7 Things I Wish I Knew When We Started BigCommerce

7 Things I Wish I Knew When We Started BigCommerce

Allow Myself to Introduce... Myself...

• Me:o 29 years old, programming since 12o Developer-turned-entrepreneuro Love innovation in the software spaceo Co-founder of BigCommerce

• BigCommerce:o SaaS e-commerce solution for SMBso Launched in September 2009o 20k paying clients, ~$15M revenueo (Almost) 100 employees in Sydney+Texaso Raised $15M series A in July 2011o Growing > 100% year-on-yearo Kick ass culture + awesome people

7 Things I Wish I Knew (And Now Do)

1.Business model2.Modelling3.Product first4.Automate everything5.ABM (Always Be Marketing)6.Culture is king7.Maintaining state

#1 - Business Model

Where will your revenue come from?

• Start with the exit in mindo Do you want to go public (IPO) or be acquired?o What is your break even point?o Find a consultant (CFO) to build a financial model

• Recurring (i.e. monthly subscription) vs perpetualo Recurring revenue makes it easy to sleep at nighto Recurring revenue significantly improves valuationo Recurring revenue goes up over time

#2 - Modelling

Another word for modelling is "copying"

• You're not the first person to do what you're doing

• Someone else has done it• They've made the mistakes• Find & bribe them to be your mentor• Learn from their mistakes• Compress years of THEIR experience

into days of learning• Focus on the end goal not process

#3 - Product First

If your product sucks then your business(revenue) will too

• Are you building a real product or just a feature?

• Quick test: If what you build could easily be added in the next release by a competitor, then it's a feature

• Find a single pain point that people will pay you to fixo For us, this was ease-of-use

• Use surveys to find the biggest pain point and nail that in your product and in your marketing

• Case in point: Google Wave

#4 - Automate Everything

The more you automate, the loweryour costs + work load

• "How can we automate that?"o Ask it about EVERYTHING

Invoicing -> Freshbooks Recruiting -> Jobvite Website Updates -> SquareSpace

• Automation is cheaper than hiring• Automation lets you focus on strategy• Documented processes + automation = nirvana (scale)

#5 - ABM (Always Be Marketing)

Become a whore - a marketing whore, that is

• You're always marketing• You never know where a conversation

with a stranger can lead• Always be thinking "how can I use this

opportunity to grow my revenues, team or customer base"

• I'm marketing to all of you, right nowo We're looking to hire 30 engineerso Startups are hard, join us instead!o BigCommerce.com/careers.php

#6 - Culture is King

Awesome culture attracts kick ass people

• You're a startup, so no one knows you• People don't really believe in your idea• An amazing culture can win them over

o Look at your competitors and be differento Inject your personality into your cultureo For us, that means:

We only hire A-players We hire and fire based on our core values We take care of the little things

Free food, soft drink, beer, lunches, etc Xboxes, bean bags, t-shirts, books, courses

We all play poker and drink beer together• Your decisions on people will make or break your company

#7 - Maintaining State

Or, how to cope when shit hits the fan (because it will)

• You're always on an emotional roller coaster• You're either at the top (fun), bottom (miserable), on your

way up or on your way down - this is called "state"• You need to be aware of your state every day• If you're on your way down you should already have a plan

to start heading back up the roller coaster• Acknowledge that you're at the bottom/heading down• Feeling awesome one day and like

absolute shit the next day is normaland happens to every entrepreneur

Thanks For ListeningAnd Good Luck!

[email protected]@mitchellharper on Twitter