most interesting companies are running out of home and out of hostel dormitories. Start under your roof, do meetings in CCDs and Chai Points. If you are working full time on it and having an office is very important, you can opt for co‐working spaces. Or ask someone in your network who has an office, to share a few seats. I’ve known so many people getting some seats just like that ‐ For free. You’ve to stick your neck out of the shell and ask for it.

I Don't have an idea but…

I want to Startup Do not worry, you are in good company. There are so many like you around. Keep looking for one (an idea) by being more observant to needs and pains of people around you. Think why do you want to startup? A good bet is to explore the startup eco‐system by going to startup focused events. Better still is to join a startup and experience the fun and challenge first hand. If you happen to find people with complementary skills you may also join their great startups as co‐founders. If you are very focused on getting your own idea ‐ Do look for Ramit Sethi’s idea generation framework. It’s a good exercise. You may get an idea, but more importantly you’d start thinking in the right direction. I’ve known successful startups who started up with a very vague idea of what they wanted to do. Later they completely changed their focus and achieved a whole lot by doing something entirely different. Whatever you choose to do, keep building your network and other ingredients until you get the golden idea.

I want to start up BUT...

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

And this is a huge BUT. Kick your own BUTT, because most wannabes use this to cover their inaction towards achieving their goals. What they forget is that when you really want something there is whole universe conspiring for you to get it. But, most remain unaware of the power of universe. Before your thoughts trail towards mysticism I'd like to state that I am pointing to the startup ecosystem that exists around you. Learn about Startup ecosystem in next section.

...What if I fail?

What if you will? Please write down the list of things you will lose if you fail. You’d perhaps realize that there’s not much to lose. The cost of failure is getting lower. (Read Linchpin by Seth Godin). All successful people and startups have failed, got embarrassed, publicly humiliated, almost bankrupt. You have to be ready to embrace failure. Be prepared to be wrong. You WILL fail a couple hundred times, but if you persist and leverage the ecosystem you will eventually succeed. There are, again, a lot of things you can do about embracing and leveraging failure. Accept that and take action. If it makes you comfortable please know that when you fail, nobody would notice. So, if you HAVE to fail, better fail faster and rise up quickly.

What is Startup Ecosystem?

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

Ecosystem is something that supports life. Startup ecosystem helps you nurture the seed of your idea and see it become a tree of success. And there is an awesome startup eco‐system developing in almost all cities in India today. All you need is to find that out and leverage it. Always remember though that in an ecosystem it is always about "Give and Take". If you can Give, You can Take. Startups ‐ a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model ‐ Steve Blank. Startups are like wannabe businesses. Go look for Steve Blank on Google and get your concepts clearer about what it is and why you should do it and how. Startups obviously are central element of the startup ecosystem. There are hundreds and thousands of startups around. Everyone from panipuriwala to Tech consultant is trying to do business (not necessarily startups). Not only can you learn from them, there are variety of ways in which they can be a part of your own success story. More than they need you initially you need them to learn how to sustain in this environment. When you go to events meet as many start‐up founders as possible. You can ask them questions and offer them help. No question is stupid question. Assumptions are stupid. Being curious is a strength. Talent ‐ You need people with skill sets. Your team is what determines the future of your venture. The people you are going to need very soon are Co‐founders, Hires, Early Adopters, End‐Users. There is no way you can buy them using facebook ads, or phone calls or advertising. You have to build the network yourself. How? Start talking to people. Know what they need, help them if you can. That's it. There are many ways to find great talent. There

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

are job boards like http://hasjob.co, and events like Headstart Higher. And there are many more channels that you’d discover when you jump in to the stream. Funding ‐ I wanted to keep this the last because of it's priority (being last) but, it is also important to talk about the money early on because that’s what most people are worried about. You need money to create more money. In Startups ecosystem money comes from bootstrapping (your own savings), friendly loans, Angel investors, VC Funds. A recent study suggest 70% of the startups in India are bootstrapped. If you are at the idea stage you should not worry about funding at all. However, if it is a hinderance you should look for Incubators in your city. (See last section for list of incubators) Incubators and Accelerators ‐ This is something you should find out first. Find out how you can join one. They'd help you in avoiding a lot of mistakes early on. Some of them take a small fee and a small stake in your company. But, there is nothing fixed. It all depends on what you’ve got, and what they think it can become. Incubators provide you with lot of facilities like co‐working space, technology support, mentoring, connections. Accelerators are more helpful if you are at an advanced stage and want to accelerate your growth. Keep them handy and approach them once you have your validated idea ready for execution. Educational Institute ‐ Educational institutes are a prime component of ecosystem because they are the richest source of talent. Most likely they are also your future consumers. There are the brightest and freshest minds available to you for your small projects, surveys, branding, early adoption (unless your product is specifically for elderly). Some premier institutes also offer incubators and mentoring. If you are keen on getting talent from academic institutions, they’d love to hear from you. Government ‐ The first thing you’d want to know is how to to incorporate a company. Do not rush to form a company. It can wait until you start doing monetary transactions or employing people. Please know that it is easy to start a company but it is practically impossible to shut shop. Also, once incorporated there is a lot of documentation and maintenance charges required to comply with legal requirements. When you are at a stage of incorporation, spend some time in knowing all the compliance laws and get expert opinion before incorporation. It is also, very important to know how you can leverage the tax and flexibility of laws in case of clean tech, renewable energy resources, social businesses etc. If you are copying a business model that works in a foreign country, you may want to check if it is legal in your own country. There are several business models like Uber for example that struggled to comply with Indian laws until recently.

