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No Good Time to Let Aspirations and Inspirations Delay

“exit by feature set or by a deadline, but above all, exit” – Intercom’s Des Traynor on launching (exiting) a product.

I’ve been thrilled to hear two entrepreneurs I met with last year take to heart the importance of launching quickly, even if they did not feel “ready”.
In one case, the entrepreneur was building pitch decks trying to get funding on the idea before any development started. No bites for funding, and I finally asked if she believed in the idea enough to fund the initial development herself (and trim scope to MVP). She said yes, funded the initial development, launched, got great traction, and raised a sizable seed round.
In the other case, the entrepreneur needed to believe in her idea more, and share her product. She needed to share her story. With a few connections, she’s gone viral, and has been getting great traction, great mentoring and advisement… doors are now opening easily for her.  
Then, I run into the occasional wantrepreneur or idealist who claims to want to start something so bad, and then spins wheels on trying to make things “perfect”.
The funny thing about perfect is that there can be no improvement. It’s already the best. That is the very definition of perfect. The problem is that “perfect” doesn’t exist… and while chasing perfect, “good enough” or “great start” don’t occur.
First-time entrepreneurs struggle hard at this concept as they enter this new world full of energy, passion, and vision of “what should be” rather than “what could be”.  
Today is too fast-paced to “reach perfection” as we are constantly evolving – improving or otherwise, we change too often. Our perspectives, our desires, they all change. So what lofty visions we aim for and try to build before launching will ultimately delay our ability to launch, test, learn, and iterate towards a reality that evolves.
Invest today, launch sooner rather than later, and iterate while on your journey. Rare is it that your journey requires so much investment, so little room for error that you can’t give it a go now.
Like Des said – define a line to launch, and launch. Don’t sit there dreaming and moving the line farther. There’s simply no good time to let aspirations and inspirations delay.
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My Favorite Tips from Sam Altman’s Startup Playbook

Screenshot from http://techcrunch.com/gallery/y-combinator-startup-playbook/slide/42/
Last week, TechCrunchpublished 62 Tips from Y Combinator’s Startup Instruction Manual. It was written by YC’s President Sam Altman with some good quotes to ponder when doing a startup. I wanted to share my favorite Altmanisms:
  • “Today’s successful companies all started with a product that their early users loved so much they told other people about it. If you fail to do this, you will fail.”
  • “The fast you can develop self-belief and not get dragged down by haters, the better off you’ll be. No matter how successful you are, the haters will never go away.”
  • “The best ideas sound bad but are in fact good. So you don’t need to be too secretive with your idea – if it’s actually a good idea, it likely won’t sound like it’s worth stealing.”
  • “Founder need both rigidity and flexibility. You want to have strong beliefs about the core of the company and its mission, but still be willing to learn new things when it comes to almost everything else.”
  • “If you have a pre-existing relationship with your cofounders, none of you will want to let the other down and you’ll keep going. Cofounder breakups are one of the leading causes of death for early startups.”
  • “You want to start with something very simple – as little surface area as possible – and launch it sooner than you’d think.”
  • “You should not put anyone between the founders and the users for as long as possible – that means the founders need to do sales, customer support, etc.”
  • “Don’t fool yourself with vanity metrics. The common mistake here is to focus on signups and ignore retention. But retention is as important to growth as new user acquisition.”
  • “Find ways to get 90% of the value with 10% of the effort. The market doesn’t care how hard you work.”
  • “No first-time founder knows what he or she is doing. Ask for help and you’ll be better off. Find a mentor.”
  • “A successful startup takes a very long time – much longer than most founders think. You cannot treat it as an all-nighter. You have to eat well, sleep well, exercise, and spend time with your family and friends.”
  • “Competitors are a startup ghost story. First-time founders think they are what kill 99% of startups. But 99% of startups die from suicide, not murder.”
  • “The first check is the hardest to get, so focus your energies on getting that, which usually means focusing your attention on whoever loves you the most.”
  • “The key to being good at pitching is to make your story as clear as possible: mission, problem, product/ service, business model, team, market and market growth rate, and financials.”

What are some of your favorite tips from Sam or others? Any particular reasons?

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The Win or Lose Game of the App Stores… Mostly Lose

Pages and Pages of Apps – but which did I pay for? (You win if you answer, “None”.)
I’ve been reading a lot of articles and talking to a few entrepreneurs lately, and the themes are very similar – today’s tech businesses are rarely successful… only the platforms win in the long-run. That is, platforms like Salesforce, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SAP, etc. This isn’t contrary to what “Who’s poised to profit in this fragmented, online dating world of startups?” back from March.
TechCrunch posted yesterday “The Majority Of Today’s App Businesses Are Not Sustainable”. In it, the article talks about:
  • 50% of iOS developers operate at $500 per month (per app). That’s 64% for Android developers
  • 1.6% of developers make more than $500K per month

There’s obviously a lot more in the article. It’s interesting, though, because you have to wonder how many of these apps they deem as “Have Nothings” or otherwise are not revenues from the app store itself (vis-à-vis selling the app), but instead, on a subscription model or otherwise on the backend not necessarily privy to TechCrunch’s article.
You can see the large disparities of the app revenues between iOS and Android
Further, the article does address how many apps are potentially hobbies for developers or even first-time apps letting developers practice and get their feet wet. From this standpoint, it’s also easier to see why in the article, monetarily, iOS dominates as a percentage. Pushing out MVPs or ideas on Android is simple and easy. iOS apps require a heck of a lot more curation before being published on the iTunes store. There are guidelines around styles (what kind of font, where to place buttons, etc.) in addition to things like having a Dun & Bradstreet Number that must be provided and adhered to before publishing on iTunes.
Then again, iOS buyers tend to be higher earners anyways. So… there’s that, too.

What’s your exit strategy?

TechCrunch goes on to talk about how most startups these days are really looking to be acquired rather than build sustained businesses. I can see that, too. Everyone’s always talking about liquidity events. “What’s your exit strategy?” is one of the most common questions you’ll get asked as an entrepreneur. Afterall, investors are looking for returns on their funds, not necessarily to “change the world” as so many say they want to.
What are your thoughts on the success on the app stores? How would you describe the disparities between the litany of apps for success and otherwise?
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