Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Foreword: Carl Schramm and Steve Blank Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Why Starting Up Is All about Trust and Empowerment Marc Nager and Clint Nelsen How Trust Led Us to the Greatest Adventure of Our Lives Franck Nouyrigat How We Empower People to Get the Most Out of Startup Weekend Why You Have to Have Trust to Be a Successful Entrepreneur Chapter 1: No Talk, All Action: Action-Based Networking You Must Join a Team Breaking Down Barriers Taking Advantage of High-Energy, Low-Risk Settings Get Out of Your Bubble If Not an Actual Startup, at Least Always Build Relationships Diversity of Backgrounds Is Key How Do You Keep the Momentum Going? Chapter 2: Good Ideas Need Great Teams: Pitch for Talent Not for Funding The Magic of 60 Seconds Deliver a Solution with One Sentence Build a Team What You Need—Talent and Energy Chapter 3: Experiential Education: Step Outside Your Comfort Zone While Working Together as a Team The Importance of Context, Deadlines, and Instant Feedback Braindump So You Have a Viable Idea—Now What? Learning by Doing Risk Mitigation Allocating Tasks Recognizing Failure The Three Main Criteria Chapter 4: The Startup Business Model: Adapt, Stay Lean, and Reiterate The Customer Development Revolution Getting Lean, Staying Agile, Preparing to Pivot Communication Is Key Stick with the Basics The Missing Pieces of the Entrepreneur's Curriculum Chapter 5: Mapping the Startup Ecosystem and Subversive Reconstruction The Entrepreneurship Leap The Cofounder Leap The Startup Leap The Funded Leap The Scaling Leap External Growth Leap Leaping More Often The Future of Startup Weekend The Startup Foundation Conclusion Viva la Revolution The Entrepreneur Culture Your Next Iteration Further Readings Index Copyright©2012 by Startup Weekend All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, 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http://booksupport.wiley.com For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Nager, Marc, 1985Startup Weekend: how to take a company from concept to creation in 54 hours / Marc Nager, Clint Nelsen & Franck Nouyrigat p cm ISBN: 978-1-118-10509-2 (cloth) ISBN: 978-1-118-15963-7 (ebk) ISBN: 978-1-118-16023-7 (ebk) ISBN: 978-1-118-16024-4 (ebk) New business enterprises I Nelsen, Clint II Nouyrigat, Franck III Title HD62.5 N335 658.1 '1-dc23 2011024064 This book is dedicated to entrepreneurs Because of you, the world is a better place Foreword Carl Schramm and Steve Blank The Art and Science of Startups in Revolutionary Times In the future, we will look back at this decade (2010 to 2020) as the beginning of an economic revolution as significant and world-changing as the Scientific Revolution of the sixteenth century and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century We are currently standing at the beginning of the entrepreneurial revolution This doesn't mean just more technology-based products (though we'll certainly get our share of those) Rather, this is a revolution that will permanently reshape business as we know it, and more importantly, change the quality of life across the entire planet for all who come after us And organizations like Startup Weekend are at the very forefront of this groundbreaking development The Barriers to Entrepreneurship Over the past 40 years, startups continued to innovate as each new wave of technology took hold However, the rate of innovation was constrained by limitations we are just beginning to understand Only in the past few years have we come to appreciate the fact that startups in the past were constrained by factors like: Long technology development cycles (how long it takes to get from idea to product) The high cost of getting to first customers (the cost to build the product) The structure of the venture capital industry (that there were a limited number of venture capital firms, each of which needed to invest millions per startup) The expertise about how to build startups (which was clustered in specific regions like Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York) The failure rate of new ventures (startups had no formal rules, and were frequently hit or miss propositions) The slow adoption rate of new technologies by governments and large companies Fortunately for us, many of these elements have changed drastically in recent years Not only are technology cycles speeding up and the cost of getting products to customers decreasing, but organizations like Startup Weekend are pushing knowledge and networks to greater numbers of entrepreneurs The Democratization of Entrepreneurship What's happening is something more profound than a change in technology; the change is in the fact that the many inhibitors and limitations to startups and innovation are being removed All at once, starting now Brad Feld, “Feld Thoughts” http://www.feld.com/wp/ William Fisher, “View from the Fishbowl: Noodling” (Silicon Prairie News) http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/06/view-from-the-fishbowl-noodling Daniel Isenberg, “How to Start an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem” (HBR blog network) http://hbr.org/product/how-to-start-an-entrepreneurial-revolution/an/R1006AHCB-ENG Eric Koester, “Zaarly on Capitol Hill: Why the Startup Ecosystem Matters” http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2011/05/13/zaarly-on-capitol-hill-why-thestartup-ecosystem-matters/ Sarah Lacy, “Predictably Rabid: The Life and Times of Sarah Lacy” http://www.sarahlacy.com/sarahlacy/2008/07/the-post-gets-m.html 37signals, “The Slicehost Story” http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2974-the-slicehost-story Index Acquisitions Action-based networking Advertising and company name context online Agile business model Altringer, Beth Andrzejewski, Alexa Angel investors Angulo, Dave Animotion Bar Camps Barriers to attending Startup Weekend between entrepreneurs Bashaw, Nathan BelongingsFinder.org Benson, Jim Best practices Big Kitty Labs Blank, Steven Blogs and communication Memolane reference list sharing successes on venture capital firms Bootstrapping Braindump Brainstorming See also Scrum boards Branding Business cards Business ideas braindump brainstorming See also Scrum boards communicating existence of versus execution “failing fast” concept feedback See also Customer feedback; Feedback idea validation See also Minimum viable product (proof of concept) passion See Passion pitching See Sixty second pitch; Sunday presentations project management See Project management sharing and startup revolution See also Startup revolution Business models agile development customer development business model and lean methods startups and success traditional business school model Business plans competitions and funding traditional business plan versus business model Business school curriculum disadvantages of experiential education compared as means of connecting with others myths of entrepreneurship, perpetuating traditional business model Buy-in, obtaining Capital See also Funding funded leap revenue sources risk capital team, importance of in finding capital Case studies Coffee 2.0 Cofounders See also Action-based networking connecting with at Startup Weekend diversity of backgrounds relationship building See also Relationship building Coloft Comfort zones Communication blogs See also Blogs face-to-face of ideas and vision importance of Community building and diversity of backgrounds and momentum and Startup Foundation Startup Weekend as Confidence Coworking spaces Creativity brainstorming See also Brainstorming experiential education Half Baked exercise and startup culture Startup Weekend atmosphere and team work Crimmins, Bob Culture, entrepreneurial Customer development business model Customer feedback See also Customer development business model early adopters idea validation importance of interviews in lean and agile methodologies and product revisions and risk mitigation social media and success and team task allocation Cynicism Davos Forum DeSantis, Donald Diversity of backgrounds Dot.com bubble Early adopters Economic conditions, effect of Education background of Startup Weekend attendees experiential See Experiential education formal training, lack of mentoring incubation and startup culture Empowerment attendees employees facilitators and employees of Startup Weekend principles of Startup Weekend and task allocation Entrepreneurial culture Entrepreneurial revolution Entrepreneurs attitudes toward defining economic conditions, effect of and entrepreneurial culture entrepreneurial path formal training, lack of and functions of Startup Weekend getting out of your bubble leap into entrepreneurship networking See Networking role of sharing ideas See also Trust success patterns technology tools, availability of Experiential education braindump components of context deadlines described feedback flexibility and changes in plans and goals of Startup Weekend idea validation learning by doing minimum viable product See also Minimum viable product (proof of concept) Nuvention program risk mitigation Sunday presentations task allocation team work time constraints and need for fast pace value of External growth leap Facilitators Fail Conferences Failing fast concept Failure as part of process Failure rate of startups FashionSpace Feedback customers See Customer feedback in experiential education Startup Weekend participants First Round Capital Fishback, Bo Flat world Foodspotting Formal presentations Fortune 500 leap Founder Dating Four Steps to the Epiphany (Blank) Friday Pitchfire See also Sixty second pitch Funded leap Funding See also Capital and business plans funded leap scaling leap Gavronsky, Nicholas Giant Thinkwell Global Entrepreneurship Week Global impact of Startup Weekend Goals of Startup Weekend Google Apps Grand Ecoles d'Ingénieurs Great Recession Grote, Richard Groupon Half baked startup ideas, group exercise Harvard University Heavy Guerrilla Hiring History of Startup Weekend Hoy Hoy Hyde, Andrew Idea validation customer feedback See also Customer feedback experiential education Ignite Initial public offerings (IPOs) Innovation evolution of large companies and management techniques of large companies and Startup Foundation startups and trust International startups See also Global Entrepreneurship Week Internet bubble Interviews of customers See also Customer feedback iPhone apps Job descriptions Kashani, Cameron Kauffman Foundation Kean, Sean Keepstream Kesterson, Kyle Koblasa, Tyler Koester, Eric Labarre, Thibaut Lagier, Eric Large companies acquisition of startups employees of as Startup Weekend attendees employees of versus entrepreneurs startup environment, adoption of LaunchRock Leadership Lean methods Legatum Prosperity Index Lightsmith, Jeremy