So, you want to build a start-up. Why? What? How?

Off topic: I’ve been delaying my posts as I wait for Blogvio to launch. I don’t want to start posting content (video, audio, images, charts and stuff) with the current state of the technology, so I’m sorry for keeping you waiting while we advance it! :-)

The Why

So, you want to build a start-up. Why?

Do YOU have a problem now? Are you sure – and by that I mean, isn’t there an alternative, although not so trivial, but good enough?

Would YOU pay someone if they came up with a solution for this problem? Be honest about it. Most startups fail because of failing to answer this simple question: why? If it’s about making money, trust me, the reality is that you will loose money. If it’s about being independent, working for yourself, and the like, these are only buzz words – and an entire industry is being built around this type of false thinking (it’s called motivational speeches, drives people to suicide, or to question sanity when not being able to keep up). The truth is, you will be working many more hours than you’d expect, and earning much less than you would expect. So set your expectations right, because this thing can play with your mind, and it isn’t for everyone. Serendipity has an important role, and it’s the reason why most tech companies are still built in USA. And it’s the reason some startups that are built in Europe succeed.

The alternative is, for most people, the right way to go: being part of a team that works on something bigger than every individual in it. And if you can grow in the startup you’re involved in, doing what you love, that should be a great outcome for you.

Otherwise, if you have a good answer for the why question, and you did a reality check, in couple of years – if you don’t fail – the team working on your startup will be doing exactly the same thing: building something bigger than everyone involved. But you’d be doing something different than what you are doing now as well. So I wanted to write some about that.

The What

So, you want to build a start-up. What should you learn?

I wanted to share a bit about SOME of the stuff one needs to learn when working on building a start-up. I’ll try to keep this list up to date. If you don’t like to read, and don’t spend at least 20 – 30 hours reading every week, you’ve got a long way to go, until you do spend that amount of time getting smart about your money and time. There’s no way around this.

The good news is that you can find the information you need on the Internet, and these resources are free. So your browser should look like this.

At any time, I have 40 to 60 tabs opened. I became so good at this that I’m skimming content and figuring out in the title of a story if there’s anything important related to our product. I’m usually spending months (or years) gathering materials, doing market research, analyzing competition, iterating on each idea, and so forth – to properly adapt and ready a concept, before being able to answer the Why?. See this post in 2009 about Blogvio. It’s 2013 now.  If I’m lucky, I figure out in time that an idea was dumb.

Assuming you have the money problem solved (tens of thousands at least), and the idea you plan to go with engraved in your head, I’ll cover some of this stuff. What will you do as a web entrepreneur?

1. First, you will read a lot. If you don’t read, you will fail. This doesn’t apply to serial entrepreneurs as much, cause they’ve got their base most probably already in place. But if it’s your first real startup, and you don’t know what net promoter, growth hacking, transactional emails, search strategy, user activation, user happiness, product roadmap, key performance indicators, churn rate, press release, product market fit, scrum, private beta, vc, angels, heatmaps, value proposition, sign-up funnel, conversion rates, web stack, product owner mean, than do your reading. You should also know Paul Graham, TechCrunch, and most of the guys here. I will not list everything you need to know, or everyone you need to know. But the list is quite long.
2. Engineering – I wouldn’t say it’s necessary to go in depth with technology, but when the awesome guys that are part of your team talk with you about your web stack, than you should be able to not only understand the subject, but have an informed opinion about the technologies used to build your product, and be able to work together with your team to find the best possible tools for the product you’re building. And this is true for mobile nowadays as well.
3. Design – again, you don’t necessarily have to do the design yourself. But if you have the vision for your product, it’s important to have an eye for design as well. And don’t think design means layout. It’s what your users see, experience and feel, when using your product.
4. Marketing – A lot to read about. Start here.
5. Research – know and use Evernote, Instapaper, Quora, LinkedIn, Twitter, a Feed Reader, Little Snapper, Screenr. I mean it, each of these tools is invaluable. These are for research alone. And when I say Feed Reader, I mean hundreds of blogs. You’ll figure them out by reading.
6. Sales / Business Development – you need to grow your startup.
7. Get fit – or better said, don’t be lazy. Your mind is really going through a roller coaster, as I’m sure you’ve read. Your body needs to help you be at your best. I’m swimming, running, cycling, going to the gym, sauna, fencing, working out in the morning (reps of 100 abs, 50 pushups), eating healthy. I wasn’t doing this before, but I can’t put 12 – 15 hours of work daily if I don’t do this now. Why is this something you need to learn? Because it’s a lot to read in order to do the right things. Calories isn’t everything.
8. Being a good communicator. You need to pitch your product, you need to communicate your vision, you need to work with people.
9. Being an editor – you will say yes and no a lot. To product features and to people as well. Be simple and direct.
10. Finance / Monetization. You are creating a business. You need to learn the ins and outs of it.
11. Copywriting – it’s important to choose your words wisely.
12. Networking – you need to connect with people outside of your comfort zone. Often.

The How

So, you want to build a start-up. How to start?

You’re probably wondering how to find the great idea that sticks, that is your destiny to build. My answer is I don’t know. It’s about living your life and being open to experiencing different things. This way you might encounter many problems, and someday, the problem that might be worth your time, years of your life, and money. At least that’s how I came up with all the products we’re working on. All of them are problems I encountered while living my life. If it doesn’t happen to you, it’s okay. Being part of a team that works on solving these problems isn’t much different than being part of a team that solves the problems you came across. Same thing, but a different you.

Again, I don’t think startups are for everyone, and I don’t see it as a better alternative necessarily. It’s just happens, or it doesn’t. Remember, it’s almost impossible to fail at doing what you love, as part of a team, but failing is the highest possibility if you pick the start-up route.