This document provides advice and perspectives on entrepreneurship and startups. It discusses what a startup is, the challenges of being a founder, and strategies for improving the chances of startup success. Key points include: - A startup is an experiment searching for a business model and is usually confused about its product, customers, and how to make money. Success rates are low but can be improved with the right approach. - Building traction and solving a painful problem for customers are critical. Teams should validate assumptions by talking to customers and iterating quickly. - European startup funding is growing but traditionally lagged behind the US. However, European exits have higher multiples since valuations are lower. - The future for European

1. DON’TBEAF***INGWANTREPRENEUR
VITALYM.GOLOMB
@VITALYG
KYIV
FEB13th,2015

2. LOCAL MARKETPLACE FOR
ANYTHING PRINTED
www.printmo.co
www.keenprint.com

3. www.startupaddventure.co
FROMSILICONVALLEYTOTHEWORLD
MIDDLEEAST(FEB22ND-28TH)
EASTERNEUROPE(ARP14TH-21ST)
www.cccstartups.com
@cccstartups
UNLOCKINGGEOGRAPHIES
ENABLINGEXCEPTIONALFOUNDERS

4. VITALYM.GOLOMB
SANFRANCISCO//KYIV
ENTREPRENEUR//INVESTOR
DESIGNER//SPEAKER//AUTHOR
1981
1990
1993
1996
1999
2010
2013
2015
born
odessa
ukraine
arrived
sanfrancisco
dotbomb
spincircuit
UA
2005
sputnik

5. corporate
people
startup
people
P expertsinonearea
P yearsclimbingladder
P stablelifestyle
P realresponsibilities
P lifebalance
P generalists
P earlystart
P cheaplifestyle
P nothingtolose
P nothingelsematters

7. SOWHATTHEF***
ISASTARTUP?

8. ASTARTUPIS...
anexperimentinsearch
ofabusinessmodel-steveblank

9. SCALABLE
STARTUP TRANSITION COMPANY
businessmodelfound
product/marketfit
repeatablesalesmodel
managershired
break-even
profitable
rapidscale
newseniormanagement
~150people
“astartupisnotasmaller
versionofalargecompany”-steveblank

10. ASTARTUPISACOMPANY
THATISCONFUSEDABOUT:
1.WHATITSPRODUCTIS,
2.WHOITSCUSTOMERSARE,
3.HOWTOMAKEMONEY
-DAVEMCCLURE

11. “ASTARTUP’SDEFAULT
STATEIS#FAILURE.ASA
FOUNDER,YOUHAVETO
WORKTOUNFAILIT.”
-VITALYM.GOLOMB

12. whywouldyouwantto
startacompany?

13. getgoodgrades
gotoagoodcollege
getinagoodcompany
getregularpromotions
retire,playgolf,die
normalcareer

14. startupcareer
ifsuccessful
whatpeoplethink
itlookslike
whatitreally
lookslike

15. entrepreneurship
isamentaldisorder

16. butittakesa
littlecrazy...
tochange
theworld

17. so,whyareyoudoingit?

18. forthe
money?

19. fortheIPOmoney?

20. 50
100
150
200
250
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
numberoftech
ipossince1999
26
<50

21. fundedstartup
successrate
30%fail
30%
unprofitable
30%
somewhat
profitable
10%big
success

22. BYTHEWAY...
#FAILUREIN
STARTUPSIS
OVERGLORIFIED

23. FAILUREIS
ahardlesson

24. 1sttimefounder18%
repeatfailedfounder20%
repeatsuccessfulfounder30%
theoddsareagainstyou

25. you’llgetacquiredif
youareluckyandgood

26. freedom?

27. normaljob:
oneboss

28. startup:
everyuser
isyourboss

29. haveafamily?
theywillsuffer

30. “asastartupceo,islept
likeababy. iwokeup
every2hoursandcried.”
-benhorowitz

31. feeling
defeated
yet?

32. founderandteammorale
jess lee - “why startup founders are always unhappy”

33. goodnews:
youcanimprove
yourchances

34. findaproblem
youcan’tlive
without
solving

35. don’tbuildtechnology
lookingforaproblemtosolve
solveapainfulproblem

36. whatisallthisleanbullshit?

