Startups Feedback Fridays - A Friendly Feedback Exchange For Ideas and Products |
- Feedback Fridays - A Friendly Feedback Exchange For Ideas and Products
- Founders in SV keep making these same mistakes
- Registering business - any things to look out for?
- If you join a new startup project, as part of the on-boarding process, what would you want to know (or what should be explained) in the welcome document to get you up-to-speed on everything?
- Should i build an MVP or become a facebook service business?
- Planning an EDM campaign/user journey.
- Another Software Dev Equity question.
- Reasonable or annoying: Break down, price, and (possibly) hire separately for each individual tech task? For example...
- Should I work 40 or 50 hours a week?
- Looking for advice!
- Need help and ideas regarding processes, organization, etc.
- How do I calculate my apps retention rate?
- What founders should look for when hiring marketers
- [Florida] Paying annual report late fee vs. reincorporation vs. reinstatement
- financial samurai - "candid advice for those joining the startup world"
- Looking for help with equity on an exit
- Co-founder misunderstanding: how do I handle this?
| Feedback Fridays - A Friendly Feedback Exchange For Ideas and Products Posted: 14 Jun 2019 06:08 AM PDT Welcome to this week's Feedback Thread. This is the place to request feedback on your ideas and products. Be sure to give feedback if you are requesting feedback. Equivalent exchange goes a long way towards reaching your own goals and it makes for a stronger community. Please use the following format:URL: Purpose of Startup: Technologies Used: Feedback Requested: Additional Comments: Post your site along with your stack and technologies used and receive feedback from the community. Please refrain from just posting a link and instead give us a bit of a background about your creation. Feel free to request general feedback or specific feedback in a certain area like user experience, usability, design, or code review. You can also find more support using instant chat on the /r/startups discord. [link] [comments]  |
| Founders in SV keep making these same mistakes Posted: 14 Jun 2019 10:20 AM PDT A decade of sell-side tech IB and I see the same mistakes being made over and over: 1.NEVER say that non-existent or weak revenue can/will be remedied simply by hiring a few salespeople. I hear this ALL the time and it makes founders sound arrogant and delusional. It doesn't work that way. 2.Angels and Seed investors like to sound sage and cool by saying things like "the idea doesn't really matter. we invest in people." Total Bull. The idea matters a lot. The founders can be replaced overnight. The fundamental nature of the business can't. If you're hard up to do a startup, put in the time and research and pick the right idea. Don't just get started building something because you've got the bug and think you can pivot later after you've wasted time and thousands of dollars of yours or other people's money. 3.Failure is NOT good. It's not some noble thing. Failure can be and often is demoralizing, for you, and your whole team. It can throw a wrench into the gears of people's lives who were depending on your company going somewhere. It can devastate the lives of your investors who trusted you with their savings. If you're not profitable then treat every penny like it's sacred and don't go wasting your Vietnam vet Uncle's nestegg on stupid hoodies and expensive office space in downtown san francisco. You shouldn't abuse your people financially in the name of saving money, but failure in business is like getting in a car accident. You might become a better and safer driver because of it, but you might do a lot damage in the process as well. 4.Trading some emails, having a few meetings or lunches with a corp dev guy or product manager does not mean a company is interested in you (buying you). Understand that these guys take a dozen of these meetings a month (it's their job to do so), often times for nothing else than to see what people are doing. And even after months of relationship building the conversations more often than not tapper off or end up in a partnership relationship. 5.FFS unless you're raising a Series E or something, do NOT tell people that a potential exit could be an IPO. Relative to the number of companies that get founded, IPOs are super rare. And it takes a pretty high level of company maturity to become public. It's like being unemployed and never having been elected dogcatcher and telling people a potential career track is that you're going to be the prime minister. 6.When doing a raise, you should be raising for the next 18-24 months relative to your burn. NEVER tell people you want the funds for runway, to give you time to run a sale process, never show them a use of funds chart that's like 25% marketing, 35% sales costs...Those decks will go straight to the bin. 7.Dont wait too long to get a good CFO on your team. Acquirers will generally require a minimum of one year of cleanly kept financials to demonstrate real financial and operational controls within the company. 8.You should not have passive money. When it gets down to it most people end up taking checks from anyone who will sign them. And then these guys typically add no value and send emails once a month demanding to know what's going on or how much you're going to pay them if they hook you up with a potential sales introduction to a customer. EJECT that. Investors should be adding value by providing potential staff introductions, sales introductions, product or company mentorship. 