Loop concept for startup development Lovell, Rebecca Maddox, Jesse Manshopper Marasco, Michael Market research See also Customer feedback; Idea validation Martin, Nick MBA programs McClure, Dave Memolane Mentoring incubation Ming.ly Minimum viable product (proof of concept) customer feedback and experiential education as goal of Startup Weekend judging loop development revisions of Mobile apps Momentum Monosagashi.org Morrill, Danielle Motivation Nager, Marc Nelsen, Clint Networking action-based business school events and goals of Startup Weekend importance of local business and social events professional events social skills Nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) Northwest Entrepreneur Network Northwestern University Nouyrigat, Franck Nuvention O'Donnell, Charlie 123DressMe Online advertising Orowitsch, Stefano Partners See also Cofounders cynicism about need for Passion Pasulka, Sasha Persistence Pitching ideas sixty second pitch See Sixty second pitch Sunday presentations See Sunday presentations for talent versus funding See Team building Pivoting Plane.ly Product/service differentiation Project management agile development lean methods scrum board traditional method waterfall method Proof of concept See Minimum viable product (proof of concept) Protobakes Prototypes See Minimum viable product (proof of concept) Quotify Reiser, Shane Relationship building Release early, release often concept Research on entrepreneurship Rethink Water Ries, Eric Ringwald, Alexis Risk and entrepreneurship low-risk setting of Startup Weekend and minimum viable product concept Risk capital Risk mitigation Rockwell, Dan Roman vote (thumbs-up/thumbs-down) Roqbot Rossi, Jon Scaling leap Schramm, Carl Scrum Scrum boards See also Brainstorming Seguin, Nick Shurstedt, Jerry Siauw, Danielle Silicon Valley Sixty second pitch elements of example pain-point problem description rationale for solution summary team building Smallbone, David Social media Social networking South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival Sparkrelief Sprints Stamos, John Stanford University Star Trek Star Trek: The Next Generation Startup America Startup Cofounders Startup Drinks Startup Foundation Startup Labs Startup leap Startup process cofounder leap entrepreneurship leap external growth leap funded leap scaling leap speed of startup leap Startup revolution Startup Weekend action-based networking attendees backgrounds of attendees benefits of and community continuation of work after Core Team empowerment experiential education See Experiential education facilitators formal presentations Friday pitches See Sixty second pitch functions of future of global impact goals of history of idea versus minimum viable product as weekend goal job descriptions low-risk setting as means of testing relationships networking See also Networking proof of concept requirement See also Minimum viable product (proof of concept) registration relationship building 60 second pitch See Sixty second pitch Sunday presentations team creation team leaders team requirement Startup Weekend Atlanta Startup Weekend Baton Rouge Startup Weekend Boulder Startup Weekend Cambridge, England Startup Weekend Columbus, Ohio Startup Weekend Copenhagen Startup Weekend Costa Rica Startup Weekend Denver Startup Weekend Grand Rapids Startup Weekend Lansing, Michigan Startup Weekend New York City Startup Weekend Paris, France Startup Weekend Seattle Startup Weekend Singapore Startup Weekend Toulouse, France Startup Weekend Vancouver, British Columbia Startups bubble failure rate versus large companies process See Startup process reluctance to share ideas startup leap startup revolution success factors Success patterns Sundance Festival Sunday presentations contents of and growth projections judging criteria presenters questions, answering and team leader role SuperMarmite Surveys Tag lines Tamagotchis Task allocation Task Ave Team building business model considerations chemistry communication competition, effect of core team importance of team individual pitches needs assessment passion and energy See Passion and project management skills assessment and staying motivation team dynamics transparency trust See also Trust Team work continued work after Startup Weekend disagreements and emotional equilibrium importance of Roman vote (thumbs-up/thumbs-down) scrum boards, use of task allocation team leaders urgent and important matrix Tech Stars Technology and democratization of entrepreneurship tools, availability of TechStars program (Seattle) TED Thoughtback.com To-do list Toyota Transparency Triplingo Trust Urgent and important matrix Vandenbos, Mike Venture capital Vision and business model communicating and customer needs Waterfall method Welter, Friederike Women 2.0 Y-Combinator Zaarly ... Adam DeLong Alex Farcet Alexa Andrzejewski Alexis Ringwald Amir Harel Anders Hedberg André Reuba Andy Dragt Angie Chang Antonios Manessis Anuranjita Tewary Arantza Uriante Arthur Nisnevich Bastien... participate, and people from all walks of life who have ideas And we don't want to discourage anyone from coming We have to take a leap of faith And we have to encourage others to take a leap of faith... information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com Library of Congress Cataloging -in- Publication Data: Nager, Marc, 198 5Startup Weekend: how to take a company from concept to creation in 54