Real Founder Lessons
The best startup advice from experienced founders...one real-world lesson at a time.
Creativity loves constraint
(at minute 19:11)
Founder Lesson
I don't know where I first heard this notion, but on a monthly basis I think about the counterintuitive concept that creativity loves constraint.
On a personal level I'm a moderate procrastinator for most things. Over the years I've found that forcing myself to get 50% of the work done in a tight . . .
Iterate your first product with a small group ideal users
(at minute 2:24)
Founder Lesson
What I like to believe about startups is that two passionate founders who love a problem have a unique insight in a space and work on that problem until something clicks.
But lately I’ve been thinking about an alternative path.
What if founders just try to solve a problem without a big mission from the . . .
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 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 . . .
MVP lessons from a burger joint
(listen to the whole thing)
Founder Lesson
I’m really loving How I Built This, a new podcast from NPR. They say it’s "a podcast about innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built.” The founders tend to be from large businesses that people know and the podcasts dive into their origin stories.
When I started . . .
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The 8-step startup product process
(at minute 31:25)
Founder Lesson
Creating a new product can be a frustrating & expensive process for founders. Few founders know the right steps, are able to find good resources, can effectively manage those resources (especially for first-time founders) and - even after nailing all of those - the entire process can be very expensive.
This . . .
