This is brilliant. This is the second video I'm wathcing on your channel that I just discovered an hour ago. I'm have just got a lot of value from only two videos!! THIS CHANNEL IS GEM
We are a “so far” succesfully start up with a brand new business model, and we are carefully following all your great advice. Thanks for sharing such valuable videos and content.
Great advice. Thanks I m going solo on my saas, definitely not this way forever. Don’t rush into agreement if you don’t sync up well, don’t have the same level of energy, and don’t accept the same risk level.
@@RawStartup no doubt - time used to debate and wonder what your co-founder is doing,.... you would rather stay focus to get your MVP shipped. Along the way, you should find a marketing/sale rep that resonates with your products to help deliver your message out to the audience
If you can't bootstrap a business, the opportunity cost will be too high (unless you're already wealthy). Selling will immediately give the 'runway' to keep going. And you won't run out of money. If you do not already have plenty of cash reserves *_AND YOU CANNOT SELL YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE_* to generate cash flow AT THE NEAR-BEGINNING, then you will: 1) run out of money 2) run out of any incentive to keep working at it SELLING YOUR PRODUCT or SERVICE, if you CAN, right from the beginning: A) will give you the cash to keep going B) will give you a REASON to keep working If you have $10 million in cash already, you won't PANIC at the beginning if you can't start selling immediately. If you have no money, and you can't sell ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, then keep looking for something that WILL SELL. Those ideas are out there! Just keep a day job until you find one. Only requirement: "I must be able to get sales immediately or the 'opportunity cost' and panic will de-motivate me"
Hi, Heini. I have a question. We are at MVP stage, and have communities in app. While onboarding joining any community is free of charge but later joining more than 1 community is paid. Do you think it's bad approach for MVP stage, since we don't have user base ?
Hi Heini, thanks for the wisdoms shared. Certainly couldnt agree more with these top 5s. Im running a fitnesstech startup, and would love to chat with you about it! Anyway I can contact you privately?
My startup failed because of corruption in Croatia. Same startup after moving to Dubai UAE can produce revenue, pay salary, get investments, get funds, be profitable. Same thing that made in Croatia debt of 320 000€ made in UAE profit of 5 million €? How? There is a lot what people do not talk about. There are regions suitable for startups and business in general and there are regions where you need to pack your stuff and family and go out as soon as possible and as far as possible.
@RawStartup I'd like to ask about timing: How sure were you about your timing being right? I hindsight it is always easy to analyze, but were you really 100% sure you had the perfect timing while you were devloping Vivino?
So much drama out of a short list of obvious ideas? Should I watch the next video called "top 6 best startup advice"? Will it be about like: "Be strong! Believe in your self! Do sales!"?
Yes that is how it works, you expand the capital and all the existing investors including founders get diluted. Obviously the founders share of the company becomes smaller every time and you have to be careful that the founders share doesn't become too small.
Thanks so much eh? It seems to me that I have a market fit right from the get-go. Problem is my product has many applications and I am confused about whether I should come out with them one at a time- getting patents as I launch that new application or apply for several patents at once ( once investments are secured)? I heard it is better to have several patents at once rather than one at a time, however, how can I get investors interested in a device that is not patented?
Parents really depends on the industry and product, in some industries you need them in others it is not needed. If there are obvious patents take them, but the most important thing is to build the right product for the audience and keep having the best product. If it has many uses just cheery pick the best market wherever they get the most use for it.
Awesome video as always but aren't bad timing and premature scaling subjective? As in you can only tell if you got the timing and scaling right in hindsight.
This is a great question and I'd like to offer my view and current method to answer you. There are a few major control levers you should develop as a founder. Great testing, research, intuition and above all, learn/apply quickly. -Testing that you you have a Product Market Fit should result in things like your "organic growth engine" firing up (Virality) and that your projected growth is going to make you profitable within "x" months, etc. There are many indicators that you can test for, which will tell you when the timing is optimal (but it's never 100% accurate) -Researching your market, your competitors, your tech and your desired customers should reveal many pitfalls that indicate safe/dangerous passages (be it timing, scaling, product market fit, etc) -Intuition is a naturally possessed, but refined ability that successful founders need to have in order to know where their time should be spent researching and testing. What tests will reveal the most important info? What research will aid in our timing/scaling plans? Much like how a photographer needs to have an "eye" for composition, I believe a founders intuition is what allows him/her to know where to start "looking". -Learning fast and applying faster. This is what I feel is the most critical attribute in founding a company. No one knows exactly how/when to make your startup be successful. If they did, they would have already done it. Making mistakes as quickly and cheaply as possible so you can learn when/where/what/who/why and how are all things that reveal the best odds of success. An example of a test we did to make sure our product matched the timing our research pointed to: We used Kickstarter to prove the concept using photoshop images/features to create a "magic box" for our product that looked more finished than it was. Aside from some pre-campaign FB and IG ads to drum up initial excitement, we hardly coded much of the app, because we needed a larger-scale validation that it was easy to find people who wanted the idea. So while TRUE certainty can only come from hindsight, there are many behaviors you can embrace as a founder that dramatically lessen the odds of hindsight kicking your butt :P I didn't mean to write such a long reply, but we just turned down an accelerator offer for our company because we felt them pushing too hard on scaling during the 13 week program, and though they told us they believed we had reached Product Market Fit, we knew it was too early to "light the fuse and run" which is exactly what raising money from VCs is doing to your company (and in this case the incubator's mentality). If you take their money, you've signed an "end-date" for your company. I really love this video because the danger of scaling too fast is all too real of a problem. And when you're almost out of money and you are offered a lifeline, you better consider the implications of that lifeline. This is why it's so so important to remain lean and agile during your startup, so that you can do ALL THE STEPS before taking money for scaling. Once you're in "scale" mode using VC-backed money, you essentially have the following options: A. Hit expected growth numbers and extend the length of the fuse with an even larger funding round (more money = Less control = bigger promises = harder goals) Repeat. Repeat... B. Exit via acquisition C. Go public (IPO) which is the least likely scenario D. Go Boom. This is why I'm obsessed with the startup world- It's a scary, poorly-lit journey through a complex series of catch 22's and and ever-evolving multi-dimensional landscape, and if you have the conviction, it molds you into a new and improved version of yourself every step of the way. Thanks @Niza for listening to my rant and thank you Heini for providing quality content for us founders. P.S. I'm really digging the new video format.
Thanks Niza and Gant for question and answer. They are certainly subjective and not binary. Not either or, they are more like a scale. With bad timing, just be careful not to be too early and the window is very often longer than you think if you can execute well. With premature scaling, I know it really well because I've done it. I have at least two situations where we've done premature scaling, it got is into trouble, but never enough to kill us.
