If I Were to Start Over, What Would I do Differently - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

If I Were to Start Over, What Would I do Differently - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Nothing can take the place of experience, but there have been a few hurdles that Ive experienced in my startup career that Id love for others to avoid.  A startup career is not a sprint, rather, its a slow and steady race on an  obscure,  unforeseen  path. The less obstacles that you run into, the easier the race will be. Lets dodge some of those obstacles! Dont build a business plan We spent 3 months building a 30-page business plan for our first startup!  3 months!!!  I can tell you that not only was it a humongous waste of time, but investors dont even look at business plans at least the legitimate ones with startup experience dont. Instead of a business plan, build a 1-page executive summary.  Include the following on the executive summary: Founders + relevant experience Company product description Pain youre solving Competitors in the market Why your product is different Market opportunity Milestones achieved How much youre looking to raise Dont spend weeks on your financial projects all VCs understand that these numbers are completely made up. Instead, focus on cost projections so that VCs understand how you plan to spend their money. Too many cooks in the kitchen Its important to have smart people in the company, but too many cooks in the kitchen can greatly slow decision-making and create conflicts among the leadership. The leaders of each department should have the authority to make decisions for their respective departments. For example, the Chief Product Officer decides what language to use to build the product; the Chief Marketing Officer decides what methods to use to get new clientele. But above all of the departments, the CEO has the ultimate decision about company direction. Choosing whether to sponsor Blog World vs SXSW is not a company direction decision thats a decision for the CMO. Company direction decisions consist of the following: What pain is the company solving How is the company solving this pain Who is the target market How much money should the company raise Is it time for the company to pivot and in what direction to pivot the company Company team members must respect the CEO and trust that he or she will take the team to the promise land. Its important to get feedback from all  departments, but CEO must have unwavering confidence to make the ultimate decision. Dont depend on funding Youre in trouble if you depend on fundraising to build your minimal viable product.  Fundraising should NOT be your primary means to build your product; instead, fundraising is a means to scale your business thats a huge difference in fundraising mentality. The mistake: our first company, Future Delivery, was dependent on us raising $10 million to get us started. We needed money to hire developers, designers, and to get clients. How can we raise money with no traction? Our success: my company bootstrapped our way to a functional product, clients, and revenue, and then decided to raise $1 million to scale the company. We raised money because investors saw traction and wanted to jumpstart our progress. Stick to what youre good at Answer the following questions: What are you and your team the best in the world at? What networks are you and your team already connected to? The answer to these questions will greatly influence what type of startup you build, what pain you choose to solve, and who your target market will be. If you dont have a technical co-founder, then youre at a serious disadvantage if you build an internet startup.  So much time and money is wasted on recruiting a technical co-founder or building a product with outsourced developers dont do it.  If youre a business-focused  entrepreneur  with no technical guy on the team, then youll need to tackle a pain where the solution is not technical. Similarly, if you dont have a vast network in the high-fashion industry, then youre at a serious disadvantage should you make them your target market.  Instead of selling to your target market from the start, youll need to spend months building relationships and getting connected to the right people. Networking and relationship-building takes time, and time wasted means cash is burning, reducing your available runway. Instead, go after networks that youre already connected to.  Its the best way to find your early adopters. Author: Jun Loayza is the President of the Fashion Blogger Network.  In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levis, LG, and Activision.