An entrepreneurship tale - From lowly dev to funded founder and the missteps and lessons along the way

Richard WhiteFounder, CEO

An Entrepreneurship Tale

Richard WhiteFounder, CEO

An Entrepreneurship TaleIf I Can Do It You Can Do It

Limited Life Experience+

Overgeneralization=

Advice

Paul BucheitCreator of Gmail, Co-founder of FriendFeed

my story

Market leading customer feedback & support solution

21 strong in San Francisco & Raleigh

90,000+ organizations have used us

$2M+ raised over 2 funding rounds

Tens of millions of registered users

182 people/sec see our product

Learning stuff. Having fun.

Had graduated from State school

Toiling as a developer at a local dev shop

Had never even visited Silicon Valley

Writing Java...

... to generate reports ...

... for companies that inspect urinals

Meh.

in 2005

3,000 miles

3 failed startups

Too many failed investor pitches to count

2 ex-cofounders

1 ex-girlfriend

2 months of homelessness

A lot of good stories

in between...

the startACT I

I see you’ve built a calendar. Cool!

It has a lot of functionality.

But it’s really ugly and hard to use.

I’ll fix that for you

Oh, Shit!

4 ideasACT II

AjaxScaffoldOpen Source Project

Simple Record UI

One line of Code

36K Downloads

725K Visitors

AjaxScaffoldOpen Source

Simple Record UI

One line of Code

36K Downloads

725K Visitors

The Team

AjaxScaffold

SlimTimerTime tracking for freelancers

AjaxScaffold

SlimTimerTime track for freelancers

I really hate timesheets

AjaxScaffold

SlimTimer

???

AjaxScaffold

SlimTimer

???

UserVoice

Prototype 6 weeks - December 2007

Prototype December 2007

Initial Test 1 week - December 2007

Prototype December 2007

Initial Test December 2007

Angel Funding$35K - February 2008

Prototype December 2007

Initial Test December 2007

Fool Funding$35K - February 2008

Prototype December 2007

Initial Test December 2007

Fool FundingFebruary 2008

LaunchApril 2008

Oh, Shit!

the mistressACT III

Stealth Startup

Stealth Startup

Amazing Team

Stealth Startup

Amazing Team

Raised $1MM

Stealth Startup

Amazing Team

Raised $1MM

Stealth Startup

Amazing Team

Raised $1MM

Starstruck

picture of Ron Conway / Mitch Kapor

Yes We CanACT IV

Cofounder Quits

Cofounder Quits

Girlfriend Too

Cofounder Quits

Girlfriend Too

Kinda Homeless

Cofounder Quits

Girlfriend Too

Homeless

Cofounder Quits

Girlfriend Too

Homeless

Market Not So Great

Cofounder Quits

Girlfriend Too

Homeless

Market Blows

Ahhhhh!!ACT V

I <3 Dad

I <3 Dad

Relocation

I <3 Dad

Relocation

Three’s Company

I <3 Dad

Relocation

Three’s Company

Momentum0

1750

3500

5250

7000

April May June July August September October November

Accounts - 2008

I <3 Dad

Relocation

Three’s Company

Momentum0

1750

3500

5250

7000

April May June July August September October November

Accounts - 2008

Breakthrough! Funded!$800K Seed Round - May 2009 - uservoice.com/blog/founders

the (re)startACT VI

Hiring Sucks

Founder Drama

We’re Spending What?!?

Now What?

lessons

Beware of people with all the answers

To a first-time entreprenuer everyone seems to have more experience than you but that doesn’t mean you should listen to them.

Start learning to go with your gut

Most successful people I know have never been afraid of making decisions about things they had absolutely no prior experience to prepare them for :)

Don't expect anyone to answer the hard questions for you

No MBA or expert advisor is going to drop of the sky and answer that difficult business model question for you. Make a decision. Build on it. Don’t wait for a white knight.

Be sure to check what domains you already own

I’m a dumb ass.

Market then Team then Product

You’re a creator so your tendency will be to rush into building something. Don’t **.

** but don’t write a 30 page business plan either

Be sure you love the problem you’re solving

My test: Am I helping people have more time to waste or wasting more of people’s time? YMMV

Passionate people can love all sorts of problems

More important than what you already love is finding new problems, even un-sexy problems like customer service, that you can pour yourself into.

When it comes to investors often no data is better than some data

Easier to craft a big story and not get bogged down with projections

Getting funded is a lot like losing your virginity

Except the TechCrunch article. Don’t get caught up with who’s (funding) whom. You’ll get yours.

Be sure to have a sense of urgency.

Create one if necessary. Getting outside investment, of any kind, keeps you “honest” and ensures you’ll take it things seriously.

Don’t be so fucking clever

In your product and in how you setup your company. Cleverness is the enemy of maintainability.

Be a joiner not a loner.

Going it alone is HARD. Check your ego and your “great” idea and find a good group of people to work with.

Richard White@[email protected]