#swsoa @andreasklinger

Sh*t
I wish
Id known
before.
Startup
Lessons Learned.
Andreas Klinger
CWTFO of LOOKK.com
@andreasklinger
#swsoa
Slides: http://slideshare.net/andreasklinger
I am one of the Co-Founders
of a Fashion Startup called
LOOKK.com
Doing Startups since 2008
Previously Garmz.com
Mentor @ Seedcamp.
LeanCamp Evangelist.
LOOKK = Network to help
emerging fashion designers to
get to market.
* reach a larger audience
* build relationships
* monetize
(Think community + shop)
INVESTORS
Carmen Busquets
Dave McClure
Eden Ventures
Sherry Coutu
Tom Hulme
Seedcamp
500 Startups
TEAM (11 fulltime)
Tamas Locher
Andreas Klinger
Gilbert Wedam
Simone Ospelt
Katy Richardson
Tammy Ksseibiova
Stefan Kanev
Radoslav Stankov
Veselin Todorov
Anguel Lazarov
Plamen Stoev
>
INVESTORS
Carmen Busquets
Dave McClure
Eden Ventures
Sherry Coutu
Tom Hulme
Seedcamp
500 Startups
TEAM (11 fulltime)
Tamas Locher
Andreas Klinger
Gilbert Wedam
Simone Ospelt
Katy Richardson
Tammy Ksseibiova
Stefan Kanev
Veselin Todorov
Radoslav Stankov
Anguel Lazarov
Plamen Stoev
>
Half the team in Soa.
Stefan Kanev
Veselin Todorov
Radoslav Stankov
Anguel Lazarov
Plamen Stoev
Hackerspace
INITLAB.org
>
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Sh*t
I wish
Id known
before.
Startup
Lessons Learned.
Who wants
to start
a startup?
(or is currently in his rst)
Who wants
to start
a startup?
(or is currently in his rst)
yay!
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Lessons
Learned
Europe
What do you see here?
What do you see here?
EUROPE.
What do you see here?
What do you see here?
EUROPE + useless rectangle.
Avoid the typical mistake:
Dont be local
Lesson: Dont restrict yourself
to useless rectangles called borders.
Go London
Go New York
Go Silicon Valley
Most important: Go Online
(Blog, OpenSource, Twitter)
Lesson: Build international network and
reputation.
Being local in Austria
Avoid the typical mistake:
Dont be local
Lesson: Dont restrict yourself
to useless rectangles called borders.
Go London
Go New York
Go Silicon Valley
Most important: Go Online
(Blog, OpenSource, Twitter)
Lesson: Build international network and
reputation.
Best example - this location
Being local in Austria
Adel Zakout
www.openbuildings.com
Avoid the typical mistake:
Dont be local
No local legal entities.
GmbH, SARL, OOD, DOO, LTDa, A, BVO,
Sp. Zoo, SRO, TAA or OOO
Otherwise: Extra legal costs, worse Investor
interest, Suboptimal exits.
Mark my words: You will ip the company
and it will cost you loads of money.
Lesson: Incorporate UK LTD or US INC right
from the start.
No local state funds.
State funds are usually made for SMEs.
You will try to compromise all the time that
will slow you down.
Lesson: Read above.
Being local in Austria
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Lessons
Learned
Stages of
Startups
Startups have di!erent stages.
In which di!erent actions are needed.
Read: The Startup Owners Manual - Steve Blank
Or: Custdev.com by Patrick Vlaskovits and Brant Cooper
Source: Custdev.com
Startups have di!erent stages.
Each stage: Di!erent challenges.
Read: Startup Genome Report by Bjoern Herrmann and Max Marmer
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Startups have di!erent stages.
#1 Mistake by all (70%) founders:
Following the patterns of startups in later stages.
Read: http://prezi.com/nfvyxijdmj7v/startup-lifecycle-by-fred-destin/ (!!!)
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Usually the main challenge:
the hard part is nding the right problem
to solve. - Kevin Systrom, Instagram
(Which includes nding the customer)
Lesson: Focus on Customer->Problem->Solution
Watch: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2738
Read: http://www.slideshare.net/saintsal/000-custdev-robtz
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Lessons
Learned
Investors
Dont worry about Investment
until traction.
The job of low-level employees at VCs is it to keep
contact with you (email, call, interest, meet).
They are their radar. Talking aint talking.
Lesson: Have a we dont fundraise attitude until you
have validated your customer demand with actual
traction.
