Startups What should I do next? |
- What should I do next?
- How do I deal with pessimism & fear of failure? It's stopping me from progress
- Damn you, startups world: traps and pitfalls no one tells you about
- How we unintentionally slow our evolution as founders, and the unpleasant but effective way to accelerate our growth
- App / Software for Explainer Vids / Demos
- C Corp Taxes / Franchise tax?
- How to get coverage for your startup without hiring an agency
- Am I being lowballed? How much equity should I be given?
- How to structure this company? (advanced question)
| Posted: 29 Jan 2021 05:48 PM PST About 8 months ago I had a pretty novel idea for a common consumer good category. I fleshed this idea out quite a bit at the time, more so than previous ideas for companies I had, but then put it down for a few months. I kind of came back to it with a fervor recently. Did deep competitive research: a number of competitors have done a piece of what makes my idea novel, but no one has put it all together. They have all of the function but none of the form, just like Blackberry could make a cell phone call just as well as apple. Did market research: market is huge ($8bn). First market report hits on the exact niche I am targeting as being a big piece of the hidden market. Put together a pitch deck: clearly shows how my product is new and innovative vs competition, selects competitor marketing campaigns and demonstrates what is missing Began prototyping: realized my product could be 3D printed. Downloaded the software, realized how easy it would be to design. Hired a designer on Upwork and now have my first model prototype. Tested the idea harder: shared my idea with two people, one a senior product person, another a VP of finance, telling them in advance I was looking for criticism. These are people who would want to look smarter than everyone else. They both think the idea is excellent. Here's the problem: even though my idea is novel and seems to reimagine a category, it's really pretty simple. That is, even in the 1 in 10000 scenario where I really take off, if I took off, my competitors could copy me immediately. I do think that I understand my marketing campaign and target market better than my competitors (their products, even though they are great, would not appeal to the missing market.) However, I know that if the idea is right, once it's out there everyone will see it immediately and be able to copy it, and the marketing just follows. [link] [comments]  |
| How do I deal with pessimism & fear of failure? It's stopping me from progress Posted: 29 Jan 2021 02:25 AM PST Hey everyone, I'm going through pretty bad thoughts, and I can't seem to do anything at this point, I don't even know what to do.... It is stopping be from progressing forward. Reasons I say myself -
Reasons like these are stopping me from doing anything and I'm not even sure what to do now. What are you thoughts on this? How to overcome this? [link] [comments]  |
| Damn you, startups world: traps and pitfalls no one tells you about Posted: 29 Jan 2021 09:15 AM PST Many people romanticize working in startups. They believe that once their product is noticed by investors, a lot of money will flood on founders and employees. As the CEO of a startup, I want to dispel this myth and discuss the downsides of working in a startup that few people think about. To begin with, let's define what a startup is. This is a tech company driven by innovations, which is on the way to finding a scalable business model. A startup is based on growth, new technologies, and the desire to change the current state of affairs in the world. Yes, I know, there are no universal criteria, so this is my definition. And now let's dwell on the topic itself. To my mind, the disadvantages of working in a startup are the following: 1. Most startups fail The lack of guarantees is one of the biggest problems. Also, keep in mind that currently there is no market demand for your product. Even if you work hard and do a great job, the company can face losses that will likely affect you too. Also, the frequent practice in startups is the absence of any employment contracts. As for money, it's stuff today and starve tomorrow, depending on the payments of investors. That's risky, yes. However, that's a great opportunity for those who are just at the beginning of their career path. If you succeed, then everything will pay off. If you screw up, then the cost of a mistake is not as high now as it could be later. Your first job is the perfect time to have fun experimenting. 2. Work overload Forget about the tight schedule from 9 to 5. Growing a startup will take some extra effort from you: with all the combined skills and duties needed, it will require more ambitions than an average job, bringing you overtime in the evenings and on weekends, and, of course, more stress. It will change your standard way of living as well: from now on, your startup and its growth is the main focus of yours. 3. Staff issues Compared to a corporation, any startup is likely to offer a lower salary - that's why competition for the best employees is tough. Although profits may grow rapidly, there is no guarantee of millions in your pocket right after the project began to bring in a lot of money. A startup may have other financial obligations to suppliers and investors before raising salaries for employees. 4. Limited resources Surely, the corporations have a lot more resources than startups. This is not only about financing of projects. Big companies have more opportunities for employees to undergo professional training. A startup will hardly be able to pay for it. Working in a startup isn't just a disadvantage, as you might think having read this post. There are also undoubted benefits:
With this post, I'm not trying to prove that startups are a universal evil. I just want to show the other side of the coin for those who think that there are no downsides in startups. Despite everything, guys, open startups! Even though I haven't made a million yet, it's still worth trying. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Jan 2021 03:38 AM PST Hey all. Coming up from a deep dive into the science around how people change, and wanted to share some thoughts. We can start a company as we are, but shepherding that company as it grows up requires us to grow up, too. But we usually don't like it. How leaders grow into who they want to beThe path of leadership is one of change. Of growth. That's why I love the work of coaching so much. I get to accompany incredibly talented and driven people on the journey through the wilderness and mess between who they are, and who they want to become. Most leaders, they think that this is a thinking exercise. That change is simply a matter of deciding what we want and then systematically working toward it. As comforting as it is to think of ourselves as these incredibly logical, empirically efficient creatures (particularly as we make decisions with millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs in the balance), unfortunately that's simply not the case. Reams of neuropsychological research (here's a decent summary out of Harvard and Carnegie-Mellon) indicates that people, even the most calculating leaders, make decisions emotionally and then rationalize that decision with logic. In other words, what we now know empirically is that the work of our conscious mind is to rationalize, not to be rational. And so it is with change. It's not enough to logically understand the benefit of change — we must also reach the same conclusion emotionally. This is relatively straightforward. When change happens, it's because changing feels better than staying the same. Simple as that. And then afterward we come up with logical reasons in support of the change. Simple yes. But this is an incredibly high bar. We're evolutionarily wired to prefer the status quo because no matter how bad it is, we know we will live through it. We can of course take steps to make changing feel better — visualization, the law of attraction, etc — but overcoming our evolutionary bias against change is often too difficult, and we end up frustrated despite our at times herculean efforts. When change does finally happen, it's most often the result of pain. Whether that's the physical pain of touching a hot stove, or the emotional pain of having our work rejected by a customer or investor, we change most effectively and reliably when staying the same hurts too bad. "We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to."- C.S. Lewis Great. Pain drives change. Pain still sucks. So what?Understanding this, we can take an active (although unpleasant) role in our own transformation. The reason that so many leaders evolve slower than they'd like, is that humans don't like pain. So when the pain comes we look away, numbing ourselves to the very catalyst to our transformation. We might ignore the pain of rejection by quickly jumping to the next task, or distract ourselves from the pain of an unworkable co-founder relationship with TV or food. We might just shove the feeling down in the name of "compartmentalizing." And in so doing we stay comfortable, and stuck, robbing ourselves of the transformation we say we want. We don't evolve, not because it's actually comfortable where we are, but because we aren't willing to face the actual pain of our situation. To feel it, unmitigated, without reflexively looking away. It's normal to avoid pain. It's part of the evolutionary wiring that lead to us being here to talk about it. Pain sucks, and it makes sense to avoid it in most circumstances. But if you're trying to change, to grow, as so many leaders are, the specific pain caused by your current situation can also be an incredible catalyst for change. If you welcome it. If you're playing to win, all of life is an obstacle. If you're playing to grow, all of life is an ally. "Life is a thorough university; pain and hardship are its distinguished professors." ― Matshona Dhliwayo — Thank you for reading, and as always I would love your feedback! [link] [comments]  |
| App / Software for Explainer Vids / Demos Posted: 29 Jan 2021 12:47 PM PST Hi guys, Sorry if this might not be the most pertinent to startups but maybe someone here has had the same difficulty and found a solution :) I'm looking for a screen recording app (or software) that shows finger touches / swipes / drags etc, which will help showcase my product. It's proving far more difficult than expected. The accessibility touch screen workaround on an iPhone is way too clunky for a clean visual, so that's out of the question. Thanks so much for your help!! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Jan 2021 02:49 PM PST Hey everyone, I started a Delaware C-Corp last year through Clerky, and got my foreign qualificaiton in illinois through a company called CSC Global. This just cannot be correct. We've had no revenue at all, apart from $20 that we "made" doing payment testing. Does anyone have any knowledge on this, or maybe can direct me to a resource that does? [link] [comments]  |
| How to get coverage for your startup without hiring an agency Posted: 29 Jan 2021 05:20 AM PST Hi all, I've not been on reddit long, but I've enough karma to write a post so thought to contribute some knowledge about how to get media coverage. For background, I'm a journalist and PR professional with years of experience working for startups. Over the years, many entrepreneurs have told me how fed up they are with being ripped off by larger agencies. Often, they would end up paying huge retainer fees for little to no results. I think this model worked back in the day when it wasn't possible to access the gatekeepers (unless you were a Very Important Person). Now, it's perfectly possible to contact anyone you want. The old agency model no longer holds the cards it once did. Now, of course if you have funds and zero time, an agency could work for you. But if you're bootstrapping, this won't be possible. I've noticed a lot of founders are very smart but lack the confidence to do their own PR. Personally, I think at the early stages, founders are best-placed to do it - because they know what they want to achieve and understand their companies inside out. One thing I've discovered that many are particularly concerned about is