Startups 20 Best Practices from Elon Musk |
- 20 Best Practices from Elon Musk
- Is Foreign entity registration in California necessary to do a project? (developer living in CA, company registered in Delaware)
- It's hard for millennials to start companies.
- What happens if a VC backed company fails? Do the founders now have debt that they have to pay back or is the lost money part of the risk investors take?
- How to find a UI pro willing to work for some equity
- Nice app/website to manage playbooks?
- How many active startups are you a part of?
- How to know if a startup is right for me?
- Looking for an investor / partnership for my clothing business
- Hi! I'm an 18-year-old founder, and this is what I'm learning along the way
- How has the pandemic impacted the business environment? How has it changed the way we innovate and launch? And what is the formula for a successful startup launch plan? Interview with a Business Development Specialist and Product Launch Expert.
- How do you manage power plays and nepotism?
| 20 Best Practices from Elon Musk Posted: 11 Feb 2021 12:44 PM PST While some of these lessons might seem obvious, applying them to our lives on a consistent basis requires constant reminders and a lifetime of practice. Even Elon Musk probably breaks many of these rules himself. If we all adhered to the following 20 best practices on a regular basis, we'd possibly all be 10x more successful than wherever it is we are...
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| Posted: 11 Feb 2021 09:30 PM PST Hi startup folks, I am developer, and working on a project for few months now. To keep my personal assets safe + possible future funding , I set up a Delaware Corporation. I live in California. Is it necessary to have the business registered in California as foreign entity? I don't do business as in, generate revenue or interact with customers (at least yet), and not sure if my project will start earning revenue anytime soon. Don't have anyone else on the team but myself. Needless to say I'm all the "officers" in charge of the company. Do I have to shell out $800 annual tax just to live in California and work on my business? If possible, please share your recommendations on company setup keeping taxes and administration limited, at least until there's revenue. [link] [comments]  |
| It's hard for millennials to start companies. Posted: 11 Feb 2021 10:43 PM PST After struggling to find a job out of college it feels wrong to leave my well-paying job and take a risk. All my friends work in grocery stores and are in debt. Anyone else have these thoughts? Just a year ago I worked at Lowes without a penny to my name was so desperate to be someone. Now I work a cool office job but am bored and wanting more. If this were the 70s I could work part time and have a home and family, but now my savings mean very little even living cheaply so I'm very hesitant to start my thing full time (and it will require full time). Where my 20 somethings at? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 11 Feb 2021 07:18 AM PST Do founders go into huge amounts of debt when they are funded and the company fails? I know bank loans would be a different story but what about investment firms or Angel investors? My assumption is that the potential to lose their money is part of the risk that investors take when giving money to startups. If the founders don't have to pay it back what are some of the other consequences? Does it become extremely difficult for them to raise money from other firms if they want to start a new company in the future? Any other negative consequences? [link] [comments]  |
| How to find a UI pro willing to work for some equity Posted: 11 Feb 2021 06:14 PM PST I have an idea I may want to start on soon. I have a bit of back end architecture experience.. but while I can mess around with UI, I am no pro. I am wondering how a startup or even idea phase at this point would find someone pretty capable of building modern day web UIs, but obviously for no salary.. just some equity should it take off. More so.. how do you keep someone engaged enough so that they don't just start doing something, then bail and you're left with half baked (or less) and then have to find someone else to try to take over (and hopefully not start over). [link] [comments]  |
| Nice app/website to manage playbooks? Posted: 11 Feb 2021 03:42 PM PST Is there a nice app/website where I can manage playbooks, for example: - Playbook on how to spin up AWS services - Playbook for troubleshooting production issues - Playbook for launching in a new geographic area I often find myself writing one off markdown files (for software playbooks) or ad-hoc google docs, but it becomes difficult to quickly search across these documents for the correct playbook. [link] [comments]  |
| How many active startups are you a part of? Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:32 AM PST A friend and I were chatting the other day about one of his co-founders (they're a team of 3, have revenue and growth, close to PMF) jumping in to found a different start up concurrently. So it got me thinking: do founders ever take on multiple start ups at once? Have you? Is it always the case that a founder should be purely focused on a single project at a time? [link] [comments]  |
| How to know if a startup is right for me? Posted: 11 Feb 2021 05:40 AM PST Hey! I have the opportunity to join an exciting start-up as digital marketer, but having always worked at bigger companies I'm not sure if it's for me. Which traits, skills & personality fit the startup culture? Excited to read your ideas, comments & feedback! [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for an investor / partnership for my clothing business Posted: 11 Feb 2021 07:39 AM PST Hello, I'm a small business owner of a fashion brand and I started through bootstrapping all my savings into current business. I source fabric, design and sew all our clothings from scratch. I've been looking for a way to scale my business and I've not had any success with it. I've tried applying for a bank loan but in my country Loans are only an opportunity for the rich to make more money. I need a fixed asset of a car or property to qualify for a loan. I've pitching to angel investors, seems they are mostly interested in tech startups. I've tried kiva but all their field partners in Nigeria are inactive or strictly into agriculture. I don't have any friends and family at 27 because I've had to stay away to avoid being honor killed. Left home at 18 when my parents decided to marry me off to a man in his 40s, and I've had to fend for myself ever since. If there are other means that has worked for you and I've not tried, please let me know cos I don't enjoy being idle until I get lucky with a custom order and live hand-to-mouth till the next. Thank you [link] [comments]  |
