Advice for technology start-up entrepreneurs

1. Start-Up Nuggets
ARIEL POLER @ariel

2. You can’t follow all the advise
that you get – including mine
There are many ways of building companies
You must find the approach that works for you
Advise should help you gain insights and to experiment
It is the same for competitive athletes…

3. Speed is overrated!
What good is going fast in the wrong direction?
Move fast to discover the right direction
The better you understand where you need to go, the
faster you’ll get there
But, never stand still!
And, of course, once you have a course, use all your
resources to get there without distractions

4. Use Time to Manage Risk
Make one bold bet at a time. Don’t “hedge your bets”.
If your bet doesn’t work, make a new one.
Each bet might be risky, but over time, your chances of
success increase
This applies to start-ups, career decisions, and products
But it is OK to experiment with different things for a
while - until you decide what you want to bet big on.
Just don’t do it for too long…

5. Don’t believe what you Read
Most success “stories” are significantly “edited” after
the fact
It often takes time, e.g. StumbleUpon and Twitter were
no overnight successes
20/20 Hindsight gives great strategic vision. Realistically,
successes are built incrementally.
Don’t obsess over your world domination vision on day one.
Make sure you have a vision for a small success – from
which you will be able to build a larger one. To use a
baseball analogy, start by getting to 1st base.

6. Tips for Pitching
Who you pitch to is the most important thing
Do your homework to identify the best possible people.
Review their blog posts and tweets. Look at their
investment history and professional background
Don’t confuse product pitches (or sales pitches) with
company pitches
Key points often overlooked
Customer acquisition strategy
Unit economics
Take a look at bestofangel.com
It is not about checking boxes. It is about getting the
investor excited

7. "You are too early” and other excuses
Most investors do deals when they get excited. But they don't
like to say “I am not excited", so instead they use an easy
excuses, such as:
- You are too early
- The deal is too small
- I want to see more customers/revenues/technology
Be careful about trying to solve these issues, because once
you do they are likely to find others. Instead, figure out how to
get them excited. And focus on moving your business forward.
Investors like to keep their options open.

8. Help me Help You
Instead of “can you introduce me to a potential
investor” say “I believe so and so would be a great
investor because of x y z. I see you know him. Can you
please reach out to him with the attached email”…
Be Specific with your requests
Try to add value even while you are asking for help
@ariel