approaching journalists. The good news is pitching is an art, not a science and you can learn! As a former journalist, I know what made me accept some pitches and disregard others. And normally it came down to how I was approached/how the pitches were written. So here are five steps you can take to pitch your way to success (taken from a longer guide I wrote on my site). Step one: Choose the right story Don't even think about contacting anyone before you're sure the story flies. The story matters MORE THAN EVER. Because anyone can contact journalists these days, the story needs to stand out. Here's how to make sure it's ready to go: - Ask yourself 'Who cares'. Why would the journalist's audience care? If you can answer this properly, you're starting from a good place. Remember, just because YOU care about your business doesn't mean anyone else does. The story needs to work. - Work out what type of story it is. Is it a feature? Fresh research? A direct review by the journalist? - What kind of stories have your target publications covered before? How does your pitch fit into this picture? Does it offer another angle? Is it a unique, standalone product? Get this right and you're over halfway there. Step two: Pick the right journalist. It is important to target the right journalist if you want to get your story published. Here's how to do this: - Choose five to ten journalists from your ideal publications. - Rank them one to five/one to ten in preference order. - Find out everything about them - use Google News, social media sites to work out their style, tone and how they like to be contacted (top tip: use hunter.io if you can't find their email). Step three: The pitching process The pitching process is a delicate operation of balance and determination. Always be polite - but don't be scared to use the art of persuasion. I recommend using the focus and scatter approach - let's start with focus: - Craft an email to the first journalist on your list and send it around 10am on a mid-weekday (9am is a little early) - You should attach your press release, relevant videos, quotes, Q&As, backgrounders etc (I will put together some press release templates soon for readers) - Look at the last time they published a story and see if you can 'hook' your email around this - e.g. you offer an alternative point of view in comparison to someone they've recently interviewed/an angle they've recently covered. - If they don't answer your email immediately, follow up the same day after lunch at around 1pm, but on the phone this time. This way, they will have had some time to read your pitch and mull it over. - If the journalist isn't in, try later. If you can't get through to them after a couple of days, re-forward the original email and offer them a deadline. This means you can rule them out or in, move on and not waste time. - If it's a YES great! If it's a no, get them on side so you can pitch future stories to them now they know who you are. Don't burn any bridges. Add them on Linkedin/Twitter so you're on their radar. Step four: Work your way down the list until someone says YES! Just remember to give them deadlines each time to avoid the tricky situation where two people get back to you but you've not given hard deadlines and you have to let one of them down (this happened to me once and the journalist was not happy). If you've gone about the pitching process in the right way this process should work. But if not, the SCATTER approach works as a backup. This involves using a press release service such as Cision, ResponseSource (there are other cheaper options too) - or even better, building your own database (this can take time but is worth it in the long-term). Step five: Share your coverage This may sound obvious, but you need to leverage your coverage as much as possible. -Put the story on your social media channels. -Send out an internal memo asking staff to share content. -Send the coverage out in an email/newsletter to clients. -Add it to your website. -Repurpose the content and use it for blogs on your site or externally – good for SEO! Most of all, don't give up and be nice. Niceness scales. And remember, journalists can be busy and a bit abrupt. Don't take it personally. The point is, to position yourself as a source of great stories now and in the future. Happy pitching! And if you've any questions message me below. [link] [comments]  |
| Am I being lowballed? How much equity should I be given? Posted: 29 Jan 2021 06:31 AM PST I'm being offered 10% equity (as a co-founder) to be brought on as "CTO "and also do all of the development of the software product for a startup that doesn't have a product yet. Its more like his idea which he wants developed but doesn't have the money to hire a team to do it for him. He's looking for a basic version of the app developed in 4 weeks which will then be presented to potential investors or on Kickstarter. Just to mention that there's no development team so he's expecting me to do the development part all by myself. He's keeping around 20-25% of equity and the rest is mostly for the investors. That's what he has offered and he definitely doesn't want to lose me on this one as I am giving him what he's missing. I am good at development and stuff but fairly new to the business side of things so just wanted to ask your opinion. Am I being lowballed? Thank you so much in advance! :) [link] [comments]  |
| How to structure this company? (advanced question) Posted: 29 Jan 2021 07:37 AM PST I'm curious how to structure a new company in the USA. For Context , I am from Canada, but I found a business partner in the states (whom I would trust with my life) who is willing to sign everything in his name. The question is, how do I sheild him from getting hit with the taxes, while at the same time avoiding being double taxed myself? I know for example , if I owned the company in the states, and owed 35k in taxes in Canada, first, the IRS would take their share of say, 25k, then I would pay CAD taxes of 10k. But I am not sure how to structure it with my partner being the owner. Any advise here? [link] [comments]  |
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