| Hi! I'm an 18-year-old founder, and this is what I'm learning along the way Posted: 10 Feb 2021 09:28 PM PST Hi! My name is Keerthan, and I've been sleeping on how amazing this group is. I joined r/startups a few months ago to ask a small question, but I didn't realize that there are so many valuable gems in here, some I didn't even know I needed! I felt I've taken too much out of this group, and this is my first step at giving back 🙏 About 5 months ago, I had a vague idea of creating a startup that serves those to read for pleasure, such as fiction. I had no clue how I was going to do it and I didn't know the products I would put out into the world. One day I went onto a readers' subreddit and just asked "What would you gift a book lover?". After a few great responses, that's when I decided to go all-in and started Sense Fiction: a startup that serves fiction lovers by amplifying joyous reading experiences and providing community. I just ended a successful Kickstarter campaign for my first product last Saturday, and here is what I have learned along the way: Document your journey!At first, I felt that I should keep Sense Fiction a secret because I felt like someone would steal the idea from me. I even see some go as far as getting others to sign NDA's while talking about it in emails lol. Now, I realize that even though my business idea is great, I am overvaluing it if I am keeping it a secret, and the only thing that will keep me ahead of others who want to try their hand at this business idea is just executing it quickly and gaining feedback from early customers and genuine care for the need your business serves or the problem it fixes. The first time I went public about my vision for Sense Fiction is when I posted a video of myself presenting a pitch deck I made. Yes, I straight-up posted a pitch deck on my Facebook. Not gonna lie, I was extremely nervous and scared. It's a scary feeling when you put your idea out into the world. It's like now you own it and you're accountable because you've announced it to the world. And that presentation kinda blew up, in such an amazing way! I received super positive comments like, "Love this idea. Beautiful and brilliant. 10/10 would buy" and "This is so lit man, It actually is a really cool concept and I can see you put work into it. Keep it up Keerthan." Even former teachers from high school reached out with support and reshared it on their personal feeds (and it's funny because I thought they hated me haha). I already had great confidence in my idea, but after knowing that my family and friends were rooting for me, my confidence levels went up, which energized me to keep going harder! (and those who didn't resonate with my vision either just left it alone, or they came in with feedback about what they feel is best. at the same time, remember that you hold the cards here, not them) The more I started publicly sharing, the easier it became. Just like with anything, it's all in the reps baby. Now, I have fun posting what's going on with the business, showing off the prototypes, and publicly talking about how stressed or nervous I am. In doing so, I've had people reaching out to me telling me how excited they are for the brand and how they've been looking for something like it for so long. The same exact thing could be applied to email marketing. People always just continuously sell and sell to their email list, but it's also super important to connect with them too, and build meaningful relationships with your subscribers and customers. It's important to stay vulnerable, sharing both your highs and lows. One of my emails was about my product prototype arriving broken from my supplier, and I included pictures of me holding the broken prototype. I sent it to my list weeks before I launched my Kickstarter, so there wasn't anything to sell. It ended up becoming my highest opened email ever, and several people replied saying how they love that I'm pulling them through my journey, and those people went on to buy on the first day of launch and spread the message on their own socials. If you're trying to build an audience, I'd highly recommend documenting EVERYTHING. You never know who might be interested in your brand. Plus, it makes everything a lot more fun, and you don't need to be super creative with content ideas because everything you need to share is directly in front of you. Trust your feelings!I love what I'm building and working towards so if you're stuck deciding which ideas you should go for, go with your gut and pick the one that EXCITES you the most. It makes it much easier to progress and set the overall vision of the startup without "forcing" it. If I had to choose between going by market data and my feelings, I would go with my feelings without a doubt. Data is useful, but I would be hard-pressed to say it is everything and that you must stick to it. For example, if the data says green is the best color, but your feelings pull you towards blue, go with blue. I would never force you to justify that your feelings are incorrect. This is what one of my mentors once said to me: "You are in this for a better life. Yes, you want the money, because money can help you live a great life. But the life is what you want. Your life is as good as your feelings... so if you make decisions based on feel, rather than data, your life will (probably) get better. For example... if you are deciding between two ideas, and one of them feels good and has lots of data...But the other one keeps you up at night with delirious excitement...Then go with the second one. Or...If one idea