Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Seattle 2.0, and imported to GeekWire as part of our acquisition of Seattle 2.0 and its archival content. For more background, see this post.
By Nathan Parcells
This past Saturday was Startup Day and it was easily the best event I have been to this year as an entrepreneur in Seattle. From the quality of the speakers, to the audience who showed up, to the advising sessions that took place all day long, there was a lot to take in.
Throughout the event there was plenty of disagreement between the various speakers/entrepreneurs proving that even at the top it is important to find mentors who have solved similar problems to the ones you are facing, as there are many different strategies to success. Below are five ideas that got me excited during the event:
It takes 8.7 YEARS to Exit:
Tony Wright emphasized this point. While I knew getting to exit took significant time I thought the average was in the 5 year range. 8.7 years is almost a decade, it is a major period of your life (your entire 20’s or 30’s perhaps), and it ups the stakes of starting a company.
Simply put, 8.7 years is a long haul. If you are thinking you can put the rest of your life on hold while you make it big with your first company, this number should kill that idea. You have to be ready to balance family, friends, work, and health, and frequently be ready to give up some of those things to in order to allow your idea a real chance of success. In addition, I think many first time entrepreneurs assume life gets easier after getting VC funding (or hitting breakeven), unfortunately this is also not the case. Early stage bootstrapping is incredibly tough; however, with another 6 or 7 years to go until an exit, the heat gets turned up, with more investors looking for a return, more user demands, and more opportunities to fail and to come out with little or nothing.
Hierarchy of the 4 best founder types: 1. Backend Coder, 2. Business Guy, 3. UX/Design Developer, and 4. Internet Marketing Pro
On one of his slides, Dave McClure shared his thoughts on founders. I have always recognized the first two founder types as essential but have heard a lot of arguments about who should come next (either as a founder or a 3rd and 4th employee). At first, I wasn’t certain about the UX/Design founder as being more essential then say another backend coder, but thinking about it more, it makes sense. If you have ever read Purple Cow (in my opinion the best Seth Godin mini-book) – you will know we have entered a time period when word of mouth is no longer a 1 to 1 or 1 to 10 type transaction, instead every user is empowered via twitter, facebook, and the deepening social web to share their reactions about a product to hundreds or thousands of peers. More so than ever in the past exceptional products win, and good, but less noteworthy products fail. This means exceptional UX and design can make or break a company and having a talented design coder on founder’s pay can be a significant competitive advantage.
Everyone at Microsoft Wants to Start A Company:
When one of the speakers asked how many people in the crowd were from Microsoft, it was absolutely shocking; over 75% of the hands in the room went up. Microsoft dominated the 400 person crowd.
Vivek Bhaskaran knows hot to bootstrap:
Become the Founder You Need to Be:
Perhaps the most riveting speech was Ben Elowitz’s keynote, where he demonstrated the determination and self-reflection that has helped him raise millions of dollars, and lead large companies through incredible change. A philosophy I believe in, is that it is critical to be transparent and open when starting a company.
However, Ben brought up the need for a CEO and leader to frequently not be themselves. To be a beacon of strength during the roller coaster ride of building a company and take on this burden for the good of employees who are earning a living based on the success of the company. I think many of us start companies so we can do what we want, but the reality that who you need to be is dictated by the needs of your employees was incredibly insightful and true.
Thanks to the Seattle 2.0 team for all the hard work in hosting the event, and to the entrepreneurs and speakers for taking the time to share. It was great meeting everyone on Saturday and hope to see you again next year!