9.STOP denigrating your competitors, especially the ones who got bought. And stop denigrating the people who bought them as stupid for buying them. It's very possible and likely they do some things better than you or there is something about their business that is attractive to others. Whenever I hear "so-and-so would be stupid not to buy us," that company is usually doomed. 10.STOP blaming your competitors for your failures. Startups are like restaurants. When they fail, its usually because they did something wrong in terms of what they were offering or how they were selling. Their restaurant is kitchen nightmares, not because the guy next door is so amazing. Be honest with yourself and others. Just my opinion. People are obviously free to refute anything as they wish. [link] [comments]  |
| Registering business - any things to look out for? Posted: 15 Jun 2019 12:32 AM PDT Hello, My start up currently has 2 other people with me. We're from Europe, but one of the guys lives in a country close by to us. We would like to register a business soon. Aside from taxes, what are the major differences between registering it in different countries? We haven't decided where we'd like to register the business. Other than that, any other things that might concern us? Any help will be MUCH apreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Jun 2019 05:04 PM PDT Currently working on a pre-launch startup and in our welcome document, I have explained:
What else would you want to know? [link] [comments]  |
| Should i build an MVP or become a facebook service business? Posted: 15 Jun 2019 01:24 AM PDT Iam currently working on a booking site for salons and stoped for a while because i realised facebook has this feature too. I know that with coding the project itself give me more flexibility and control over the features, but the on the other hand iam not sure if users would see more fit the facebook version in their life. So i would just need to change into a service business where i would setup the appointment for their page, sync with the google calendar integrate it with their workers etc.. Whats your opinion? [link] [comments]  |
| Planning an EDM campaign/user journey. Posted: 15 Jun 2019 12:33 AM PDT Hi there and thanks for reading. Im updating our (average) user onboarding and retention journey, primarily focused for now on the on boarding and retention (post first-booking) email series. I've been trying to find a good place to do some visual building of if/then this rules. Basically a place where i can plot the user journey from registering, to first booking, to follow ups etc. But with different workflows based on ussr behaviour. We use drip for our edms, and im not looking for a crm. More of a place (whiteboard/visual builder) where i can lay out the workflows at a high level, but still be able to attach docs which have, for example, the email copy in them. Does this sort of thing exist? I was thinking of just using word, but its a bitch to plot. Basically a workflow tree where i can plan out the emails and contact points, sending coupons etc, based on user behaviour. Any resources anyine could point me towards would be great, im in charge of retention and activation at our startup and its all fairly new to me! Thanks in advance! [link] [comments]  |
| Another Software Dev Equity question. Posted: 14 Jun 2019 06:57 PM PDT Hi, I am working with a software developer to make a web app, he has asked me if he will be a partner and I told him we will see how it goes as we have no sales or any actual business yet, for now I am paying him as a contractor. I am interested in offering him shares of the potential business, but I am young and have never examined this topic so I am seeking some opinions. For simplicity, think of the business as 3 departments:
If we get some sales and I get a chance to further develop the product, add some features, and invest in the R&D that I have in mind, then these numbers will change, and the difficulty level of the work will change (#2 will become very difficult, of course the others will get more difficult too). I am taking care of #2, and #3 (for now). But I have also designed the interface and how the program should function for the most part. I have not seen any proof of previous projects by this developer as he was not able to provide anything, but I am hoping he is the real deal. Again, I am paying him in cash, but if he delivers, I would like to keep him around and offer him some shares (he has asked me twice already, so I am afraid of losing his interest as I would not like to search for another software dev). I am thinking of offering 15%, and additional % depending on his capabilities on the R&D side. Will that be fair, or will it just piss him off, as he is the only one doing the coding work. Also, what is vesting of x years? e.g 15% over 4 years. Thank you!!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Jun 2019 05:51 PM PDT ✅ - 20 Static HTML/CSS/JS Pages done ❎ - $500 - Import static view files into a vanila Ruby on Rails (RoR) framework, use templates and ERB (Embedded Ruby) where applicable. ❎ - $250 - Integrate the login/register functionality using Devise gem (library), overwrite Devise view files and use the ones provided by me for login register, reset password, etc. ❎ - $500 - Integrate customer onboarding, including controllers, validations, models, SQL tables. Use the View files provided. ❎ - $500 - Integrate chat functionality Etc. You get the picture. How reasonable of an approach is this, when outsourcing an MVP early on? I'm an experienced technical PM and developer thinking about adopting a new approach. Thoughts? