Monday, October 01, 2007

Top 12 start-up tips

David Cohen has the following tips for start-ups:

The twelve major tips are:

  1. Be the best in the world at something.
  2. Find and engage great mentors.
  3. Listen more than you talk.
  4. Accept that your ideas are likely to be wrong.
  5. Be picky.
  6. Scratch your own itch.
  7. Obsess over core metrics.
  8. Be tiny.
  9. Get it out there.
  10. Prove the market.
  11. Sprint early and often.
  12. Get up from your computer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Sir,
I appreciate the thinking and the steps which you are trying for start up Entrepreneurs & Innovators. This can only change the economy of the country and keep it at a sustainable growth with not much effecting with the variation in the inflations rate.
1. Be the best in the world at something.
To starting and making it in world competitive with the best one is not the main motive, the moto should be what best to best we can come out not till my pilot phase but till the end of manufacturing and moving it to the consumers. If my product is unique but not add any value to the consumers then the innovation or IPR don’t have any valuations according to me.
2. Find and engage great mentors.
Still for our country is in the phase where people become selfish in the initial stages (whether it is a mentor or advisors or start ups ) and breaks all the plans and norms in the initial stage because as per me Position/Authority/Financial expectation increases in exponential rate and team gone through in break up.
3. Listen more than you talk.
Its true a good listener can only become a good speaker in future.
4. Accept that your ideas are likely to be wrong.
I fully contradict the word any Entrepreneur is if starting or thinking for any idea its depends upon the founders ability and thing with his passion. No one can move to still thinking of that extent where the entrepreneur is thinking, the business model may be new or idea may be new but the it can’t be a wrong idea. The idea should refine with the feedback from the market, clients and mentors and should move forward it again.
5. Be picky.
Its is true start up should always picky but selective in picking the words, ideas, concepts with reference to his ability and position.
6. Scratch your own itch.
7. Obsess over core metrics.
It is again true the main focus for the core matrix it will take a lots of time to out come some result still that stage we have also to think over some other sub matrix which will sustain him till the core matrix comes true.
8. Be tiny.
9. Get it out there.
10. Prove the market.
Putting out in market is not so easy as per me , it needs a platforms where and when we have to put it and which can give a good feedback result, big fish are always in search to take over the small fish by many means. Even the platform is a big thing. For today for a start up company have to be conservative in promotion as for finance and they think we can design and develops a new product and idea with that fund it self because good knows will my product promotions will get some bucks from there or not?

11. Sprint early and often.
Sprinters are always short distance runners and once they run they have to take a long break after that. For me a strat up should think like a marathon runner and within the running he will get many chances to restructure and refresh his idea time by time. In sprint you don’t get any chance only start-end is our destination if for sake any stage you make any mistake you will not get a chance to revive it.
12. Get up from your computer.

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All the comments may be wrong it is just my own idea.