Lessons from Failure A K2 Vista LLC Production

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Nana karobi ya oki, Japanese saying, Fall down seven, getup eight

Introduction

• This presentation was given at the Pecha Kucha Night San Jose - March 31st2015 ,‏

• It is the lessons learnt from a series of startups I have been involved in from 2002.

• The slides are bare bones, and as you do not have the commentary, I am including in small text a brief summary.

Takes more than a garage -You need more than an idea, you need an infrastruture

VCs like elephants We targeted SMB (Small to Medium Business, but investors prefer Enterprise)

Keep the Guru

in-house Develop the product and key development locally

One shot You get one shot, get it right the first time

Check for reaction Chemistry and in-fighting can destroy your startup, pay heed.

Nice guys -Nice guys don’t always win, they can get squashed.

What about Big Names? Don't be too impressed with big names

Check your inner GPS Do you preach what you practice Innovation vs listening

Just because

Just because you were successful before doesn't mean you'll be successful at it again

Your customers

Your customers will follow the bell curve The good, do a little and they are happy, Then the ones in the middle, and the ugly ones are the squeaky wheels. No matter What you do for them they will never be Happy.

Uniforms can be bought Don't be too impressed with credentials

Multiply by 3 -It takes 3 times the budget and time to take off

Free is ok, Freemium is nice, but premium is the best.

My Value

Prop is! Make your value proposition compelling

It takes time

Is it buzz-worthy? Content is queen but buzz-worthiness is king

Likes or Link-backs? Likes and Followers are cool, but linkbacks are hot

The Unfinished Biz Plan Your Business plan is a work in progress, it is never complete.

Lineup The sun, moon, stars and planets all need to lineup. That means your idea, execution, team, timing, and luck.