37. lean=quickiterations

38. morechancesto
solvetheproblem

39. morechancesto#unfail

40. sowhat’sagoodstartup?

41. firstthingsfirst

42. NOTHINGMATTERS
MORETHANTRACTION

43. solvesapainfulproblem
foraspecificcustomer

44. howcanyoubesure
you’resolvingaproblem?

45. HOWISITCURRENTLY
BEINGSOLVED?

46. nocompetitors
=
noproblem
=
nomarket

47. stopcoding
getoutofthebuilding
talktoyourcustomers
faceyourfears
validateassumptions

48. HOWAREYOUDIFFERENT
ANDBETTER?
HARD?EXPENSIVE?SUCKS?

49. F’IN

50. ARISINGTIDE
LIFTSALLBOATS

51. what’syourbusinessmodel?

52. symmetric
customerpays
forexperience

53. asymmetric
3rdpartypays
forcustomer

54. DOESITscale?

55. $1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
Craigslist Apple Google Facebook Amazon McDonalds
revenueperemployee$3.6M
$2.15M
$1.25M
$1.1M
$691K
$64K

56. don’tforget:
youarebuildinga
repeatablebusiness

57. measureeverything

58. internet-driven
customeracquisition

59. mainingredient:team

60. hiringishard

61. O much money
O stability
O support structure
O a long-term plan
P stock
P flexibility
P chance to make
a difference
whatyou
don’thave
whatyou
dohave

62. BUSINESSwithdomainexpertise
DESIGN ENGINEERING
balancedstartupteam

63. whatisyour
unfairadvantage?

64. ACCOMPLISHMENTS
MONEYRAISED?
PARTNERSHIPS?
GROWTH?

65. THESILICONVALLEYFUNDINGSTACK
BOOTSTRAP/FriendsFamily&Fools
ACCELERATORS
ANGELS/SEEDVCs
$100M+VCFUNDS
GROWTHEQUITY
circa 2014
M&A/IPO

66. BOOTSTRAP
ACCELERATORS
ANGELS/SEEDVCs
$100M+VCFUNDS
GROWTHEQUITY
EUROPEANFUNDINGSTACKcirca 2015
/FFF
M&A/IPO

67. 2001DOTCOMCRASHUSVCFUNDSRANAWAYFROMEUROPE
few,STRONGEUROPEANVCFUNDSSURVIVED

68. ITISEASIERTOSTARTUP
ANYWHERENOWTHENIN
SILICONVALLEYIN1999

70. thenewtools
ofthetrade

71. VENTURE
CAPITAL
ISCHANGING

72. YESTERDAY’SSEEDISTODAY’SSERIESA/B

73. YESTERDAY’SIPOsARETODAY’SACQUIHIRES

74. SOURCE: STEVE BLANK

75. SOURCE: SEED DB
MEDIANEXIT=$20M

76. WHYHERE?
WHYNOW?

77. EUROPEPRODUCESHIGHER
VENTUREEXITMULTIPLESTHANU.S.

78. EUROPEANEXITARE25%SMALLER,BUT…
ENTRYVALUATIONSARE3-4XLOWER

79. EUROPEPRODUCES
1/2ASMANYEXITSASU.S.
AND1/3OF$100M+EXITS
WITHONLY20%OFU.S.VC

80. MEDIANCASH-ON-CASH
$100M+EXITMULTIPLE
4.5X
US
7.2X
EUROPE
2005-2011 SOURCE: EARLYBIRD, DOW JONES VENTURE SOURCE

81. EUROPEANINVESTED
CAPITALUPOVER35%
IN2014ALONE
SOURCE:PITCHBOOK

82. BRACEYOURSELVES
INVESTORSARECOMING

83. THEFUTUREFOR
EUROPEANSTARTUPS
ISBRIGHT

84. LOOKINGFORWARD

85. WINYOURHOME
MARKETFIRST1

86. support/mentor
thenextgeneration2

87. helpbuild
theecosystem
www.goo.gl/Y2nOL2
3
source:

88. COMINGIN2015
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1STCHAPTER
FOUNDERCO.COM
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