Lecture to UCT Engineers by Nick Miller (@NickMillerZA), founder of Cape Town startup Teach Me 2. www.teachme2.co.za

1. @NickMillerZA

2. A web-powered private tutoring agency
A rental property management & payment system
A boutique search marketing agency

3. Mindset shift milestones
Unintentional start 2007
PCS/NVP 2007
Getting a business partner 2008
Launch in London (-ve) 2008
Outsourcing to India (-ve) 2009
Reading rework 2010
One Focus 2011
Silicon valley trip 2012

4. Silicon Valley Internet Startup Model
Caricature from Quora*
Idea/team/prototype
Seed funding (Y-Combinator or family/friends)
Get users (get featured on TechCrunch)
Attempt to scale
Go broke (very likely)
Become cash-flow positive (unlikely)
Get bought (very unlikely)
IPO (extremely unlikely)
Repeat
* http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-typical-milestones-and-timeline-for-an-internet-startup

5. 3 key mindsets
Agile growth (based on agile development)
Value time & focus & direction
Launch regularly
Move Fast and Break Things
Build an awesome culture
Team shapes culture
Lead with humility
Be good not popular/cool
Have fun vs Get rich
“A successful entrepreneur is not defined by how much money they've
made, but by how much fun they've had - Chriso Davel
#NetProphet” (From 11am today)

6. Networking
Purpose
Leveraging: Strategic over generic connections
Be on their radar
Be creative
Lift from airport
Intern/volunteer at great companies
Ask for introductions with a purpose
Volunteer as an assistant
Quality >> Quantity
I have about 3-5 useful connections

7. Productivity Hacks
Do your most NB task before 11/12am
Don’t check your email (Tim Ferriss)
Read once a week: getpocket.com
Save interesting reads for later reading
Get the SelfControl app
http://visitsteve.com/made/selfcontrol/
Wunderlist
Visualise Priority & Progress

8. Getting hired in a startup
Be creative in your application
Know what the company does
Know what the role entails
Have an online portfolio of your work
Github/LinkedIn/website/blog
Be diverse
Broad range of skills are useful in a startup

9. Resources
Get a twitter account and follow:
@KISSmetrics: Web marketing
@tom_peters: Redefining Management
@VinnyLingham: South African entrepreneur in SV
@hackernewsbot: Y-Combinator updates
@the99percent: Creative Business portal
@jeffmess: Needs more followers

10. Resources continued
Rework by @dhh and @jasonfried
Lynda.com: Intro-level up-skilling of yourself
Experts-exchange.com/Stack-overflow/Quora: Crowdsourcing
#Breaktherules: breaktherules.students@gmail.com
Kickstarter.com
Read “The Hacker Way” by Zuckerberg

11. Thanks! Questions?
@NickMillerZA