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I work 40 or 50 hours a week? Posted: 14 Jun 2019 08:03 PM PDT I know what most will say, which is it matters more what I do in those hours than how many hours I put in. But I want to give my startup 100% and not punch below my weight too. I'm aware I need to "put in the hours" and "pay my dues" to succeed at anything. I find that I could live a way more balanced life on 40 hours a week, and also I believe in Parkinson Law: work swells up to accommodate the time allocated to it, and I'll be way more efficient if I know that I only have 8 hours a day. It's also way more sustainable long term. But the flip side is that I could do so much more on 10 hours a day, and sometimes I feel it's just stupid to not work when I don't feel burned out whatsoever. Yet when I work several months in a row on 50 hours a week, there inevitably comes a week when I'm too burned out to do anything, like I can't even stand to look at my laptop and my head hurts, etc. What's the optimal number hours to work a week that would maximize my chances of success? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 14 Jun 2019 02:47 PM PDT |
| Need help and ideas regarding processes, organization, etc. Posted: 14 Jun 2019 05:27 AM PDT Hello all, I have been in a startup for more than a year now and I have seen it go from a small idea to a startup that received a couple millions from an investor and now is growing kinda fast. We are not a "app startup" (I'm sorry for the terms haha), we have a physical product that you need an app to use (something like the bike sharing thing - I don't wanna say the name of the company I work at just to be extra safe). With this said, I was/am responsible for the whole production of the company. Basically when I got here we had no suppliers and no assembling line. Now, after a lot of blood and tears we have everything ready to start assembling a great number of our product every week (we are just waiting one or two suppliers to be 100% ready, which will happen in a couple of weeks). The problem is that everything is a HUGE MESS. Everything happened too fast and we just did what we had to do to close all the deals with suppliers, to close deals with clients to ensure future revenue, etc. We have some "departments" and the comunication between them is terrible. Engineering don't have time to properly finish projects because the CEO ask impossible deadlines because of contracts he is already closing with clients. Production has to take too many risks because Engineering always end up not beating the deadlines, etc. What I want to know is simply if anyone can recomend something to read, some theory or anything like that that can help me understand a bit better how to solve this problem. I don't even know what to ask for tbh. I graduated from mechanical engineering and have been here since before graduating. I would like to know books and/or theory on business processes, organization, etc. that could help. I am really sorry for the broad question, but right now I am the only person that is constantly in contact with Engineering, Production, Finance, Marketing, the CEO and the CFO of the company. I hope I made myself clear enough haha [link] [comments]  |
| How do I calculate my apps retention rate? Posted: 14 Jun 2019 11:13 AM PDT I have this app that has been up for 4.5 months and I'd like to know its retention rate. I also would like to compare its retention rate in the first 2.25 months vs the last 2.25 months. Here is the information I have available: Total users I have Amount of signups each week/month MAU/WAU/DAU How do I properly calculate how many users continue to use my app. I also want to make sure I am not including those who just signed up and have so far used it once. Edit: Also what is a very good, good, average, bad, very bad retention rate? Edit: Should also mention that my app is similar to the app Pocket or Instapaper (Saving content from other apps to my app) [link] [comments]  |
| What founders should look for when hiring marketers Posted: 14 Jun 2019 11:00 AM PDT I've seen a lot of founders get burned by marketing reps/agencies promising returns on their social media campaigns only to have their money go to waste and their trust broken. Since a lot of founders are more tech savvy than social, I made a quick checklist to make the marketing process easier on you. These are qualities you want to see in when looking to hire a marketing person. Do They Care About Your Target Audience? This alone can tell you whether they actually care about your success or if they're just looking for a check. Most of your conversations should be about who your ideal customers are and how we can turn the engagement from them into sales. The only way you can market to an audience is if you know how they think. What are their goals and challenges? What are their fears? But the most important question you need to answer is, "What does success look like for them?" Are They Knowledgeable In Your Specific Niche? There's simply not enough hours in the day to understand different audiences in different industries, so it's best to look for someone solely focused and experienced in your niche. How Often Do They Communicate? Not only to you about strategies and metrics, but also to the sales team so they can work towards the same goal, which is bringing revenue. Do They Offer The Services You Actually Need? The marketer's strength should be where you need it. If you're trying to build your brand on social media, find someone who understands how to deliver the right copy, to the right people, in a way that seems like regular content for that platform. ARE THEY DATA DRIVEN? Don't ignore the data, it's there to help you. If you have any more to add to this please do! We're all still learning. [link] [comments]  |