has amazing data but bores you...But another looks crappy on paper but really interests you...Go with the latter. Why? Because that excitement will carry you further than data will. You can use data to justify your decisions or to pitch an investor... but don't base your life on it. Data is simply the observation of what other people do." I also find that it helps to train your intuition. The best ways for me are immersing in nature and meditating daily. I meditate for about 20 minutes as one of the very first things I do in the morning. My mind is a little groggy right when I wake up, and I find that starting meditation in that groggy state just brings me the creative energy I need. I also make sure to reconnect with nature daily. No excuses, I consider it as important as eating, drinking, and working. I do not bring my phone with me, and I let go of all the current issues in my life behind me. My usual is to take a stroll in my favorite park and observe in silence without doing anything else. This is why I go alone and leave my phone behind, because you're not really observing nature when you are chatting the whole time or attending a meeting with your team alongside. I don't mean to go full-on 'woo woo' with you, but feelings and a finely-tuned intuition can be an amazing guide. (Side note: when in doubt step away from the computer. Can't make a decision? Feeling stressed about this? Worried about something? Step away from the computer. All the good stuff happens from decisions, and decisions are really hard when you are stressed. Stressed decisions bring stressed results. Happy decisions bring happy results. Step away from the computer.) Please, please, PLEASE engage in conversations with your customers (or future customers, if you are just starting out)If you are going to take one piece of insight away from this post, let it be this one. What I found odd about given all the advice about making business plans is that hardly anyone recommends getting away from your desk and speaking with people. And it sucks for me to never hear that much because that's what I find to be the most fun and important of the business planning process! As I was drafting the vision for Sense Fiction, I posted this on my Facebook: "Hey, I would love to talk to some fiction readers! All these nonfiction lovers are out here pumping their chests all the time and I never hear from my fiction fans - come at me! 🙏🙏" Not too many of my friends understood why I posted that, and they commented things like "Keerthan you read?" and "Who are you and what did you do with Keerthan?" (yeah that last one kinda mean but super funny at the same time hahaha). Luckily, one person commented, "Count me in! I read fiction every day" and if I didn't get in touch with her, I wouldn't have had the vision for my startup as I have now. Our call was so much fun, and it felt like such a win-win: I was gaining a newfound sense of direction for my startup, and the other felt so grateful to have a direct impact on a brand she loved! In fact, the first product I launched on Kickstarter was not my idea, it was hers! From there on, she led me to meet even more people who represented the person I intended to serve with my startup, which led me to discover even more! This is especially important for a founder like me, because I am not completely my own customer. I read a lot, but I read more biographies and memoirs than I do read fiction lol. Being your own customer helps, but I find that genuine care for what you are doing goes even further, regardless if it solves your own pain points. I deeply love and care for my customers, and I want to serve them in the greatest ways possible, and seeing them light up as I pass through every milestone of the startup. When my Kickstarter hit its funding goal, I was smiling, while my early customers were jumping, yelling, chugging beers (okay maybe not this one), and posting all over social media about how excited they were that I am one step closer to making this product a reality. Without a doubt, conversations with those who are likeliest to be raving fans of my products and startup have given me so much more clarity than any market data report, and have brought me a lot of support and great ideas throughout the process. My next steps are purchasing my first inventory order and doing a relaunch on Amazon. I'm definitely a bit strappy right now, and capital would be so helpful right now (no one seems willing to give money to an 18-year-old lol) but regardless, I know Sense Fiction will do amazing because I stay strong to the advice I have listed in this post, and because I already have a raving fanbase of customers, even if it's just a hundred people right now. This post is going to keep me accountable for what I'm going to do the next month. I'm still pretty new at this and I definitely have a LONG way to go but this is some of what I've learned so far and I hope it helps anyone that's going through this journey. I really hope that this post benefits and inspires someone too! And I really want to hear your story sometime, and let's all win! Rooting for ya, [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:11 AM PST Launching a product or a startup during a pandemic is a challenge – but a worthwhile one. The global consumer shifts also created big business opportunities. I did an interview with Tina, a Business Development Specialist, and Product Launch Expert, and Solver at Solveo to unveil her ways of adapting to the new normal while helping businesses build and launch new products during the pandemic. I figure out the answers that Tina provided can help this community if someone is trying to launch a startup during a pandemic. 1. The corona global pandemic changed most aspects of life in 2020. How did it impact business development efforts and startup activities?The pandemic changed most aspects of life and work and subsequently created a lot of new business opportunities. Human needs are always evolving, but events like the pandemic are a catalyst for rapid change. Many entrepreneurs naturally saw this as an opportunity to capitalize and build something new. At the same time, already developed companies faced big losses and needed to innovate to stay afloat. They released new products and services, adopted their offering, changed the way their workforce functions, and created new communication pathways with the customers. It's really interesting to see how much innovation is currently happening all around and its impact on the life of the consumer. 