57 Things I've Learned Founding 3 Tech Companies

57 Things I've Learned Founding 3 Tech Companies

Jason Goldberg, Betashop | Oct. 29, 2010, 1:29 PM

I’ve been founding andhelping run technology companies since 1999.  My latest company is fabulis.com.

Here are 57 lessons I’velearned along the way.  I could have listed 100+ but I didn’t want to boreyou.

Jason Goldberg is thefounder and CEO of fabulis.com.The post originallyappeared on his personal website, Betashop, and has been republished withpermission.

 

1. Build something you are personallypassionate about

Image: coco rose

You are your best focus group.

 

2. User experience matters a lot

Most products that fail do so because users don’t understandhow to get value from them.  

Many products fail by being too complex.

 

3. Be technical

Image: totalAldo via Flickr

You don’t have to write code but you do have to understandhow it is built and how it works.

 

4. The CEO of a startup must, must, mustbe the product manager

He/she must own the functional user experience.

 

5. Stack rank your features

Image: escher

No two features are ever created equal.  You can’t doeverything all at once.  Force prioritization.

 

6. Use a bug tracking system andreligiously manage development action items from it.

Image: Thomas Shahan

Keep improving the user experience and the product, evenbefore things go wrong.

 

7. Ship it

Image: Louis Vest

You’ll never know how good your product is until real peopletouch it and give you feedback. 

 

8. Ship it fast and ship it often

Image: Michelle Kelley

Don’t worry about adding that extra feature.  Ship thebare minimum feature set required in order to start gathering user feedback. Get feedback, repeat the process, and ship the next version and the nextversion as quickly as possible.  

If you’re taking more than 3 months to launch your firstconsumer-facing product, you’re taking too long.  If you’re taking morethan 3 weeks to ship updates, you’re taking too long.  Ship small stuffweekly, if not several times per week.  Ship significant releases in 3 weekintervals.

 

9. The only thing that matters is how goodyour product is

All the rest is noise.

 

10. The only judge of how good yourproduct is is how much your users use it

Image: Jo Bickerton

Without customers, you don't have a company.

 

11. Therefore, the earliest sign of futuresuccess is traction

In the early days, the key determinant of your future successis traction.  Spend the majority of your time figuring out how tocultivate pockets of traction amongst your early adopters and optimize aroundthat traction.

Traction begets more traction if you are able to jump on it.

 

12. You’re doing really well if 50% ofwhat you originally planned on doing turns out to actually work

Image: Christof

Follow your users as much as possible.

 

13. But don’t rely on focus groups to tellyou what to build

Focus groups can tell you what to fix and help you identifypotentially interesting kernels for you to hone in on, but you still need tofigure out how to synthesize such input and where to take your users.

 

14. Most people really only heavily useabout 5 to 7 services

Image: webtreats

If you want to be an important product and a big business,you will need to figure out how to fit into one of those 5 to 7 services, whichmeans capturing your user’s fascination, enthusiasm, and trust.  

You need to give your users a real reason to add you intotheir time.

 

15. Try to ride an existing wave vs.creating your own market

Image: Nisa+Ulli Maier

If you can, catch onto an emerging macro trend and ride it.

 

16. Find yourself a “sherpa”

Image: M. Longfellow

This is someone who has done it before — raised money, donedeals, worked with startups.  Give this person 1 to 2% of your company inexchange for their time.  Rely on them to open doors to future investors. Use them as a sounding board for corporate development issues.  

Don’t do this by committee.  Advisory boards neveramount to much.  Find one person, make them your sherpa, and lean on them.

 

16. Find yourself a “sherpa”

Image: M. Longfellow

This is someone who has done it before — raised money, donedeals, worked with startups.  Give this person 1 to 2% of your company inexchange for their time.  Rely on them to open doors to future investors. Use them as a sounding board for corporate development issues.  

Don’t do this by committee.  Advisory boards neveramount to much.  Find one person, make them your sherpa, and lean on them.

 

18. Co-locate as best possible but bewilling to travel to remote offices to make multiple offices work

Image: Max Westby

Online collaboration maxes out at 3 to 4 weeks apart, whichmeans you need to commit to traveling almost monthly to make remote officeswork.

 

19. Work with people you like to be around

Image: vmiramontes viaFlickr

There’s no sense in going to war with people you don’t like.

 

20. Work with people you trust like family 

Image: The Library of Congress

They will have your back and care as much about the productas you do.

 

21. Work from home as long as you can

Image: Dan Bynum

A home office is convenient and will save money.

 

22. Position your desk in a way in whichyou are staring at your co-founders and they are staring at you

 If you aren’t enjoying looking at each other each day,you’re working with the wrong people. 

 

23. Use a tool like Yammer to shareinternally what you’re working on

Image: homard Via Flickr

It’s easier for many people (especially developers) to post astatus update than to write an email.

