by Sonia Lin
When it comes to external funding, it’s important to be prepared to continue bootstrapping for months until the money actually arrives. And it’s probably not a good idea to plan the spending according to the forecasted incoming funds because it rarely comes on time — or in some cases, it never comes. An entrepreneur can’t get too hyped about a venture capitalist's valuation of the company — because it’s just a valuation. It’s not a good idea to get married to one idea because the venture capitalist likes it — because it doesn’t hurt the venture capitalist to express approval when probably never bothering to listen to the same pitch again.
When it comes to recruitment, the pattern is similar — being prepared to go with a very few core team members in the beginning, rather than having too many roles with spread-out responsibilities. This creates layers of communication, as a lot of time would be spent on just passing on and explaining things without an actual outcome, let alone the human interactions that inevitably complicate things, as stated in the previous section. This goes the same for paid and unpaid roles, since neither one will be paid as much as the people deserve for the time put in (as they would in a “normal” job), and the high turnover coming with the time commitment, undercompensation, and the managerial resources required for these relatively unstable resources are not something a startup can afford.
Planning
Way before anything’s done, an entrepreneur may have a clear picture as to where the company should be a few years in the future. Milestones have been planted mentally, with the product lines and market clearly figured out. It’s only a matter of time before the startup will take down the world.
However, as soon as the first step is taken, it’s not as straightforward as planned. All kinds of forces halt progress or take the company along a different route. Some of them are distractions or unnecessary details, and some are natural, and may be inevitable. As a plan is so prone to change, it’s important to only spend enough time and effort thinking about it and writing it down when the details are let loose.
A good example would be the business plan, which can take as long as a month to research and write, but would mean little for actual implementation. For initial funding purposes, a 1-2 pager should be enough. The business plan might be thought of as a resume of the business. What do people do with resumes? They don’t look at one for more than 30 seconds, but they need to have it in hand for consideration. The fact that a plan is necessary doesn’t mean it’s important to spend a month crafting it, because people know it’s going to change anyway. Worrying about how every change and every move can turn out is like a GPS that recalculates the route at every change of course — which takes up too much of a startup’s brain power.
Product Development
Sustainability in product development means the ability to scale and continue development without having to come back for fundamental details or even to start from scratch. Without getting into too many details of the actual technology, a general principle is to develop in a way that requires minimal transition with a mutual understanding of the common ground. This sounds vague, so will require clarification.
A startup may find it especially hard to find a full-time tech person for a few reasons: the founder is a business person who has zero understanding of tech and has no idea how easy or hard it is to implement and change certain things. Therefore, the founder may freak over trivial details but have no idea why something takes so long when major background work makes no difference at a tangible level. Another reason is that a tech person skilled enough to work at a startup is way better paid somewhere else. Therefore, a startup’s technology aspect can be a mess that just gets passed on from team to team. When the tech has become an agglomeration of the work of some contractors and some other individuals who know enough to make a few changes in different places, some ground is bound to be a no-man’s land that accumulates long-term technological debts.
When that agglomeration of a bunch of people’s work gets passed on, reading somebody else’s code is definitely not the developer’s favorite thing. Reading the code of somebody’s full-fledged application is like reading Harry Potter, where to understand this world that somebody else has imagined requires spending days, and adding one character or one object would look like an obvious afterthought that doesn’t go with the story — or might even ruin it. Thinking about what Harry Potter would be like when written by 10 people instead of J. K. Rowling alone gives an idea of the mess an application can become if it gets passed on from team to team.
Infrastructure
Here, infrastructure is defined as the day-to-day items and activities of a company — administration, operations, facilities, etc. — that make it functional and somewhat professional-looking. While how much infrastructure is needed depends on the company’s situation, one has to watch out if the expenditure and level of activities have gone from needs to wants. Just like how a shopaholic is compelled to acquire possessions that are supposed to make life better, an entrepreneur could fall into an unhealthy spending pattern given the abundance of tools for startups, with the belief that the spending will optimize the company’s performance — which in some cases only incurs costly, long-term maintenance.
This goes hand in hand with the team level previously discussed — namely, avoiding unnecessary burdens when the company is too early in development to make long-term commitments like hiring a full-fledged team. Nobody will care if the company has a printer and scanner in the office, or a welcome packet for a new volunteer. These are things that make it seem like the startup has arrived, but it has not.
Chapter 10
Wrapping Up
What to take away no matter where one is in the startup business
Rethinking
For those in the startup world with colleagues who are losing balance and need a break from a startup, this would be a good book to share with them. If you are the one who needs a break, keep this book within reach. It will save you from losing your grip, your temper, and valuable relationships. You may also want to ask yourself where you are in the startup, and whether you are making any progress. If not, what’s preventing you? If you’re on your way, what can you give yourself a break on that will create more benefits in the long term?
