startup 102

Steffany Boldrini - @steffbold founder and CEO

steffany@ecobold.com

Confidential – do not distribute

Confidential – do not distribute

Passion, lots of it

2008/2009 - Ideation/biz plan - Website

- Looking for co-founder/interviewing people

Jan 2010 - $200 wordpress site - Video reviews

Aug 2010 - Co-founder

Nov 2010 - Founder Institute

Mar 2011 - Launch

July 2011 - Fundraising

Sept 2011 - Getting traction

Jan 2012 - Fundraising

Mar 2012 - Pivot? Miracle?

If you’re in it for the

go get a JOB

1. Set yourself as a thought leader in your industry2. Before building anything decide what your product will be, what will it look like, research competition, what do people complain about your competitors? What is the pain you’re trying to solve3. Get the best team together, ideally full time4. ASK! Ask for people to join your team, ask for feedback, ask for free services, for free rent, for advice, for money, ask ask ASK!!!5. Join an incubator6. You must be ashamed of your first launch, or you’ll never launch7. Move FAST, you’re small, your competitors are big, fat and slow, use your size to your advantage and adjust as you see your consumers fit, change based on feedback, but don’t take ALL feedbackAnd don’t really worry about your competitors, just give the BEST for your customers, always8. Don’t get lazy, competition is tough and you always need to be on top of your game9. Set goals, yearly, monthly, weekly, daily: have accountability buddy10. Don’t give up, it’s hard

Nobody cares about

your s#!tty idea

If there’s a

will there’s a

way!

Resources

- odesk.com or elance.com (build site)- meetup.com (events)- Lean Startup by Eric Ries (book)- startupchile.org (free $)- ycombinator.com - 500.co - fi.co (incubators)