Entrepreneurshit. The Truth About Building Startups.

Published on Nov 18, 2015

No Description

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

Entrepreneurshit: The Real Story

Seedcon, November 2012 - Mark Suster, @msuster

Both Sides of the Table

  • Software Developer (Accenture)
  • University of Chicago alum (MBA)
  • 2x Startup CEO/Founder
  • VP Products, Salesforce.com
  • VC at GRP Partners in LA
Photo by fox-orian

So What It's Really Like

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

What You Imagine When You Read TechCrunch

What It Really Feels Like

Photo by reynermedia

How You Imagine You Might Spend Your Days

How You Will Actually Spend Your Days

Raising Money After Y Combinator

Raising Your Money

Founders You Know

Most Founders

Entrepreneurshit: All Joking Aside, It's a Grind

We're All Naked in the Mirror. Don't Think Everybody Else is "Killing It"

So What Does it Take to Succeed?

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

Tenacity

Resiliency

Street smarts

Decisiveness

Ability to pivot (with a small "p")

Inspiration

Perspiration

Risk tolerance

Attention to detail

Competitiveness

Domain experience

Technical DNA

Some Suggestions to Make it Easier

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

Take 50 Coffee Meetings

Create a Sense of Urgency in your business

Ship Product

Manage What You Measure

Triangulate. Ask Lots of Opinions

But In the End You Must Trust Your Own Judgment

Solve Real Problems

On Fund Raising

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

You Need To Meet Investors Early

Otherwise They're Just Judging Your Presentation Skills

When I First Meet you, You're a Dot

Over Time I Start to See a Pattern

And It's Okay if it's Not Always Movie Up.

I Get To See Your Resiliency

Untitled Slide

If Raising Angel/Seed, You Need an Anchor

Photo by Bev Goodwin

If You Show Proof the Rest Will Follow

You Need To Create a Sense of Urgency

Cuz We All Still Act Like We Did in High School

All Too Often FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Drives Deals

Too Many Entrepreneurs Try to Over Optimize

When Markets Turn, Progress Might Not = Valuation

And Some Good Companies Simply Don't Get Funded

So Get As Long of a Runway as You Can (within reason)

And Finally

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

Startups Really Are Roller Coasters

It's Not Glamour Bit If you Love the Game - Have Fun With It

There Will Never Be a Better/Easier Time to Go For It. If Not Now, When?

Q&A

Photo by Bert Kaufmann

Team Haiku Deck

Haiku Deck Premium User