2. Has the ways we launch products and businesses changed as well?Launching is always about speed, but especially now, it is crucial. If you think about it now more than ever, everyone around the world is going for the same piece of the pie. It's a race. However, the goal isn't just to release the product as fast as possible, but to build buzz even before you've launched. It's a lot of work. That's why a lot of entrepreneurs enlist the help of innovation agencies. That way they can focus on making the products as best as possible, while we help them build buzz, gather feedback, and get maximum impact at launch. 3. Talk us through the steps of developing a launch plan. Is it a one-fits-all formula or it changes depending on the project scope?I guess it's both. Every launch plan includes the often forgotten prelaunch, launch, and post-launch phases. There is a lot of preparation that goes into all of them and it's key you plan them ahead of time. Things can also change during any of the stages and you will need to make last-minute alterations. Feedback from early access subscribers, beta users, and test subjects is priceless. If you are aiming to launch a business successfully, you have to keep your real potential customers at the forefront of your mind. I guess that is also what makes up for the biggest differences from project to project. Every industry is different and the channels through which you can reach potential customers also change depending on that. Even if it's the same customer in question, the way you approach him to try an app and the way you approach him to try a new soda are different. Finding the right channels, and the best approach are the biggest keys to a successful launch. 4. How has that process changed during the pandemic?During the pandemic, the digital environment became our window to the world. Suddenly, more people could be reached through digital channels than ever before. When planning a product launch during a pandemic, digital channels are a must. 5. What project are you currently working on? Anything we can look forward to?Currently, I'm primarily involved in 2 major projects. One is developing a local delivery market place, and the other is launching a no-code interactive data app development platform. Both are unique and exciting, so I guess it depends where you are and what you are into. 6. What are the biggest challenges you've faced in launching a new product or business?That's a challenging question to answer. I think it really depends on the project. Sometimes it's really difficult to get the first users, but it's important to remain persistent and continue tweaking the approach. Other times, the biggest challenge is discovering you have to change the whole product/service to fit the customer's needs. What's important is to welcome all feedback and make changes on the fly until you find what works best. And even then you'll have to continue tweaking it so it won't get stale. It's a process and a lot of work, but the end goal makes it all worth it. 7. What tools do you use to plan and coordinate a launch?I feel we are all very lucky that the pandemic struck at a time where Zoom, Slack, ClickUp, and Miro are accessible. Imagine this happening 20 years ago when all we had was email, or even prior to the internet. Every launch requires a lot of collaboration and I can't imagine doing what we do without these tools. Miro and Clickup are especially great because they help you visualize and plan out everything. 8. What are you looking forward to in 2021?I think we all focused on hustling in 2020 and some of the amazing projects people were working on are still in the development stage. I'm excited to see them see the light of day, as well as the launch of the project we are working on. I'm also excited for the coming decade. I think we are about to enter a new age of innovation and prosperity, kind of like the Roaring Twenties that came after the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. I think the changes we've faced will result in a socio-economic boom in the coming decade. And I'm excited to witness it and be a part of it. [link] [comments]  |
| How do you manage power plays and nepotism? Posted: 10 Feb 2021 06:00 PM PST I am one rung below C-Level in a growing startup. Recently, due to our growth, we've had a series of needs (e.g. A Marketing person). What I've found is that folks that are invested in the company, or who are on the board, make recommendations to fill those needs very quickly. Normally, I guess I'd appreciate this, but the suggestions are just not good. It's more like they are giving their friend a kickback than they are thinking about the wellbeing of the company. In the example of the marketing person, we're talking about someone recommending a person who 1) has no education in marketing or anything similar and 2) has no portfolio, website or even linkedin, or anything that would justify their claims to being able to do the work. This person now has my personal phone number, and is texting me at 10PM about this contract. And yet, because the recommendation comes from these higher ups, there's an expectation we'll be signing on the dotted line immediately, railroading any efforts we've made towards a normal hiring or procurement process. This isn't an isolated incident - this is a company that has raised millions, and this happens all the time. A C-Level staff hired their sister to do the logo and branding, for example (the result was again, not great). I feel like if the bulk of the investors knew this was going on, they wouldn't approve of this behaviour. It's not like it's even cheaper. If I was a bit lower on the rung, I might just let it go - it's not my company. But at my level, these decisions will inevitably fall on me when they don't go well. Have you been in this situation? How have you handled it? [link] [comments]  |
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