by David Cohen and Brad Feld
I, Michael Parker, own this book and took these notes to further my own learning. If you enjoy these notes, please purchase the book!
- pg 12: If you can raise your prices and customers still your product, you've found a pain point to exploit.
- pg 20: If you're not embarrassed when you ship your first version, you've waited too long.
- pg 21: Shipping early and often gives you the unique competitive advantage of getting useful feedback on your product.
- pg 24: By focusing on a niche, you can be the best at what you do with less work, and position and market yourself easier.
- pg 28: Find what your users love, and then obsessively make it easier for them to do it.
- pg 38: Bad experiences with half-baked products doesn't travel quickly; people don't talk about services they don't get value out of.
- pg 50: If you feel like you're treading water, remember you're actually learning things to help you down the road.
- pg 58: You must be proud of your product every minute of every day, and not only if it becomes a tremendous success.
- pg 68: A cofounder hanging out out of guilt or ambiguity is bad, especially if they claim equity you don't believe is due.
- pg 72: Always strive to hire people better than you; better people are easier to manage and are more self-directed.
- pg 74: The time and effort to "fix" a new employee is likely greater than hiring a better person, so fire early if needed.
- pg 83: In the early stages you should have at most one non-technical cofounder; any more and they might get bored.
- pg 88: Startups screw up a lot; build relationships with your customers and audience, and they'll forgive you.
- pg 92: When mentors give advice, always close the loop; they may learn something, and you'll keep them coming back.
- pg 97: Communication to all stakeholders should increase in bad times; fight the tendency to keep it inside.
- pg 115: Don't be afraid to throw things away; you can't protect a brand that doesn't exist, so no one cares anyway.
- pg 119: It's important to create an environment where everyone can admit mistakes; this has to be driven from the top.
- pg 130: Gather as much data as you can and measure every aspect of your business, and constantly revisit the data.
- pg 134: Sales that require handholding by the founders is not scalable; only a self-serve process is.
- pg 142: Send and receive e-mail from your company domain so that it is treated as a branding opportunity.
- pg 143: If contacting someone you don't know, limit your e-mail to three sentences; put any question as the last one.
- pg 148: Stay small and take incrementally harder technology steps; don't shoot for the moon at the start.
- pg 152: Celebrating without continued meaningful progress creates a debt of energy, momentum, and credibility.
- pg 162: The new big feature you're working on may not be so big; measure the impact of each feature you release.
- pg 179: Don't be afraid of competitors; learn from them, but even reach out to them and get to know them.
- pg 182: Always ask what is the thing that matters most to making progress right now, and let the other bright ideas wait.
- pg 184: Key metrics to measuring behavior and happiness are acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue.
- pg 187: Set an achievable and worthwhile goal; staying with it will keep you focused through any rough spots.
- pg 194: Beware of big companies; the risk is completely imbalanced, and they are a time sink so fail fast with them.
- pg 203: The dynamics with your investors peak the day after you close the investment; your job is to sustain it.
- pg 206: Early hires may seek the peace of mind offered by backing of a VC despite growing revenues and profitability.
- pg 210: If you work with an established company as a partner, don't be bashful in asking for funding.
- pg 214: Take the time to fine-tune and get your idea right, and you'll find that competitors aren't as close as you think.
- pg 217: Beware angel group members; ask how long they've been in it, recent investments, amounts, and references.
- pg 223: When pitching, present a compelling product and have the right answers to any conceivable question.
- pg 228: Engaging mentors and investors before fundraising mitigates their aversion to risk and builds their excitement.
- pg 223: When pitching, describe the problem, and make sure they really feel the pain before presenting your solution.
- pg 236: Good early investors take 20 to 33 percent; any more creates dilution later and leaves too little for the founders.
- pg 241: Lead angel investors will say no quickly; don't waste time trying to hesitant ones into leads.
- pg 250: Conversion from an LLC to a C-corp requires going through a complete merger; an S-Corp to C-Corp is easy.
- pg 254: Delaware law provides stakeholders with certainty and uniformity regarding their relationship to the company.
- pg 258: Find a lawyer who has worked with companies you want to emulate, and develop a collaborative relationship.
- pg 259: You lose quickly by iterating on drafts because the terms weren't clear; clarify with cofounders up front.
- pg 262: Through vesting, you don't tie up equity with someone who leaves, which isn't fair and scares investors.
- pg 263: Owning lots of stock outright may save you from investors, but vesting saves you from cofounders.
- pg 270: The 83(b) election trades income tax for lower capital gains tax upon vesting; the option expires after 30 days.
- pg 292: Going for walks, hikes, or rides with coworkers allow for talk without interruption and feeling confined.
- pg 296: Exercise five to six days a week for 20 minutes, eat right 80 percent of the time, and sleep at least 7 hours.
- pg 301: Taking a break sets the good example that no one is indispensable, and builds trust throughout your team.