how to run a scrappy startup

Rashmi Sinha,CEO & Cofounder, SlideShare

How to run a scrappy How to run a scrappy startupstartup

Who am I?Who am I?

SlideShare... SlideShare... best place in the world to share presentations

Taking over the Taking over the world (one world (one PowerPoint at a PowerPoint at a time!)time!)

Start: May 06 > Beta > Launch Oct 06 > Grow > Grow more > Angel funding Dec 07 > Series A Apr 08

How to run a How to run a scrappy startupscrappy startup

•OR how to make the most of the money you have•OR How to build the best product with little money

1. Keep your 1. Keep your day job till your day job till your idea has legsidea has legs

•MindCanvas to SlideShare

Start from top Start from top in being in being scrappyscrappy

The lower the CEO salary, The lower the CEO salary, the more likely it is to the more likely it is to succeed succeed …it goes to whether the mission …it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks. just collect paychecks.

Peter Thiel, Founders Fund

Cash is Cash is importantimportant

•Know your burn rate & fume date (when you will run out of money) at any moment

2. Have a 2. Have a remote teamremote team

•Offshore not outsource•Everyone should feel ownership (& have stock options)•Hire smart people, give them ownership

ChallengesChallengesGetting to know each other (developing informal rapport)Body clockBenefits: 24 hour cycle

Synchronous Synchronous is is

mustmust Need to look at same screenSkypeGoToMeeting

SCRUMEnd of day reports

3. Bring 3. Bring expertise expertise into into company without hiringcompany without hiring

•Advisory roles – SEO, Sales, Metrics, Marketing

How to structure advisory How to structure advisory relationshipsrelationships

•How much stock?•Setup monthly meetings•Create action items at each meeting, complete them, report back

Accountants & Accountants & HRHR

•Rent a CFO

Recruiting Recruiting is hardis hard

•Recruiters or not?

4. Get a good 4. Get a good lawyerlawyer

5.5. Outsource Outsource what what you canyou can

Amazon S3, EC2Dedicated servers instead of colocationGoogle Ads, custom searchDifferent widgets (Gigya, AddThis)

6. Don’t let biz-6. Don’t let biz-dev get ahead dev get ahead of productof product

Deals with big companies can be a mirage

7. Marketing: 7. Marketing: Do Do you really need that you really need that schwag?schwag?

User User acquisition is a acquisition is a science science

Be metrics based

SEO not SEMSEO not SEM•Have an organic SEO story•How to incorporate seo from ground up

8. Don’t skimp 8. Don’t skimp on teamon team

•Hire the best designers & developers you can

Create fun Create fun work culturework culture

•celebrate every victory, have meals together

Have food Have food around office around office (even (even if not Google gourmet)if not Google gourmet)

9. Speed is 9. Speed is imperativeimperative

Small & agile

Set the tone for Set the tone for speedspeed

In hiring, development, design, releases, biz dev

Be agileBe agile(worry about scaling later)

10. Build a great 10. Build a great productproduct

a. Solve one a. Solve one problem really wellproblem really well

b. Make app b. Make app socialsocial

SlideShare as non social appPowerPoint plugin?No virality

c. Social c. Social networks or networks or open web?open web?

d. Understand d. Understand markets you markets you build forbuild for

MindCanvas: Could sell into marketSlideShare: Understood market

e. To build a e. To build a feature or not feature or not toto

Listen to loudest?Watch behavioral metrics?Read blog posts?

Always think: How should weAlways think: How should we

double trafficdouble traffic??

f. Everyone on f. Everyone on team should team should use productuse product

•Let engineers directly get customer feedback

11. How to11. How to LaunchLaunch

The AlphaThe AlphaFeedback to the embedNo publicityBrowser compatibility issues

How How developeddeveloped should a Beta be?should a Beta be?

SlideShare betaEnough to get point acrossLittle of social layerNot buggy

SlideShare SlideShare launchlaunch

Invite only: Before or after launch?

AlphaStealth mode

Open to allLaunchInvite only

Initial MomentumInitial Momentum

Finally Finally find me at www.slideshare.net/rashmi

http://twitter.com/rashmi