| [Florida] Paying annual report late fee vs. reincorporation vs. reinstatement Posted: 14 Jun 2019 10:13 AM PDT I have an LLC in Florida. I have done very little with it over the last couple years. I was previously using it for house flipping but have been taking a break on it. For 2019, I just realized last night that I failed to file my annual report by May 1st. This means that I now must pay a $400 late fee in addition to the standard $138.75. If I fail to make a payment by September 27th, the Florida Department of State will dissolve my LLC. The cost to create a new LLC with the State of Florida is only $125. I have a bank account tied to the LLC, and I have received one small consultation fee through my LLC this year. Considering that I have barely used my LLC this year and could always have the one consultation fee received in 2019 reissued to a different LLC, is there any problem with my letting the current LLC dissolve and simply reincorporating as "[old LLC name] 2"? I really like my current LLC name and would like to keep it and just append it with the number "2". By doing this, I would save myself $413.75. It seems too easy, though. There must be a catch. Is there some problem with this option that I'm not realizing? Also, I noticed on the FL DoS fee schedule, it shows reinstatement costs $100 + $138.75 for each missed report year. I am interpreting that such that I could allow the LLC to dissolve on September 27th, and then file for reinstatement on September 28th, which would cost me $238.75, saving me $300 vs. $538.75 to file my annual report late. Am I understanding this option correctly? As I understand it, this option doesn't save me as much as reincorporation, but I figured I'd ask about this one in case the reincorporation option is not viable. Here is the FL DoS fee schedule: https://dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/forms/fees/ Thanks in advance for any help, guidance, advice, etc! [link] [comments]  |
| financial samurai - "candid advice for those joining the startup world" Posted: 14 Jun 2019 10:12 AM PDT tl dr; 1) Joining a startup probably won't make you rich. - but it is much more likely to make the founder so. 2) Being one of the first employees is extremely risky. - while the first employees take as much as risk as founders 3) Understand equity dilution. - basically this is how the capitalism works in favor of those in power and control. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for help with equity on an exit Posted: 14 Jun 2019 07:41 AM PDT Here's the situation: pretty much I'm a founder who is leaving another founder and I'm being offered a small exit and some decent equity (3%) of the company. They're at series A right now and the lead investor is offering to buy out my ownership. I've read the docs and negotiated as much as I can at this point, and they're only offering me common shares. The problem I see in the future with this, not that it would ever happen, is that the cap table is so loaded up with other investors that have liquidation and participating preferred rights that any common shares after an exit down the road, will probably be lopped in half or worse. Should I try to sell my common shares to someone before an exit or just hodl them? Anyone have this experience? [link] [comments]  |
| Co-founder misunderstanding: how do I handle this? Posted: 14 Jun 2019 09:34 AM PDT Over a year ago, a friend I've known for the last 10 years and I decided to explore doing a startup together in fintech. We didn't have a specific idea in mind, so we agreed to do research, talk to people, etc whilst keeping our day jobs. I spent a lot of time outside of work on this as I don't have a family and had more time on my hands than he did - he had just had two newborns. We met up many times for coffee, exchanged a lot of information/thoughts over whatsapp and email, and increased our time commitment to the process over time. I left my full time job in June of last year and started some freelance work. Initially he had said he would leave his full time job by September, so I looked forward to finally going all in with him on building something. He then pushed that back to end of 2018, and then again to Feb so that he could get his bonus paid and his shares vest from the corporate job he holds. All along, I was patient and didn't pressure him on timing. I then moved to a different city for family circumstances, but made clear to him that I would still want to launch something with him when he was ready. We were both clear that we would be partners if we launch something. Two weeks ago, I get a link from him with a potential customer survey. Last week, he messages me saying I should get my checkbook ready as "we are raising in August". It was clear that "we" referred to him and someone or a few other people. I feel a bit betrayed frankly but also realize I can't be emotional about this stuff. Question is: how can I ensure that I get some founder equity in that venture? [link] [comments]  |
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