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

Get advanced FAQ! How important is the name of the company?

It will be VERY important some time in distant future. It is not something that you should spend your days and nights of creative thinking. If you have an idea, there are so many better things to do. But practically make a list of about ten names that you may go with and be happy if you are able to register any of them.

How important is it to get the domain name I am looking for?

It holds about the same importance as company name, perhaps a little more if you are in an online business. Try out several related names and check what is available. All you should care about is having a short and memorable brand name for easy recall. So, it is important but you have bigger fishes to fry. Don’t fret these small stuff ‐ coalgate doesn’t even remotely allude to healthier teeth, orkut wouldn’t sound like a social network, flipkart may not be the best name for a ecommerce site. Keep a name/domain name and make it win.

When is the right time to leave your job and go Full time with your startup idea?

How about right now? The best answer I’ve received so far is leave your job if you know you are not doing justice with it any more. Don’t do things that you wouldn’t like your employees to do to you in future. If you are still ideating, hang on. For the more calculating types, the probability of succeeding is very high when you have domain expertise. This is best achieved by working whole heartedly in an industry you are interested in. You will probably find a good problem in that industry and would be ready to startup too. Choose a startup instead of a corporate for your job, as it will give you greater avenues for growth. You’ll also learn a lot about handling uncertainties, managing teams, building a culture and a brand.

How to find a mentor/ How to find the right mentor?

If you think one day you’d find a person and call them the mentor, it’s not gonna work. You need to know what you are looking for from a mentor and that would be a great start. A mentor, is generally a person who knows more than you, is interested in you/your idea and wants to invest their time in helping you build on it. It is extremely important to have a constant relationship and not just a Q&A every now and then. And this is more likely when the relation is symbiotic ‐ which is when you also have something to give back to the mentor. What can you give back? ‐ It may just be a great learning experience for them. It is also important to ensure that a person’s advice is

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

backed by their own success stories. You’d have to keep experimenting with a lot of people who you feel can help you, before you can find ideal ones. Anybody who asks for money to mentor, likely doesn’t deserve to be one. However, if you are desperate, hire a COACH. Even the best athletes in the world need coaching. Investing your time and money in learning is indeed a good idea. There are a number of online, offline coaches and institutions available that offer professional advice, coaching and open their network for you in exchange of some seriousness fee. Sometimes it may be free, but don’t restrict yourself to free.

How to do low cost marketing?

Marketing is often confused with advertising. Advertising is only a part of it. Marketing is about making relationships, knowing your customers and helping them out. You definitely don’t need a heavy budget to do it. I found this slide presentation particularly interesting ‐ http://www.slideshare.net/bkbirla/it‐aint‐about‐the‐money‐honey‐nasscom‐product‐enclave‐2014

What to do with Startup Ideas?

(This one is mostly for eCommerce and Marketplace related ideas. May not work if you are bringing in New Tech to market.) 1. Think of your idea in the most primitive form. Keep all exceptional cases aside. Keep only the basic cases in mind. Think how would you do it if there was no internet or smartphones. That takes website and apps off the equation. Can it be implemented using Phone number? Whether it is a healthcare service, or food tech or hyperlocal they all are businesses that may be “facilitated” using technology (websites and apps) but it’s a fallacy to think in terms of these mediums as business ideas. App is not your business idea. It’s a medium to reach out to your customers. It’s a platform for your customers to interact with your service. It may be mandatory to have a scalable business, but it is not the business idea in itself. And if it is, stop reading further. E.g. 1. Hyperlocal delivery of medicines. Can it be facilitated using an App? YES. Does it require an app to function? NO. All it requires is Sellers (a pharmacy with drug distribution license), Buyers (people who want specific medicines home delivered), A platform to connect these two (doesn’t necessarily be an app or website, people can order on phone). E.g. 2. Food Tech for delivering Milk. Can it be facilitated using an App? YES. Does it require an app to function? NO. All it requires is Sellers (a dairy or shop), Buyers (people who want milk home delivered), A platform to connect these two (doesn’t necessarily be an app or website). People can order on phone and in some cases people just shout from their balcony and get it delivered.

