The mythical startup: all together now

By Rowan Simpson, May 19, 2011 @ 8:22 am

“Success is throwing yourself at failure and missing”
–Richard Taylor, Weta Workshop

So, in summary:

1. Build a team—probably generalists to begin with.
2. Choose carefully. You need co-founders and investors who will stick around and help you push it along when (not if!) the going gets tough.
3. Prepare for lots of the initial assumptions you make to be wrong.
4. Listen carefully and respond quickly with changes where needed.
5. Be brave and talk to everybody who can help you shape the idea.
6. Spend your limited time and money on increasing the chances that you’ll actually succeed, rather than wasting them on preparing for success which may never eventuate.
7. Work out what actually fuels your growth and how to tell your story in a way that spreads.
8. Build a business that makes money.
9. Be realistic about the value of what you’ve created, and honest with those that you’re bringing along for the ride.
10. Have the right end in mind.
11. Get started!

This series of posts expands on ‘The Mythical Startup’ in Idealog #33

One Man Band
Eureka
Inventor In A Shed
The Firehose
Pinch Me!
Mojito Island
All Together Now

It is also cross-posted on Rowan Simpson’s blog

When you describe a startup like this it doesn’t sound at all like a fairytale. But better, I think, that you go into this sort of thing with your eyes open.

Good luck!