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Dont worry about Investment
until traction.
The job of low-level employees at VCs is it to keep
contact with you (email, call, interest, meet).
They are their radar. Talking aint talking.
Lesson: Have a we dont fundraise attitude until you
have validated your customer demand with actual
traction.
Exception: Look for domain expert advisors
that can become angels.
Exception: If you are rst time entrepreneur
get experience in via incubators and accelerators.
Read: http://andrewchenblog.com/2011/06/21/video-
the-anatomy-of-a-fundable-startup-by-naval-
ravikant-of-angellist/
Whitebear
Yard.
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Source: Custdev.com
Incubators,
Angels
Seed investors,
Angels
VC Investors
You,
FFF
Focus on raising when you have traction in your stage.
Not earlier.
In general: Try not to raise if you dont need to. (Builds up interest)
Source: Custdev.com
Dont try to poker too much - play along these values - or you will waste time:
<- After Problem/Solution Fit
Read: http://www.slideshare.net/dmc500hats/silicon-valley-20-lean-startup-lean-vc-12956096
Remember: Its more about the people you can get into your
team (angels) and time you dont waste on fundraising. Than
optimizing your funding.
Expect 5-15% equity for the incubator round
And 20-25% for Seed and VC rounds.
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Lesson
Learned
Your Team
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Teams
Single Founders
can do discovery and validation stage
alone. Mid/Long term they will be too
slow.
Vesting
should always be used.
Vesting = you get your shares over time not
all when you join. Thus when you leave
you dont take 25% of your company with
you.
Read: http://blog.simeonov.com/2010/04/25/
founder-agreements-vesting/
Balanced Teams
Balanced (Tech/Biz) Founding Teams
have had more user growth[] - Startup
but more founders => more insecure decisions.
One founder alone is too slow
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Lessons
Learned
Your Product
Never plan further than
you can throw
You assumptions
and therefore your plans
are usually wrong.
You cant parallelise your rollout
plan. You cant already work ahead.
You wont launch in one month.
Images: A guy who wants to rebuild
Spaceship Enterprise
Project Plan Timeline: 20 years.
Dude
Still: He is less crazy than most founders i met.
Fuck your additional features.
Fuck your engineering.
Ship crap to learn gold.
Dont try to push product by adding
features or get ready to scale.
Lesson: Validate your assumptions
earlier by shipping earlier.
Read: http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/
2009/08/minimum-viable-product-
guide.html
Read: The Lean Startup - Eric Ries
What is the core of your
solution?
Example: Bu!erapp.com linked their
payment button to an 500-error page
until people complained.
Lesson: Try to focus only on the core of
your solution.
Read: http://blog.bu!erapp.com/idea-
to-paying-customers-in-7-weeks-how-
we-did-it
Source: Googe Images & Bu!erapp.com
Founders always think
they are further along.
They try to push user growth
articially (Sales, marketing).
Instead: Create personal relationships
(to learn more) not bulk acquisition/sales
operation.
Lesson: You need 1->10->100 customers.
Lesson: Focus on retention not
acquisition.
Read: http://www.ashmaurya.com/
2011/10/the-10x-product-launch/
Source: Startup Genome Project Report
Startups that behave inconsistent with their
stage accelerate short term through aggressive
user acquisition but lose long term.
Sh*t needs time.
But you see if you are on the right track early.
Read: The Startup Genome Project Report
Source: Startup Genome Project & Custdev.com
5-7 Months 3-5 Months 5-6 Months 7-9 Months
#swsoa @andreasklinger
Your Goal
for
Startup
Weekend
Soa
Source: Startup Genome Project & Custdev.com
Do this - in instead of 5-7 months -
Source: Startup Genome Project & Custdev.com
Do this - in instead of 5-7 months -
in 2 days.
Source: Startup Genome Project & Custdev.com
Do this - in instead of 5-7 months -
in 2 days.
SWSoa Tasks Cheatlist:
* Find a problem
* Have 5 customers with this problem
* Write down your potential solution
* (Customer -Problem-Solution)
* Call your 5 customers tonight
* Ask them if it is the right solution
* Ask about the problems
* Dont sell
* Improve your solution
* Write down your improved solution
* (Customer -Problem-Solution)
* Build the solution
* Make them use it
* Always improve as early as possible
* Do Magic
* Survive
* Win
@andreasklinger
http://slideshare.net/andreasklinger
Thanks
for listening :)
(Sorry for being overtime)
More to read:
http://www.klinger.io