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

E.g. 3. Mobile Video Tutorials for Students/New Moms/Home makers/for Cooking/for Art/for Music/Fitness etc. Can it be facilitated using an App? YES. Does it require an app to function? NO. All it requires is Videos (and Teachers who can create videos), Consumer (people who want tutored at home using videos), A platform to connect these two (doesn’t necessarily be an app or website). You can send the video or links on an email, deliver CDs etc.). Think primitive. 2. Find one provider and one user. Find one real person who wants to sell, and one real person who wants to buy (outside your group of friends and family). Sometimes it may be one of your friends or family but getting a stranger helps even more. 3. Think of yourself as the platform. You are The Platform. You Connect the real users. Fulfil that one user’s demands. Buy the medicine, prepare the food, create the video and deliver to your user. See what problems you faced, what’s the gap in demand and supply? Could you get that one customer? Could you get that one seller? Could you fulfil what your users were looking for? Could you deliver on time with required quality and delight the user? Did you make any money in the process (Did you earn revenue, was their any profit?)? 4. Do you still want to continue? Do this for 5 to 10 users before you embark on your journey to replace yourself (you are still the platform) with a technology platform and technology mediums like apps and website. That’s how you’d know for sure what idea to work on and how. 5. Action. There is no real step here. If you’ve done last 4 (“done” and not just read them), you’d know what to do next. Do it. Take action, go for it. You now have a very high chance of creating a winning startup.

How to find jobs/internships at Startups?

The first thing you’d have to understand is that companies need awesome people, as much as people need awesome companies. With that understanding you’d need is to think from a company’s perspective why should they give you some time/opportunity/ training. How can YOU help them? If you are from computer science you better be good at something related to it – coding/ finding‐issues‐with‐code/ mathematical‐or‐ statistical‐ analysis/ problem‐ solving/ designing/ identifying‐patterns‐in‐data. Assuming that coding is what you are good at, you need some proof in your kitty to show that you are actually good at it. How? How’d you ascertain if someone is a good painter? or a writer for instance. Wouldn’t you ask them to show their paintings? So it is logical that a good coder codes. Codes for the love of it. Easy stuff – learn some PHP/Ruby‐on‐rails on the web and create some websites. Or learn some Android development and create an App or two. What app/website? Anything. A simple thing that solves a simple problem.

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

Now, what if you are NOT good at the only expected thing you should be good at? Well, then you’d need to find out what you are good at, or what you think you’d want to do in future. E.g. sports/music/events/ marketing/ sales – if you think you can do something well you should DO it OFTEN. Either it will give you confidence and motivation to do it more often or the realization to look for something better. So keep trying new stuff and keep doing what you love to do. Don’t wait for someone to ask you to do it. E.g. if you like identifying problems with something or if you are good at bringing in new ideas – take a product, any software product – an app (may be). Think Gmail/ Facebook/ Ola /Uber/ Coupondunia/ Signeasy/ Bookmybattery. Do you think you can improve them? If yes, how? Observe, analyse, jot down your ideas, create a report. Send your work to those guys. They are always listening. That is your way of telling them how useful you are. That was just one example – I’d leave it to your imagination on how you’d come up with your worth, your story, doing what you really love to do. Once you have that in your kitty, reach out to these people. Most of them have career pages, write to people on linkedin, on twitter. Tell them how you need a chance to help them. Don’t drop in your Resume, write a letter to them and you may attach a resume if you like. Be true and candid. Do it more often, for anyone and everyone you think you can help. Do it because you love doing it. They’d love to have you onboard. 

More resources for elaborate Faqs

How to get Ideas ‐ ● http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html, ● http://fourhourworkweek.com/2011/09/24/how‐to‐create‐a‐million‐dollar‐bus

iness‐this‐weekend‐examples‐appsumo‐mint‐chihuahuas/ Free Online Startup Class ‐ How to start a startup ‐ startupclass.samaltman.com/ BOOKS ‐ If you like reading, do checkout this list ‐ http://steveblank.com/books‐for‐startups/ Also, checkout running courses on http://Coursera.org and http://stanford.edu particularly Gamification, Social Psychology, Technical Entrepreneurship Startup News, Media, India specific data and trends

● iSpirit.in, Yourstory.com, NextBigWhat.com, TechInAsia.com List of Incubators in India ‐ http://www.quora.com/What‐are‐some‐incubators‐for‐start‐up‐companies‐in‐India

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Go FAQ Yourself 2.0 (Authored By Headstarters) 

http://pricecheckindia.com/blog/50‐startup‐incubators‐and‐accelerators‐in‐india/ For exploring Startup Ecosystem around your place http://Headstart.in For registering a company and managing tax compliance Taxmantra.com (Infact, follow their newsletters for updates on Tax compliance and updates. 95% startups pay fines for non‐compliance, you better outsource it)  

  

  

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