[LRUG] Startup Timeline

[Paul Robinson]

On 3 March 2014 12:10, MG Lim <mirageglobe at gmail.com> wrote:

I am curious about how things for how ideas move on.... -> panning out to
> projects -> gathering a team and finally to funding rounds?
>


Mistake number 1 I know I made: thinking that entrepreneurship is about
taking an idea and progressing it. This isn't just about software
entrepreneurship but covers everything from inventing a better mousetrap to
opening a pub.

Entrepreneurship is about identifying a market need and coming up with a
solution that fixes it better than the alternatives in the minds of the
customer.

It's a subtle difference, but the change in emphasis is really important.
It is not enough to have an idea and move it on: it needs you to spot a
market need and identify the solution, and then how you discuss that with
stakeholders (including the market) is what actually dictates the movement.

The more obvious the need the more excited people will be about a solution
(and the easier it will be to raise money, recruit, etc.). The more
convincing your solution, the quicker you will be able to go (because
you'll get more more money, more people, etc.).

As a result, detailed planning of almost anything pre-launch is likely
wishful thinking at best.



> More of a general discussion; but what have your experiences been; if you
> have been in that path or part of that path? "I wish I had done that in the
> beginning" moments..
>


I wish I had been considerably more conservative and bearish with my
time/cost estimates on many occasions. On two occasions with hindsight I
allowed stakeholders with insufficient experience to take too much control
(so I got blamed for their fuck-ups), and on one occasion I did not let
them have enough (so they lost passion for what they were doing).



> Marketing hells? Traction problems and in reality, the project took a good
> 3~5 years before media reported it as an overnight success.
>


Actually the reality is after 3-5 years you're probably on the wrong path
and in need of a pivot if you're not seeing growth. Most of the household
names had serious traction in under 18 months.



> PS: particularly with ruby-based frameworks / meteor styled frameworks;
> prototypes are quick to be churned out.
>


There is no doubt that the power of modern frameworks reduces the time to
ship and therefore the cost.

What is harder to swallow for most technologists is that shipping the
product means virtually nothing on its own.

In the same way a marketing team can only get so far with vapourware and
the fact they will eventually need to ship product, an engineering team can
only get so far without some serious marketing talent. Good companies with
strong traction get that way by getting both almost perfect and in harmony.
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