3 Basics on Startups

I walk into this conversation all the time. Quite funny to see the number of startups that do not get these basic and in some cases neck-braking factors sorted out.

Just for you to know: Be careful with these here:

1. The Team:

• Homogeneous Team: Try to cover certain basic areas of your team with specialists, or at least all-rounders who can handle Sales, Marketing, IT, Logistics, Networking or (most importantly) financials. ITs the mix that makes a startup worth to invest in. Only good teams add value to a good idea.
• Check the girlfriends or brides to be: Never start a biz without knowing the women behind the heads. Turns out that many investors (at least in the US) hear alarm bells ringing when it comes to that topic. Imagine a wife sitting on the couch at 1900 claiming time for cuddling and your biz is going down the tubes....its a matter of time they can invest in odd situations. Dont get me wrong here: Everybody needs some work-life balance, but not every type of business can handle 3 weeks of vacation during the first 6 months of business.

2. The Market:

• You cant explain your target market or did not make sufficient research to fully understand what drives the target.
• You believe there is no competition doing what you are doing. Chances are 100% that you are wrong with this assumption.
• You did not talk to your market and the people who are supposed to buy your stuff. Do not talk to friends. I hate talking with people I know about projects. The reason being that the feedback you get is always biased and too favorable. Talk with strangers or people who have the balls to tell you that you are dead wrong. Stress test assumptions! You need people to play the devils advocate...

3. It´s a Business, not so much a Startup.

• Act like a professional and do not nurture the startup-image too much. Good startups play it as if it was the most normal thing on earth to be around. So if somebody asks you what you do for living say: "I am in the business of selling....". Sounds better like "I am starting up this cool idea".

I barely forgot. There is one exception when you should not act like a true business. Imagine you are a staartup of 3: Do not doll up yourselfes with fancy titles like CFO, CTO, CEO, etc...you are still a bunch of kids trying to sell something as professional as possible. There is no fancy titles until you are a 30 people business. There is a guy who buys stuff, one who advertises it and another who takes care of the rest....its simple. Keep contact with mother earth. I appreciate that.

Cheers.

M