Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneurs’

Committed entrepreneurs are always strategizing about their startups. Even in their sleep.

They plan the startup’s journey, their exit, and most things in between. Something that is often missed, but also deserves thought and strategy, is the startup’s launch.

How a startup launches can pave the way for its future success or failure.

The following are three launch strategies entrepreneurs might want to consider when launching their web or mobile startup.

1. Niche-first

Facebook did not always have 750 million users. It was once hosted internally at Harvard and only open for use by students of the college. When it dominated that institution by achieving majority adoption, it was opened up to other Ivy League colleges, before the masses like our moms and dads were able to jump on.

By this time, Facebook already had widespread usage, and along the way, it had attracted advocates which led to its aggressive, viral push into the masses.

Whether intended or not, the niche market for Facebook’s launch was College students, who were a captive audience for a social network as they knew their friends and peers were also members.

My guess is that had Facebook’s launch been mainstream-first rather than niche-first, people would have joined at random, and once they noticed their friends were not around, they might have quickly disappeared. Google tried that tactic unsuccessfully with Buzz.

2. Invites only

This seems to be the “in” thing at the moment, and will only work if it comes together with a dramatic amount of ‘buzz’ generated by popular founders, investors, advocates, ambassadors, etcetera.

Google’s latest foray into social with Google Plus is proving far more successful due to the adoption of an invites-only launch, while other startups like Fab.com, Gilt Groupe and Spotify (in the U.S.) have seen millions join as members with this approach.

3. Staged

Staged launches are still very popular, but must have a logical reason. A user must understand why a startup is only part-launching.

This reason could be to allow users to sign up to claim their profile names (vanity URLS) before they are taken as many have done in recent times. Or it could be to fill up a database, which is a launch approach one of our KAYWEB Angels portfolio companies – WhoIsGreen.com – recently adopted.

Eventually, WhoIsGreen.com will be a directory for sustainable businesses, but before launching the search engine, the founders launched their BETA 1 stage, which allowed sustainable businesses to join and add their information so they can appear in the search results.

Entrepreneurs do not have to choose one of the above strategies for launch, but they must think up a launch strategy for their startup. As sampled above, a well-thought-out launch often translates to a successful online business.

Shahed Khan is CEO and Co-founder of Viatask, a pre-launch startup called Viatask. He’s been featured in the Chicago Tribune, Tech Cocktail and more, has been attending every networking event he can, pitching to VCs and—get this—he’s only 16!

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The latest pitching season has just ended at KAYWEB Angels, during which we invited approximately 30 of 200-plus funding applicants to present their ideas in person.

We allowed these individuals and groups 20 minutes to go through their prepared presentations, before firing away with questions from our board members for another 30-40 minutes.

While we have made our selections, I thought I would share some of my key pointers for entrepreneurs and startups preparing to apply for angel or VC funding.

I will not go into grooming details, as one clearly has to be well-presented and eloquent when presenting. My tips are designed to ensure the content of a pitcher’s presentation are adequate in answering key investor questions.

Here is what we need to know to invest in your startup:

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Every business must be solving a problem. Your proposed business must be solving a problem. Whatever that problem is, you must define it clearly from the outset.

HOW ARE YOU SOLVING IT?

You must constantly refer to this problem as you pitch your solution, reminding investors that you are focused on solving your discovered problem.

WHAT IS YOUR MARKET?

Investors typically invest in many different categories, thus we do not know what the capacity of every single market is. You must prove your market case. If it is through third-party studies or surveys you have conducted, validating your market will go a long way to securing investment. Effort in this area will also show investors that you have already engaged with your potential market, which is a big plus.

WHO IS YOUR COMPETITION?

There is almost always competition. You never want the investor suggesting “have you heard of x” or “have you heard of y” as “these guys are doing something similar”. The deeper your knowledge of your competition, the greater an investor’s belief in your capacity to take them on.

WHY ARE YOU BETTER THAN YOUR COMPETITION?

Once identifying your competition, you must define how you are are better than it, or how your product differs from theirs. In some cases, you must also not overlook their capacity to replicate your product once they see it on the market. This must also be addressed if applicable.

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS MODEL?

No serious investor invests unless there is potential to make money. Your business model must clearly show a road to financial success. Monetization, staffing, growth opportunities, exit strategies, etc. must be explored and explained in this section.

WHO ARE YOU?

Advertise yourself, referring particularly to the startup idea at hand. Why are you the best person to steer this business to success? Investors will not invest in your idea if you cannot prove you have the ability to see it through to success, particularly if you are suggesting yourself as CEO.

WHO IS YOUR TEAM?

If you have assembled a team, present their credentials and explain what they each bring to the table. Also reveal what their share is in the business.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Explain what you think you need from the investor, and how you arrived at this conclusion. Be prepared to negotiate if successful.

HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT IT?

Passion is a key ingredient when weighing up whether to invest in an entrepreneur or not. If you are working on a dozen ideas with the hope that one of them will succeed, I don’t want to invest in you – your time, skills and abilities are too divided.

If you show that you are really vested in what you are pitching, by declaring you are leaving your day job or investing your own funds, etc., these are all great signs that will translate into you becoming more investable.

Hope this helps… and happy pitching!

My team of angel investors just made our latest series of investments. We read over 200 submitted applications, witnessed over 20 pitches in person, and made three investments in web and mobile startups which we announced this week.

Every investor will tell you ‘the entrepreneur’ is a key component of any investment decision they make. That they invest in the individual as much as in the idea. Our board thinks similarly, and I am often asked ‘what do you look for in an entrepreneur?’.

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When planning an online or mobile business, founders and co-founders must begin discussing ‘location’ as soon as possible. By location, I particularly refer to the launch and base location(s) of your online or mobile business.

