Mapping it Out Some More!!

This is part of my Series on Getting from Zero to One.

Last time I encouraged entrepreneurs (especially first-timers) to be orchestral and actually map-out their startup early on.I further recommended that once created this map ought to be printed out and prominently displayed over their workspace so they could refer to it every once in a while during the work day so as to stay focused.

Because of the interest and questions this last post generated, I’ve gone a step further with a more fleshed-out map of a fledgling start-up. Hopefully first-time entrepreneurs may find it to be a helpful template as they create their own maps.

Below you’ll see a template map fleshing out the various ingredients needed to get a startup off the ground. The three legs of the stool are technology, team and money. (I’ve also added a university section (in red) in the event you intend on spinning-out technology from a university’s tech transfer office or venture lab.)

Remember- everyone's map is their own and you should customize it to suit your own needs. 

(Lastly, as the print is quite small on this map, simply click on it and it will open in a separate window)

For the next post in this Series on Getting from Zero to One, click here.

The Hidden Passage: A Succession of Firsts

Littlemonkswithbowls

This is part of my Series on Getting from Zero to One.

Take a look at that map of yours for a moment and let your eye roam around it clockwise: Mentor, Team, Technology/Product, Partnerships/Customers and Funding. Yes they’re all inter-related, one affecting the other to a large extent- but you can’t worry about that now.If you choose well and execute, success in one will often lead to success in another. You have mapped out the big picture, but now it's time for granularity. You will break your company down into its component parts and again ask yourself basic questions such as these:

What is my vision? What has my customer development told me? What minimum viable product will I begin with? Have I found a good mentor? Who is the first person I need on my team? Who my first channel partnership or first customer? What is the minimum funding I need to get through this first stage? Can I provide it or will it need to come from someone else?

You’re after a succession of firsts all at once, nothing more and nothing less.

Initial Idea & Vision, early Customer Development, early MVP, early Mentor, first team member, first customer, first 10 customers, first 20 customers, first funding in, first revenue.... and on and on... each is a major milestone and each should be thrilling to you. Individually these initial steps in each category may seem modest, but when executed in their totality, something absolutely magical happens to your startup. It is something I have marveled at time and time again when I see it occur and I consider it to be one of the great hidden forces at play in the realm of entrepreneurship. Suddenly, as if by some magic spell, the world begins looks at you and your company differently. What has happened here? 

From nothingness you have created Value.

And the delicate needle trembles, moving slowly away from “zero” and tantalizingly close to “one”.The crowd begins to murmur now…. very softly, almost in a whisper…. “zero to one…. zero to one….. zero to one……”

For the next post in this Series on Getting from Zero to One, click HERE

The People

(Photo courtesy of the super-talented Inaki Vinaixa: http://www.inakivinaixa.com)

This is part of my Series on Getting from Zero to One.

Amidst the "succession of firsts" we described in the last post, you sense that it's time to identify team-mates for your startup (whether they be cofounders or not). You've been looking and listening for some time and in the back of your mind you've imagined the sort of people and culture you'd like to cultivate.

And yet you've heard about the 'importance of team' so often by now that it hardly carries much meaning to you in the abstract. In event after event, panel and conference alike, you hear the tired refrain... "It's about the team"... "I only invest in people"... "I favor team over technology", etc.... but by now you think you don't really know what this means.

Actually, deep-down you do know.

• You are looking for mission-oriented, committed and trustworthy people who can operate in massively challenging and adverse conditions. People who are tough and have no quit in them.

• You are looking for enormously talented people with domain expertise that always look to add value first and foremost. People who disdain politics and just get things done.

• It means finding people who are confident in themselves, with enormous energy, with huge appetites for adventure, people who move at a fast pace and never hold things up.

By laying out the affirmative qualities above there is no need anymore to say what these people 'are not'. It is obvious to you by now- you already knew.

You needn't "seek them out" in that when you meet them they will stand out from all others and you will know.

If they see the same qualities in you, you may well have a new team member.

Click here for my next post in this Series on Getting from Zero to One in your startup

Your Customers

This is part of my ongoing Series on Getting from Zero to One.

You have been refining and cultivating your map almost daily by now, pursuing a succession of firsts. The exercise has not been in vain. Steadily you approach the time when you will launch your new business. The early team somehow is materializing. You are readying yourself through preparation, listening, thinking, learning. Your mantra of Vision, Team, Technology/Product continues.... you are iterating on it all in parallel. You have reams of google docs prepared which include your financial model, your potential customers, your potential advisors, partners, investors, team members, product road map, and the like.

But do you really understand your customer and the problem you seek to remedy? How deeply have you examined it? Have you spoken at length with potential customers, partners and experienced hands in this space? What is the competitive landscape? What is your true addressable market and is it substantial enough? What unfair(!) competitive advantage will you be bringing to this space? What makes this venture truly special? Lastly, as Heinemeier-Hansson asks- is it your best idea?

There is no escaping complete immersion in this market in that you must understand its every nuance. You must speak to the actual people who dwell in it every day of their lives and understand what their experiences and challenges are. By doing so you will stress-test your initial assumptions, meet potential customers, partners, founders, team members, and perhaps new friends. You will no doubt find yourself adjusting your model, your map, your strategy. By the time you launch everyone should know you and many of them should be willing to work with you and use your product- it is the only way. Startups are a community activity, not a solitary exercise. Have you familiarized yourself with the work of Steve Blank? Do you deeply understand the art of customer development? Have you read the work of Giff Constable. I recommend you do so now.

You must also know that your first foray into this market will probably not strike the bullseye- so your company must be designed with flexibility in mind, always ready to pivot and iterate until you find the right product/market fit.

So while you consider everything else we have been discussing in getting from Zero to One, remember- all of these considerations are subsumed by the overarching reality of the needs of "the customer". This is the realm in which you will operate and you will always be hyper-attuned and in a never-ending conversation with your customers.

CLICK HERE FOR MY NEXT AND FINAL POST OF THIS SERIES ON GETTING FROM ZERO TO ONE