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Paying It Forward

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I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to Pay It Forward.  What’s funny, though, is that I’ve never seen the movie itself, so I went and added it to my Netflix queue — I expect that it’ll be a sappy two hours, but sometimes that’s just what I need.  But I digress…

Anyway, for the last several years, I’ve been trying to spend a little bit of time each week helping younger (or less experienced) entrepreneurs avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made, or at least be aware of the avalanche heading their way, as they start their own business.  Last week, I gave a talk at Seattle’s TechStars For a Day that became pretty emotional for me — the topic was “What a Business Person Does in a Startup“, but it turned into a bit of a heartfelt talk about why it’s so fantastic working in a startup, or in your own business. Yes, tears were involved.  I’m not sure why, really — yes, the emotions got cranked up, but it could also have been impacted by several days of non-stop cross-country travel!

In the end, it’s about giving it your all to create something new and wonderful.  And surrounding yourself with a great team, and participating in their growth as well.  And making mistakes.  And, hopefully, being able to participate in the success of the next wave of explorers.  I’ve found it very meaningful and enjoyable to give back, where I can, and I can’t wait to have more time, someday, to do even more.

For now, I’m just trying to encourage experienced entrepreneurs to take a little bit of time each week to try to help somebody out — it could be a quick conversation over coffee, an on-campus speech, or just attending an extra event every few weeks, to make yourself available to someone who has an eager question. And, reminding those I’m helping now (when they say thank you, and make me feel so great), that in a few months, or years, that I expect them to do the same.

Of course, I’m just Paying It Forward from folks who helped me along the way when my ideas were in nascent stages (and took my coffee, lunch and other brain-picking requests); folks like Andy Sack, Bill Bryant, David Geller, Daryn Nakhuda, Todd Sawicki, Dave McClure, and many, many more (not to mention all the crazy angels who ponied up cash… those people are the TRUE psychos of the Pay It Forward Universe 🙂 )

Paying it Forward — it really does feel good to help your friends and community.

What does the Business Person in a Startup DO?!?

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As part of the TechStars For a Day speaker series, I gave this talk about an oft-asked topic. We all (think we) know what the CTO or technical co-founder does, in the world of startups and internet wunderkinds. But, many wonder, “What does the non-value-add CEO/Product person DO?!?”

This master’s thesis, years in the making, helps to illuminate all that is wonderful about the non-technical-member of the startup wonder twin pairing.

Speaker Notes / Details of slides (they roughly match)

Dave Schappell – Founder/CEO – TeachStreet.com
@DaveSchappell

1) Product Backlog / Definition (prioritization, shiny-object-mgmt, specs, mockups, copywriting, emails, …)

2) Product Research / Customer Service (meetings, surveys, customer feedback, issue mgmt, …)

3) Operations-HR/Legal (office, legal/incorporation, accounting/check-writing, payroll, patents/TMs, TOS/Privacy)

4) Endless Networking and Sales, for everything (recruiting, fundraising, bus dev, sales, publicity)

5) Operations-Finance (Fundraising, Debt-procurement)

6) Interviewing, on-boarding paperwork, perf rvws (PIPs/firing), weekly team mtgs, offsites, entertainment/morale

7) Contracts/Negotiator, for everything

8) Program Manager

9) Q&A / Bug-filing/testing/resolving

10) Marketing (SEO education, SEM, BD ptrship setup & mgmt, emails/ESP, twitter, facebook, blog, PR mgmt (press releases, outreach, contests, …),

11) Metrics (GA / internal / operational), Chartbeat-Monitoring/Weblabbing/Testing

12) Investor Mgmt/Board meetings (monthly financials/projections, updates, presentations, cap tables, 409A)

13) Success is just Failure repeated often enough

14) Hard Word… get ready for it (from Mark Suster blog):
– The Harder I Work, The Luckier I get
– The problem with success, is that it’s often disguised as hard work
– It’s always what I think now when somebody who doesn’t go the extra mile thinks everything comes easy to you. If ur a tech startupper I know u know what I mean. Just closed your $5M round & everybody around you’s thinking they could have done it. But they weren’t there in 2009 when you were up late nights shitting yourself whether you really were smart for pursuing this idea. That was back when VCs weren’t so quick to respond to emails.
– Nothing comes easy. There are few overnight successes in life. The best companies struggle – just not publicly. And the harder we work, the luckier we get. Good hard work to you all.

