Real Founder Lessons
The best startup advice from experienced founders...one real-world lesson at a time.
Every startup is a series of pivots
(at minute 0:33)
Founder Lesson
Last week I was having dinner with a founder who had a very good exit for his startup. Halfway through dinner he begins to reminisce about the journey. It is well-known that this startup had four distinct (large) pivots, but his narrative didn't describe it that way. Because he was the person on the front lines of this . . .
Focus your time on the right investors
(at minute 6:42)
Founder Lesson
I remember the first time that someone experienced told me some version of this advice...
"Don't waste your time with that investor...they don't invest in your type of startup."
"Don't waste your time with that investor...they aren't that active."
"Don't . . .
Everything you always wanted to know about validating B2C startups (but were afraid to ask)
(at minute 8:57)
Founder Lesson
Yesterday I was talking with a first-time founder about the process of validating her B2C startup idea. Before she even decided to pursue her idea she did a survey with a bunch of consumers asking basic questions about the space and their habits.
People responded as she expected, so she decided to go all-in.
. . .The value of accelerators
(at minute 36:07)
Founder Lesson
There's a bunch of startup stuff happening in downtown Atlanta this week, so I've been thinking a lot lately about programs that support startups.
The startup programs that have emerged over the past five years fascinate me. I'm old enough to remember the first startup hubs that emerged across the . . .
The job of the founder/CEO is to say "no"
(at minute 4:19)
Founder Lesson
I'm a huge fan of hack tests. For example, let's say you believe that gardeners will buy more gardening equipment if you create a content-focused startup where the content's goal is to drive e-commerce. Instead of spending months building a site/app, setup a MailChimp account today and start sending emails . . .
Do the simple thing first
(at minute 13:46)
Founder Lesson
Two years ago I was working with my co-founder to help renovate an old building in downtown Atlanta to become a startup hub. We didn't know anything about construction, so there were lots of lessons. Perhaps the biggest lesson was that construction is a process with lots of fits & starts. You decide one day to put a . . .
You aren't the exception
(at minute 19:31)
Founder Lesson
About a year ago I was talking with a founder going through Techstars and he told me something that really stuck with me...
"Our behavior towards our startup totally changed when it occurred to us that we are the rule...not the exception."
In other words, this delusional founder (he's . . .
