A presentation given by Andy McLoughlin to students at the Imagine Cup about lessons learnt at a start-up in the UK

1. Living the Dream: Life at a Start-up Andy McLoughlin - Co-founder, Huddle.net © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-08- Confidential

2. Introducing Huddle.net © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential “ A winner. We have yet to see another online collaboration environment that offers the functionality of Huddle” Guidewire Report

5. Take a look – it’s free! © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential http://www.huddle.net http://facebook.huddle.net

6. Who has thought about running a start-up? © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

9. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential “ I’ve never been more tired, stressed or outrageously happy as I am running a web start-up”

10. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential The Huddle.net Story (and 20 things we’ve learnt along the way)

11. April 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

12. June 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Court – My Big Break

13. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Spend every waking hour researching and developing your idea and take any opportunity work on it. (Even if it gets you into lots of trouble with your current job or partner.) 1

14. June 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

15. July 2006 ? © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential How do two guys with no commercial development experience and no money launch a web application?

16. July 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential London-based software development company specialising in scalable .Net and Java web applications (who’s CEO is best friends with Alastair’s wife)

17. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Take advantage of every connection (however tenuous) You never know who might be able to help 2

18. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Be ruthless when doing deals, even early on You aren’t in business to make friends and the early deals will set the precedent 3

19. August – November 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential (repeat ad finitum as i’m a really difficult customer)

20. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Be completely and utterly uncompromising in your vision Don’t worry about changing your mind. Your developers will hate you but your users will love you in the end. 4

22. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Go big or go home If you aren’t convinced that your idea will be a massive success how will you convince other people? 5

23. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential ? How do you go big quickly with limited resources and limited cash?

24. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Seed funding! A seed round , sometimes known as a friends and family round or seed funding , is a securities offering whereby one or more parties that have some connection to a new enterprise invest the funds necessary to start the business so that it has enough funds to sustain itself for a period of development until it reaches either a state where it is able to continue funding itself, or has created something in value so that it is worthy of future rounds of funding. via Wikipedia

25. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential The way to a rich man’s diary is via his PA Via The Beermat Entrepreneur 6

27. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Software is expensive (but it doesn’t have to be) Spend time looking at Microsoft Partner Programs, Open Source tools, Online applications 7

29. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential At the beginning, focus all of your energy on building a great product Sales and PR will follow – keep everyone up to date with email, blogging and social media. Let the buzz spread virally! 8

31. Venture (Vulture?) Capital © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Venture capital is a type of private equity capital typically provided by professional, outside investors to new, high-potential-growth companies in the interest of taking the company to an IPO [or sale] via Wikipedia

33. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential VCs are people too Good VCs in the technology space are passionate, knowledgeable and always keen to discuss new ideas. Don’t be afraid to approach them! 9

34. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Get out there! There are tons of events, meet-ups, showcases and parties in London. They’re a great place to meet investors, bloggers and other entrepreneurs. And sometimes there’s free beer! 10 mini bar

35. 3 Approachable VCs in London © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Ben Tompkins Nic Brisbourne Paul Fisher Plus many, many more...

36. The VC Process © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

37. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Raising VC money is a full time job and takes months ! Is your team big enough to cope without having you coding / designing / selling / marketing? 11

38. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Don’t be afraid to play several VCs off against each other The better the deal, the bigger the island you can buy when you sell out  12

39. Other routes © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential American early-stage tech incubator Competitions with cash prizes, great pr and a ready-made contacts book Angel networks designed to provide early stage capital and mentoring

40. September 2007 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential September 2007 St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco, CA

41. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Successful web 2.0 companies don’t have to be in Silicon Valley But getting out there from time to time doesn’t hurt. And it’s an awful lot of fun. 13

42. November 2007 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential HUDDLE.NET RAISES $4 MILLION IN SERIES A FUNDING (WOO!)

44. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Funding provides a little breathing space Take this opportunity to ensure your team is perfectly balanced and packed full of superstars. 14

45. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential You can’t do it all yourself If your assembled team is as good as it should be, there should be no problems in delegating responsibility. 15

46. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential ? You have the cash, the product and the team but what next?

48. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential ‘ Get Acquired’ isn’t a business model If it happens, great. If not, you need to ensure your business has legs. How will you generate revenue? Who are your customers? 16

49. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential You will always have more ideas than capacity to execute them Prioritisation is the key. Put a $$$ value against everything you develop – what is going to earn revenue? 17

50. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential A happy team is a productive team Be transparent about the company’s goals and keep everyone involved. Get partners along to socials. Make it feel like a family. 18

51. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Always keep one eye on the web You never know where inspiration will come from. It’s also the easiest way to stay ahead of the competition and find out what people are saying about you. 19

52. A few online tools and resources © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

53. Lessons Learnt © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential Never lose sight of why you’re doing it You’re running a start-up because you get to do something you love every single day. If you become fabulously rich then even better! 20

54. April 2006 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

55. April 2007 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

56. December 2007 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

57. June 2008 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

58. Christmas 2007 (start-up style) © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

59. Product Launch at DEMO in LA © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

60. Brain storming (start-up style) © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

61. Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

62. Internet World 2008 © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

63. IT Management (start-up style) © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

64. Web Mission 08 to Silicon Valley © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential

65. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential ? How do you get a taste of start-up life?

67. © Copyright, Ninian Solutions Ltd 2006-07 - Confidential ? Questions?