Start Up Quick Tips
Quick Tips :
* Should you go for venture capital money? First build a product, then get a customer, then get friends-and-family money (or money from revenues, which is cheapest of all), and then think about raising money. But only then. Don’t be an amateur.
* Should you patent your idea? Get customers first. Patent later. Don’t talk to lawyers until the last possible moment.
* Should you require venture capitalists to sign NDAs? No. Nobody is going to steal your idea.
* How much equity should you give a partner? Divide things up into these categories: manages the company; raises the money; had the idea; brings in the revenues; built the product (or performs the services). Divide up in equal portions.
* What if nobody seems to be buying your product? Then change to a service and do whatever anyone is willing to pay for using the skills you developed while making your product.
* How do you get new clients? The best new clients are old clients. Always offer new services. Think every day of new services to offer old clients.
* What’s the best thing to do for a new client? Over-deliver for the first 100 days. Then you will never lose them.
* Should I pay taxes? No. You should always reinvest your money and operate at a loss.
* Should I ever worry about the news or the economy? Absolutely not. The best businesses are started in horrible economies.
* Should I do social media marketing? No.
* Should I blog? Yes. You must. Blog about everything going wrong in your industry. Blog personal stories that you think will scare away customers. They won’t. Customers will be attracted to honesty.
* My client called at 3 a.m. Should I tell him to respect boundaries? No. You no longer have any boundaries.