The following are four pointers I suggest you to consider in your startup location discussion:

Firstly, is where you live the best place to launch and base your internet or mobile startup?

If you live in countries with modest populations, like Sweden or Australia for example, and you’ve come up with a business that could have global appeal, you must seriously consider if launching in your home country will be beneficial to your aspirations.

The United States, with a population of 300 million that mostly use the internet and smartphones, might be a better option. For example, Foursquare, launched in New York, would not have had the same appeal if launched in Beirut.

The fact is that there are not as many examples of non-big population launched startups making it big as the other way around.

Secondly, you must consider if launching in a smaller market will leave you vulnerable to predators?

In this industry, we constantly hear that some multi-billionaire startup founder took his/her “inspiration” from another guy who lives in a small village in some unpronounceable country.

If you launch in a smaller market and register some success, others will hear about it and use their considerable resources to establish your idea in a bigger market before you have had a chance to get there yourself.

Thirdly, you must question whether your online or mobile business’ location is the best choice to attract the talent you will need.

If your startup succeeds, as we expect all will , you are going to need talent. Depending on the nature of your startup, you may require Engineers, Business Development personnel, Project Managers, Designers, etc.

It is fact that there are certain hubs where such talent is more fertile than others. For example, I believe Engineering talent is best in Silicon Valley (USA) or some Asian countries (Singapore, Philippines, India, etc.), while some of the best Business Development personnel I have met have been from more cut-throat cities like New York, Los Angeles (USA) and Sydney (Australia).

Finally, and probably most importantly, do investors have preferred locations?

There is a great chance you are going to need money to grow your business. And it is a definite that you are going to want money when you exit your web or mobile business.

Venture Capitalists, Angel Investors and others with money will very likely judge your capacity to service the greatest-possible market for your business when deciding on whether they should or should not invest.

The above should not mean that everyone should launch their web or mobile business in the most populated, capitalist locations. First and foremost, the location has to be right for your business.

But once you have a list of what the right locations for your business could be, my advice is you make sure your capacity to service the largest locations is front-and-center in your planning.

A good entrepreneur is always an optimist by nature. He or she must also be a realist, which is not always a characteristic that comes naturally to us entrepreneurs.

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I was invited to speak to a class of entrepreneurs of the Kauffman Foundation FastTrac program at the SUNY Levin Institute in New York City this month. The topic was ‘the most important lesson I have learnt as an entrepreneur’. My answer was the lesson to ‘know my market’ before launching a venture.

This simple lesson seems obvious, yet subjectivity often clouds common sense, and this results in the important step of market validation being overlooked.

Some entrepreneurs who pitch their startups to us at KAYWEB Angels, or to other investors, believe in their product so deeply that they only ask the questions they have prepared for. Moreso, when we ask further questions to determine validity, they sometimes become defensive and launch offensive answers rather than taking on the points presented by seasoned professionals.

Many use this bias as their metric system, and resolve to spend many dollars and hours developing something that their target group does not take to.

These entrepreneurs, who have usually been rejected by more than one investor along the way, then use face-saving excuses like ‘my product was ahead of its time’ or they blame somebody else when eventual failure occurs.

While there is no sure thing in business, there are ways to be ‘surer’ when entering into a venture.

Market validation, by way of surveys, interviews, panels and meetings, will help you get to understand your audience and know your market.

Information gathered from such activity is priceless. Typically, the people who answer your surveys and influence the end version of your product will become the earliest adopters of it, and your volunteer evangelists.

Moreover, you end up moulding your product to your market’s needs, increasing your chances of success.

I learnt this lesson watching the failures of people close to me and feeling guilt for failing to advise them to test their market before they spent their dollars and our hours. I wish to pass on this very important lesson to any entrepreneur I meet – KNOW YOUR MARKET and be ‘surer’!

The roads to virality of the great internet startups that consume our everyday lives, like Facebook, Twitter and Groupon to name a few, have been less conventional than the roads to a similar result experienced by traditional startup businesses.

These great internet startups have proven that ‘quirkiness’ can replace the billions of marketing dollars spent by traditional businesses to build a brand and cult following.

Quirkiness comes in many forms.

Quirky could be the idea of virtualizing the everyday lives of Ivy League students like Facebook did to attract the majority of Harvard, then other College students before ending up with profiles of 1 in 14 humans living on planet Earth.

Quirky could be enforcing a 140-character limit on status updates like Twitter did before attracting a gigantic user base that includes world leaders, business tycoons and celebrities to its application.

Quirky could be coming up with ‘win-win’ deals with local businesses and spreading them as cleverly-worded coupons to a bargain-hungry audience, like Groupon has done to become a company that rakes in billions of dollars in revenue per year after less than three years in operation.

None of these businesses spent millions of dollars on television ads, bus stop advertising or a Times Square billboard. Planned or not, quirkiness was one of their key means to go viral and attract a critical following of their business. They have built online empires that are today valued at between $10 billion and $100 billion, depending on who you ask.

When starting your online business, plan quirkiness. It is an affordable way to take your business viral and save critical marketing dollars.

When asked in a recent interview with YoungEntrepreneur.com for a piece of advice for young entrepreneurs, I answered “dream big but act lean”. This is critical advice.

Wikipedia defines an entrepreneur as “a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and is accountable for the inherent risks and the outcome”. An entrepreneur is someone who is better served without the shackles that come with a traditional job, without a boss, without top-down imposed key performance indicators, etcetera.

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Credit: freeimagefinder.com

The media is asking and being asked by many: how has Donald Trump become a relevant name in the context of the 2012 Unites States Presidential race? The answer is: they have all been trumped (pardon the pun) by a proven entrepreneur leveraging his influence.

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