DO’s & DONTs of START-UPS #1

Our Meetup Speaker for Thurs 05 May 11 was Thomas Hong, CEO Consultant & Serial Entrepreneur. He talked about the DO’s & DONTs of “Starting a Company” (ie, writing your Business Plan, building your Team & finding your Funding), Peter/Meetup Organizer

1. Use an Executive Summary to provide an overview of the company – including your Mission & future Vision.

DO: share it with many savy friends & others, to get feedback on what they think of the idea.

DON’T: ask for a NDA. It’s not the idea. It’s how you bring it to market.

2. Create a Business Plan to determine the opportunity and how you will take advantage of it. A Biz Plan serves as a guide of how you run the business and is reviewed & revised peridically, to ensure you’re on the track.

DO: Pay particular attention to the Financial Plan to ensure you have sufficient Cash Flow to survive, until you thrive!

DON’T go into too much detail, because Investors will be reluctant to read it.

3. Pick a Team where the co-founders see your Vision and share your passion.

DO: 1) get 2-3 people to develop your concept (if you don’t). 2) get Sales/Marketing expertise definitely prior to launch – in the planning stage (if possible) – to create the Marketing Plan. But as CEO, get out there and talk to Customers to see what they like & don’t about it – first hand. [Are you cheaper, better, faster?]

DON’T: 1) have “equal” Partners. CEO must be in charge. 2) a CFO may not be needed until the company is big enough. Do it yourself early on, In fact, do it all yourself in the beginning – Market Research1, Product Demos, etc, so you learn all about every aspect of your business. You’ll know how it all works together and it will help you to pick & manage your staff. 1Look for as narrow a niche as possible, so you can dominate it.

[ Equity Vesting, Stages of Funding, Pitch continued in Premium Content ]