For those thinking about joining a startup or starting a business on their own, this would be a great opportunity to think about the kind of life desired, and whether a startup life would be a good fit. What is your goal? Is living a startup life a means to your goal? Where should you draw the line while stepping out of your comfort zone? Or if this is the life you’d surely enjoy, what part of it do you like the most, and what other parts would you need a break from occasionally?
For those who have been there and had outcomes that fell short of expectations, it’ll be time to ask what you have learned, and what you enjoyed the most. Which parts of it were necessary evils, and which parts were not? Do you want to give it another try, and if yes, how would you do it differently this time?
No matter where one is in the startup life, it’s important to stop to think — while busy pushing the boundaries — what is my goal, and does it make my life better? What aspects cannot be compromised?
While this book is designed to highlight the importance of work-life balance to achieve long-term startup success, it is by no means intended to downplay successes, nor to downplay the tireless hard work of the numerous successful entrepreneurs out there who make innovations possible. In fact, it is intended to encourage success by making the right choices in life, not unlike a business strategy, but in this case, it’s about how to live a life that supports a passion.
When successes are best known for one thing, not all things — such as Apple for minimalistic beauty that pushes technological boundaries, and Facebook for ubiquitous interconnectivity that redefines how people interact — it may be time for those working equally hard or even harder than the ones who make it to question the viability of some options among the limitless possibilities that e
xist, and leave some behind when they have spotted the right ones.
When innovations are ultimately for human consumption and enjoyment, there is a point where they become not only irrelevant to people’s needs, but also self-indulgent and conceited in the name of pursuing beauty and perfectionism. When all endeavors are put into meeting a single standard to no avail, it may be time to question whether it is simply a pursuit of a mirage in the austerity and isolation of a startup life.
Last but not least, when everything looks wrong, maybe you just need a good laugh.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I never would have written this book in the first place without having been through an entrepreneurial journey myself. Therefore, I would like to acknowledge my former co-founder, Mitch, who is the most focused and intelligent entrepreneur I have known as well as a great source of inspiration for this creation.
My completion of this book could not have been accomplished without the support of my friends and family — Amanda, Elton, John, Liz, Melanie, and Susan. To Jeffrey — thank you for the legal advice. To Christina — thank you for all the encouragement from the inception to the completion of the book. To Parag — thank you for the continuous feedback and constructive criticism that helped shape my vision.
Finally, to my caring and supportive Mom, Sunny: my deepest gratitude. Her support and faith when times got tough are much appreciated and duly noted. It was a great comfort to be pursuing my passion with her love serving as my greatest source of validation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sonia Lin is an entrepreneur, author, and developer. She is the author of EntrepreNo’s: Secret to Startup Failure, a webcomic series that illustrates the lack of work-life balance in a startup and is inspired by her startup experiences.
Her previous work includes the founding of a Chicago-based startup that won a Google-themed global business competition with a $250,000 investment, and was featured in major media such as TechCrunch, Bloomberg, and Yahoo.
Sonia has been profiled in a Google commercial that was aired internationally and was a Ten Outstanding Young Persons finalist for her active role in the startup scene. She holds a Masters of Science in Higher Education Administration and Policy from Northwestern University.
Startup life is long, so fail where you should, and laugh when you can.
Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT PAGE
DEDICATION
CONTENTS
PREFACE
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
HOW THIS BOOK IS DIFFERENT FROM ENTREPRENO’S, THE WEBCOMICS
Chapter 1 Getting Ready
Know Thyself
Chapter 2 Impressions vs. Reality
The End of the Tunnel
Friendship
Networking
The Perfect Launch
No Matter What, You've Still Got Pizza
Chapter 3 Co-foundership
Do You Need a Co-founder?
Co-founder's Dilemma
Match Made in Heaven
Good Cop, Bad Cop
All Is Fair in Love and... Startup
Distance
Trust
Communication
Chapter 4 Demands of Startup Culture
Rapid Development
Logo Matters
Holiday Conference Call
The Burning Entrepreneur
Lean Startup
The First 100 Likes
The Rollercoaster Ride
Chapter 5 Productivity Issues
Productivity Debated
Everyone Works Differently
Brainstorming
Collaboration
Chapter 6 Imbalance
Staying Above Water
Get Set, Go!
Connectivity
Bottom Line
Always Open
Chapter 7 Public Relations Problems
Winning Social Media Strategy
To Pitch or Not to Pitch
Stealth Mode
Dirty Laundry
Chapter 8 Working Environments
Home
Coffee Shop and Library
Co-working Space
Office
Everywhere Else
Chapter 9 Sustainability
You Are Human
Team
Beyond the Team
Planning
Product Development
Infrastructure
Chapter 10 Wrapping Up
Rethink
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
EPILOGUE