 

24. Use a file sharing service likebasecamp for your team

It’s impossible for everyone to keep track of every file sentto their email in-box.  

Use basecamp so there’s a history and central repository.

 

25. Figure out quickly what you arepersonally really good at and focus your personal time around those activities

Image: AP

Let other people do the other stuff.

 

26. Surround yourself with people who fillyour gaps

Image: marcywillard

Let them do the stuff they are better at.  Don’t dotheir jobs.

 

27. Work with people who are smarter thanyou at certain things

Image: Alex Bailey

Learn from them, because you don't know it all.

 

28. Work with people who argue with youand tell you no

Image: Anders Vindegg

Arguing can make your product better in the end.

 

29. Be willing to fight like hell duringthe day but still love each other when you go home

Image: Roberto Petillo

Otherwise you'll get stuck.

 

30. Work with people who are passionateabout solving the specific problem you are trying to solve

Image: Ice Birdy

It helps to have the same motivation and vision.

 

31. Push the people around you to care asmuch as you do 

Image: Stephanie Dangoor

Everyone needs encouragement through the highs and the lows.

 

32. Be loyal

Image: Marin

 Cultivate and coach people vs. churning through them.

 

33. You’re never as right as you think youare

Image: Emee Baiiaty

Everyone could use an outside perspective.

 

34. Go to the gym and/or run at least 4times per week

Image: Niels M. Knudsen

 Keep your body in shape if you want to keep your mindin shape.

 

35. Don’t drink on airplanes unless youare on a flight of longer than 8 hours

Image: Frank Gruber

It ruins you and wastes your time.

 

36. Choose your investors based on who youwant to work with

Image: Steve Jurvetson

And be friends with, and get advice from.

 

37. Don’t choose your investors based onvaluation

Image: Caston Corporate

 

38. Raise as little money as possible whenyou first start

Image: Rich Seattle

 Force yourself to be budget constrained as it willcause you to carefully spend each dollar like it is your last.

 

39. Once you have some traction, raisemore money than you need but not more than you know what to do with

Image: RichSeattle

This is tricky.  Don’t skimp on fundraising because ofdilution fears.

 

40. Spend every dollar like it is yourlast

Image: Penny

 

41. Know what kind of company you aretrying to build

Image: Flickr via Phil Whitehouse

There are very few Googles and Facebooks.  A goodoutcome for your business might be a $10M exit or a $20M exit or a $100M exitor no exit at all.  Plan for the business you want to build.  

Don’t just shoot for the moon.  From amoney-in-your-pocket and return on time spent standpoint, owning 20% of a $20Mexit in 2 years is much better than owning 3% of a $100M business in 5 years.

 

42. Related to #41, understand whetheryour business is a VC business or not.

Image: Miller Info Commons

A VC business is expected to deliver 10x returns toinvestors.  That means if you’re taking money with a $5M post-moneyvaluation, the expectation is that you are building for a minimum $50M exit. $10M post-money valuation = $100M target.  

hat’s not to say that you might not sell the company for lessand everyone involved might be happy with that outcome, but that’s not what youare signing up for when you take VC money with such a valuation.  Knowwhat the implications of taking VC money are and what it means for expectationson you.

 

43. Make sure your personal business goalsare aligned with the goals of your investors

Image: Obi Ak-pere

The business will only succeed if you are motivated. Investors can’t force the business to succeed.  

And they certainly can’t force a CEO to care.

 

44. Conferences are generally a waste oftime

Image: Oxfam International

Although networking is important.

 

45. Smile, laugh, wear funny socks

Image: Lori Hale Williams

 I wear funny socks to remind myself to not settle forboring and to be creative.

 

46. Do something, anything that showsyou’re not just a robot

Image: Teresa Zada

Let people get to know the real you.

 

47. Hang a lantern on your hangups 

Image: Hans Vaupel

 

48. Wear your company’s t-shirtseverywhere

Image: heidi.com

Be proud of your brand.

 

49. Do your own customer service

Image: Fun2MassMSK

It's a great way to get feedback from the people who matter.

 

50. Tell a good story

Image: Stan Gregg

It helps people relate and connect with you.

 

51. But don’t lie

Image: Matt Warren

Ever.

 

52. Find inspiration in the people aroundyou

Image: Ed McGowan

They see the world differently, and that's a good thing.

 

53. Have fun every single day

Image: Mine Beyaz

If it’s not fun, stop doing it.  No one is making you.

 

54. It’s true what they say in sales...

Image: The Green Album

You’re only as good as your last sale. 

 

55. Make mistakes, but learn from them

Image: Kim Scarborough via Flickr

I’ve made hundreds.

 

56. Mature...

...but don’t grow up

 

57. Never give up

Ever.