Get some practice fights before fighting Tyson

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Just a quick thought. Because I’ve recently had more than the normal share of young entrepreneurs pestering me for introductions to various angel investors and VCs.

If I don’t know you, I’m not going to be making any introductions. Even if I DO know you, if I don’t like your idea or implementation, I’m not going to make any introductions either. And even if I think your idea’s OK (but not great), I’m probably not going to send the mails on your behalf.

See, you may not be ready yet. And, of course, it’s my reputation being put on the line (maybe even more than yours) when I make the call on your behalf. And that goes for all of the other favors that you try to cash in. Make the best of it (and only make intros when they’re warranted), or else you can start to expect a whole lot of silence when you make your next request (or introduction).

Just because you have someone who can make the intro to someone else, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Your product may not be there yet. You may not have pitched enough minor-leaguers first (and gotten feedback, iterated on your idea, and honed your delivery). Or, you just may be indicating that you don’t want to do all of the hard work to get your legs under you. You may think that all you need is (a little bit of money, an introduction, someone to buy you, etc. etc.).

No, what you need to do is to sit down, shut up, and build something that large numbers of people are clamoring for (and for which you know specifically what you want from investors). THEN it might be time to call in some of those favors.

As for now, Shut Up and Row.

Why I love to encourage new startups

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Last week, Fred Wilson had a guest post from Andy Swan entitled “Who are we plowing for today?“.  It summarizes why I love to encourage new entrepreneurs and startups — I’m just such a huge fan of the little guy/gal, and their energy/spark inspires me daily.

Also, if you don’t already read Fred’s blog, I highly recommend it — he’s probably the world’s greatest blogger (in my humble opinion)

Fred Wilson at AVC.com encourages new startups

Want Entrepreneur Advice over coffee? That’ll be $1,000

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I’ve been wrestling with this one for a while, and I think many entrepreneurs have as well. See, as soon as you start a company, raise some money, and launch your business, suddenly people want to ‘buy you coffee/lunch’ to ‘pick your brain’ and ‘get networking introductions’.

I can appreciate that. I did it too. But, when you’re accommodating (as I, Andy Sack, Marcelo Calbucci, Joe Heitzeberg, and many others try to be), you tend to get overwhelmed with the requests. And, then, my days disappear on me, I end up working nights to catch up, and sit here on the weekend with 5-10 favors in my inbox which take 1-2+ hours to complete (I met with a woman last week, who I really liked… I told her I’d be happy to make some intros… she wrote back with 9 companies in the list… acck!)

So, here’s my offer:

  1. I’ll meet with you for free, at Hops and Chops (I helped organize it for exactly this purpose… sort of a lightweight office hours… I think Andy Sack created Seattle Open Coffee for the same reason) or another Seattle startup event that I happen to attend. I’ll be happy to talk with you, give you advice, and make any in-person intros, assuming the other folks are there in person. But, that’s it. Don’t ask for more, because it comes at the expense of my family, loved ones, and personal sanity.
  2. You pay me $1,000 for up to 3 hours of my time talking with you about entrepreneurship. That will likely be spread over two 1-hour meetings, and another hour of my time making introductions, if I think they’re warranted. If I don’t, I’ll be honest with you, and we’ll spend that last hour working on your plans, or whatever. Then, when you’ve started your company and booked your first $1,000 in revenues, I’ll give you $700 back. That’s it. I want you to get off your ass and build whatever it is your dreaming up. But, if you don’t, I keep your money, because you took up 3 hours that I could have been spending on other tasks. Sound fair? Do I think my advice is worth $100-333/hour? No! But, you seem to think I’ll help you somehow, and I likely will — and, if you don’t want to pay, there are tons of other folks around who will surely help you.

I look forward to any feedback about this setup. I’m sure it will upset some, but I’m not sure why — I’m still out there, and incredibly available. But, there’s now a market rate on my “premium services”, and it comes with a 70% refund, assuming you deliver the goods!