Anatomy of an (un)fundable startup(venturehacks.com)
venturehacks.com
Anatomy of an (un)fundable startup
http://venturehacks.com/articles/unfundable-startup
5 comments
I think he was simply ranking the ways by which a startup can seem impressive, in order of importance.
To be a fundable startup, you do need a Pitch/Presentation and Social Proof. But to be a successful & profitable startup you need Traction, Team and Product.
Traction, team, and product are all above "social proof", "pitch", and "presentation" on Ravikant's ranking.
But, if you're down into the "social proof" and "pitch/presentation" items, they are signals of whether you can market yourself. Do you have the discipline and talent to express yourself in the most plausible and positive terms?
If you can always do an excellent, comprehensible, compelling pitch, then yes, that does mean you'll get more looks and months-of-runway than other startups that are bad at pitching themselves. That's life in the big city.
But, if you're down into the "social proof" and "pitch/presentation" items, they are signals of whether you can market yourself. Do you have the discipline and talent to express yourself in the most plausible and positive terms?
If you can always do an excellent, comprehensible, compelling pitch, then yes, that does mean you'll get more looks and months-of-runway than other startups that are bad at pitching themselves. That's life in the big city.
You're undervaluing a pitch, and you have no idea what a perfect pitch is.
You can be incredibly slick, with a Lessig level of timing matching your slides to your words, but that's not a perfect pitch. A perfect pitch is what gets you funded. you need to cut through all the VC's defenses surprise and delight them in a way that makes them want to give you money.
Maybe you do know this, but it's worth pointing out the perfect pitch isn't some generic bullshit that plays well on youtube, it's tailored precisely to one guy. your guy. your funder.
You can be incredibly slick, with a Lessig level of timing matching your slides to your words, but that's not a perfect pitch. A perfect pitch is what gets you funded. you need to cut through all the VC's defenses surprise and delight them in a way that makes them want to give you money.
Maybe you do know this, but it's worth pointing out the perfect pitch isn't some generic bullshit that plays well on youtube, it's tailored precisely to one guy. your guy. your funder.
You have no idea what I know or don't know. In any case, getting funded isn't some sort of proof that you've built an exceptional business, it doesn't even prove you've built a business. In other words, you don't automatically have an "exceptional startup" because you got funded.
I think it's really important not to forget that this is for getting funding, not necessarily for having a successful startup/business. There is a really big difference there and often this type of advice ends up getting repeated but without the appropriate context.
"Instead of trying to do everything well (traction, team, product, social proof, pitch, etc.), do one thing exceptionally. As a startup you have to be exceptional in at least one regard."
That might be great advice to get funded, but it would be terrible advice to try and create a profitable business. To get a profitable business you really need to a do a lot of things well, not necessarily exceptionally.
"Instead of trying to do everything well (traction, team, product, social proof, pitch, etc.), do one thing exceptionally. As a startup you have to be exceptional in at least one regard."
That might be great advice to get funded, but it would be terrible advice to try and create a profitable business. To get a profitable business you really need to a do a lot of things well, not necessarily exceptionally.
Instead of chasing funding, you could focus on building a business from day 1 and look at funding as a nice-to-have. It worries me that so many startups seem so focused on funding, rather than creating a product and business. You only have 2 eyes...if one is focused on funding, you only have 1 with which to create your company. Worse yet, both eyes focused on funding to the exclusion of a sound business.
This post sounds like it comes from a dreamworld. People have lives that have to be paid for while they're trying to build this business. You can build up nest eggs and so on but most of us could never save back enough to go from concept to profitability. Unless you can build the company while living with your (very understanding!) parents, you will pretty much have to get funding.
"Getting funding" does not have to be traditional venture capital funding. There are other creative ways that many bootstrapped entrepreneurs have used over the years.
1. Traction
2. Team
3. Product
4. Social Proof
5. Pitch/Presentation
Unless #1 (traction) implies some sort of revenue, this list is absolutely bullshit. Sure, if the goal is to enter the ponzi-scheme-esque world of VC rounds then I suppose it's acceptable to avoid actual profitability in the effort to grow the userbase.
But if you actually plan to run a big boy business, it's probably a good idea to put revenue above all other items in the list.
Unless #1 (traction) implies some sort of revenue, this list is absolutely bullshit. Sure, if the goal is to enter the ponzi-scheme-esque world of VC rounds then I suppose it's acceptable to avoid actual profitability in the effort to grow the userbase.
But if you actually plan to run a big boy business, it's probably a good idea to put revenue above all other items in the list.
pmarca answered this question years back. the only thing that matters is the product-market fit. it doesnt matter if you have a team of non-social robots with no pitch.
http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-star...
http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-star...
1. Traction
2. Team
3. Product
4. Social Proof
5. Pitch/Presentation
What do 'social proof', pitches and presentations have to do with building an exceptional company? I can understand if these are qualities needed to raise money in Silicon Valley, but "qualities of an exceptional startup"?
Instead of trying to do everything well (traction, team, product, social proof, pitch, etc.), do one thing exceptionally. As a startup you have to be exceptional in at least one regard.
Ok, I'll just work on getting my pitch pitch perfect then. Or maybe I'll work on my social proofs. I could have sworn I was in Silicon Valley, but it's been warm lately, maybe this is Hollywood after all.