a guide to working with startups at the media kitchen
DESCRIPTION
We like to think we bridge Madison Avenue and Silicon Alley/Valley here at The Media Kitchen. We are attracted to innovative, inventive and entrepreneurial companies and have been working with hundreds, if not thousands over the years. There are some very important lessons we have learned and wanted to share them in this document. Much of the deck is a "talking" deck, meaning it was presented to the agency by Darren Herman in October 2013, so some slides have no words. Contact us for more context around the slides.TRANSCRIPT
HOW TO WORK WITH STARTUPS& WHY IT MATTERS
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WHAT IS A STARTUP?
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A 'startup' is a company that is confused about --1.What its product is,2.Who its customers are.3.How to make money.
As soon as it figures out all 3 things, it ceases to be a startup and then becomes a real business.
Except most times, that doesn't happen.
DAVE MCCLURE VIA QUIBB
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STEVE BLANK VIA QUIBB
A startup is a temporary organization used to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
"Temporary" is emphasized because a startup's goal is to cease being a startup, to graduate up to being a large business or to fail and move on to another opportunity. An early stage venture that isn't capable of this type of rapid scale-up is a small business, not a startup.
I also emphasized the verb to "search" because it is a key distinction from small and large businesses that operate in mature markets. These businesses execute known business models while a startup searches for an unknown business model - in order to disrupt existing markets or even create knew ones.
You use very different techniques to search effectively and efficiently for something unknown than you do to execute something that is already known.
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FOUNDER(S)SMALL TEAMTECH BASED
VENTURE CAPITAL
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ven·ture cap·i·tal
noun
1.capital invested in a project in which there is a substantial element of risk, typically a new or expanding business.
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THESE COMPANIES ARE NO LONGER STARTUPS
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WHY STARTUPS
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WHY STARTUPS
INNOVATIONINVENTIONCREATION
ENTREPRENEURIALNO BOUNDARIES
BIG IDEAS
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88 TIPS FOR WORKING WITH STARTUPS
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1WORKING WITH INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IS NOT EASY
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1WORKING WITH INNOVATIVE COMPANIES IS NOT EASY
YOUNG, IDEALISTIC, NON-PROCESS ORIENTED, PERSONNEL
CONSTRAINED
UNDERSTAND THIS. DON’T TRY PUTTING A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND
HOLE. BE OPEN.
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2YOUR PRODUCT IDEA IS NOT ON THEIR ROADMAP
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2YOUR PRODUCT IDEA IS NOT ON THEIR ROADMAP
SELLING YOUR IDEA TO A STARTUP
CONSTRUCT A BRIEF DOCUMENT THAT WILL OUTLINE EXACTLY WHAT
YOU WANT FROM THE STARTUP.
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3EXECUTION TIMELINES
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3EXECUTION TIMELINES
TAKE THEIRS AND MULTIPLY BY 3
MAKE SURE YOU BUILD ENOUGH PADDING INTO YOUR TIMELINES.
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4RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
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4RELATIONSHIPS MATTER
HAVE YOU TRIED CONTACTING A “HOT” STARTUP?
START BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH VENTURE CAPITALISTS AS
THEY ARE YOUR ACCESS POINT FOR STARTUPS
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5BE NICE.
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5BE + PLAY NICE.
YOU MIGHT BE WRITING A CHECK, BUT THERE ARE
PROBABLY 10 OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT TO AS WELL.
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6NOT EVERYONE IS ENTREPRENEURIAL.
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6NOT EVERYONE IS ENTREPRENEURIAL.
DON’T SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT.
FIND THOSE WHO ARE AND GIVE THEM THE TOOLS TO SUCCEED.
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7FEEDBACK CAN BE TRANSFORMATIONAL.
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7FEEDBACK CAN BE TRANSFORMATIONAL.
PROVIDING STARTUPS WITH CONSTANT FEEDBACK
ULTIMATELY HELPS THEM SUCCEED.
PROVIDE HONEST AND THOUGHTFUL FEEDBACK AS TO WHY OR WHY NOT
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8VISIONARY THINKERS
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8VISIONARY THINKERS
SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND A VISIONARY
IDEA
CHALLENGE YOUR STAFF CONSISTENTLY WITH BIG IDEAS.
STRETCHING THE MIND HELPS GET TO BIG IDEAS.
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FURTHER READING.....
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IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT, GET
ONE TODAY. MANDATORY.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TWEET, BUT LEARN HOW TO
CONSUME CONTENT ON THE FEED.
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@davemcclure @MikeBrownJr @chrisfralic @garyvee
@boughb @ganeumann @ceonyc @caro
FOLLOW @
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THE MEDIA KITCHENWWW.MEDIAKITCHEN.TV
@THEMEDIAKITCHEN
PRESENTED BY DARREN HERMAN, CHIEF DIGITAL MEDIA OFFICER @DHERMAN76OCTOBER 2013
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