brycedotvc:

It wasn’t long ago that the billion dollar Instagram boys set out to debunk 8 startup myths to a room full of Stanford Mayfield fellows. At the time of this video, the service had about 4 million users. Earlier this week they announced having added that many users in just a matter of days. My how time flies.

But the advice and insights shared here really are timeless. From the “bar exam”; i.e., a test to see whether you’re able to explain your product to a friend in a bar without losing their attention, to the 6ft tall 1 yr. old; ie, scaling up a company before it’s ready or needed, there are some real gems in here. 

As they talk it seems their primary takeaways are to believe in yourself, trust your instincts and build the product that only you can build. But most importantly, just start.

Priceless advice and required weekend viewing.

Source: brycedotvc

I recently connected with Tim Jahn of Entrepreneurs Unplugged (based in Chicago) to catch up. I’ve done a few interviews before with him, but it’d been about a year. Here’s the interview.

Designers Are The New Drivers Of American Entrepreneurialism by Bruce Nussbaum

Great article, shared by Elle Luna, about the increasingly import role of design in startups. We’re seeing this everywhere these days, and it’s an incredibly important theme in the entrepreneurial landscape. A lot of startups start with design now, where before it was an afterthought.

Perhaps the most important dot of all is the one of innovative startups started by entrepreneurs with design degrees or backgrounds—YouTube, Flickr, Slideshare, Tumblr, Airbnb, Slideshare, Vimeo, and Feedburner, and YCombinator. These successful examples have inspired countless design students who want to start their own companies. They see that it can be done.

The way I see it, any outcome for Path is good for entrepreneurship

I’m sure you’ve heard of Path by now. It was founded a while about by an all-star team and been hyped for months and launched last night to a flurry of press. Techcrunch covered them not once, but twice. Mashable. Even the New York Times wrote about them. And there are many more.

But people are bitching, as they generally do. Twitter was, well, a-twitter with people upset about limits, constraints, etc.. This is normal in our industry. But in the end, I think regardless if Path succeeds or fails, the entrepreneurial ecosystem will be better for it.

If they succeed, another great product flourishes in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Value is created for happy users. And a company is born that can grow and employ more people.

If they fail, it shows that even with an all star founding team, incredible investors, and lots of buzz, you are not guaranteed success. This is great news for first time entrepreneurs and anyone who feels like they don’t have the connections to create a hot new startup.

Personally, I’m rooting for them to succeed, like I would any startup. But if they fail, the takeaway is there is no guaranteed success, regardless of your resources.

So everyone should stop criticizing them and instead, go build something cool that people can bitch about.

Source: bmull.posterous.com

My favorite quotes from Do More Faster

A few weeks ago I took a vacation and during the time I was away, set Hootsuite to post quotes from Do More Faster to my twitter account. I got a lot of great feedback and I highly recommend the book to all entrepreneurs (Buy it here).

Here’s the recap of my favorite quotes from the book:

  • “Most [entrepreneurs believe] you have to work constantly in order to succeed. We think you just have to work productively” @domorefaster
  • “Make sure that just after you prepare your restricted stock grants, you get your 83(b) Election signed and filed” @mg in @domorefaster
  • “The costs of converting the LLC into a fundable entity are substantially higher [than S-Corp -> C-Corp]” @bfeld in @domorefaster
  • “always be acting..but be ready to iterate & evolve your thinking if you discover you made the wrong move” @bencasnocha in @domorefaster
  • “If you’re looking to raise capital later, engage .. mentors & investors from the beginning, before fundraising” @nglaros in @domorefaster
  • “Take the time to get [your idea] right & you’ll find that those competitors might not be as close as you think” @dbrown in @domorefaster
  • “When signals suggest that the path you are on is not going to take you where you want to go it is time to pivot” @robhayes in @domorefaster
  • Startups: “be merciless in dealing with big companies..they can be your friends, but they can also destroy you.” @mzeisser in @domorefaster
  • “It’s important to start by building a culture of feedback & measured analytics into your process & organization” @davemcclure/@domorefaster
  • “It’s too easy to think there are 9 things you should be doing when you should really probably be doing only 2 or 3” @dickc in @domorefaster
  • “The best way to test the validity of a business idea..is to start the business & quickly gauge market feedback” @bencasnocha/@domorefaster
  • “Complexity has an inverse effect on the ability to scale your business.” @benhuh in @domorefaster
  • “anecdotes come..before data & it’s important to have [many] of them before you start extracting up to the data layer” @bfeld/@domorefaster
  • “between what a successful team has learned & .. code they have produced, I..take validated learning every time” @ericries in @domorefaster
  • “Especially early on, remember to gather as much data as possible and measure every aspect of your business” @ryan_mcintyre in @domorefaster
  • “One of the most valuable assets an early stage company has is that it is nimble” @arinewman in @domorefaster
  • “Transparent comm. is a hallmark of a great startup culture.. Hard issues are addressed directly, not ignored.” @greggottesman/@domorefaster
  • “the reality is that most people use a particular service because it does one thing really, really well.” - @davidcohen in @domorefaster
  • “focus on quality - not just quantity. And make something that makes you proud (not just your mom)” @andysmith in @domorefaster
  • “Make sure you celebrate the things that matter for the long haul” @robjohnson in @domorefaster
  • “You only truly fail if you stop trying. So fail fast. Learn quickly. & start again.” @shalek in @domorefaster
  • “It is critical to create an environment in every business in which everyone .. is comfortable admitting mistakes” @hsdiamond/@domorefaster
  • “The best entrepreneurs are those who can manage the chaos, focus on what’s important, and find a way to execute efficiently.” @domorefaster
  • “Someone you meet or something that you do might ultimately be able to help you in some completely unexpected way” @davidcohen/@domorefaster
  • “Build the smallest .. product that allows you to test assumptions/answer questions.. & then get it out there.” @stcorbettin @domorefaster
  • “In great startup cultures, everybody is giving everybody else credit. Ideas are [not] judged on the [source].” @greggottesman/@domorefaster
  • “in rapid iteration .. the most important thing isn’t how perfect code is .. but how quickly you can revert” @photomatt in @domorefaster
  • “Continually close the loop when you work with a mentor. Keep them posted on..what you’re doing with their advice” @emilyolson/@domorefaster
  • In mentorship, when value is “derived on both sides the ability for both partners to learn..& grow together multiplies” @micah/@domorefaster
  • “While [it’s hard] to remove a new employee who isn’t working .. better to make a clean break & try again.” @mattblumberg in @domorefaster
  • “The biggest mistake entrepreneurs can make - hiring those less capable than themselves.” @willherman in @domorefaster
  • “every moment you’re working on [your product] without it being in the public arena, it’s actually dying” @photomatt from @domorefaster
  • “The main reasons for co-founder conflict is .. the relationship [was] either ill-defined or misunderstood.” @dharmesh in @domorefaster
  • “If you can’t quit no matter how hard you try, then you have a chance to succeed.” @pistachio in @domorefaster
  • “It’s important to be specific, not just concerning release dates, but also for everything that you commit to doing. @bfeld in @domorefaster
  • “Don’t hide your failures. Wear them as a badge of honor. And most of all, learn from them.” @fredwilson in @domorefaster
  • “Having [a co-founder] to share your burden, walk side by side with you into battle.. is invaluable.” @navvywavvy in @domorefaster
  • “With each iteration in the marketplace, you give yourself a better chance for success.” @shalek in @domorefaster
  • “Small [problems], like a microscopic world, almost always turn out to be bigger than you think when you zoom in” @ev quote in @domorefaster
  • Startups w/ large market it’s “unlikely that you will offend enough people [early] to dampen .. future growth.” @stcorbett in @domorefaster
  • “As long as I listen to my customers, I never need to have another original idea” @nielr1 in @domorefaster
  • “if you’re not embarrassed when you ship your first version, you’ve waited too long.” @photomatt in @domorefaster
  • “if you really pay attention to what your customers love, your path[/product roadmap] becomes obvious” - Darren Crystal in @domorefaster

Source: bmull.posterous.com

Talking about success and entrepreneurship with The Washington Post

I met Alexis Rodich from BandsInTown during CMJ last year. A few weeks ago, she reached out and said she’d started writing for the Washington Post and wanted to ask a few questions about success, moving from Chicago to San Francisco, and ArtistData. Here’s the post.

Source: bmull.posterous.com