The top ten mistakes start-ups make - including some of my own personal start-up experiences of starting a Web 2.0 company. This deck also includes resources for entrepreneurs living in the Willamette Valley (Oregon).

1. Start-up
wisdom
humor
Caroline Cummings
Director of Entrepreneurial Development | Eugene Chamber of Commerce

2. Top 10 Reasons Why A Start-up Fails

3. The Single
Founder
1

4. The Wrong Team
2

5. Marketing-
Heavy
Tech-Heavy
2

6. Wrong
Legal
Team!
3

7. 4 Boiling the Ocean

8. Not Talking to Customers
5

9. Stealth to
Long..
6

10. Slow to
Launch…
6

11. 7 Stuck on Original Idea

12. Wrong
Location!
8

13. Founder-itis!
9

14. Spending
too much
money
10

15. Lessons…

16. Go With Your Gut!!!

17. Ask potential business attorney…
• Emerging growth business before?
• How much time for you?
• Raised multiple rounds of financing?
• Create/Read a Capitalization Table?
• Developed a PPM?
• Compensation packages for new hires?
• IP protection?
• Global expansion?
• Experience with exits – M&As, IPO, quit?
• Talk to current/former client?

18. Date BEFORE Marriage!

19. Key Team Must Have Skin in the Game!

20. Don’t Take “Dumb Money”

21. Include Customers in your R&D
k
Ask Listen Do Than clude
In

22. Believe You Can Win!

23. Local Support for Entrepreneurs
Willamette
Angel
Network

24. Mission…
To improve the climate of Oregon’s Willamette
Valley emerging growth-oriented companies

25. Focus…
• Education
– Workshops, webinars, coaching, mentoring…
• Networking
– Pub-Talks, socials, Ning community…
• Capital Development
– Angel and venture development, strategic
partnerships…

26. www.smartups.org

27. smartups.ning.com

28. • The first investor conference of its kind
• Regional approach to entrepreneurial dev
• Corvallis this year – Eugene next year…
• Modeled after Angel Oregon and Bend
Venture Conference

29. Model…
• 25 accredited investors at $5,000/each
– $1 M personal net worth or $200K/year
• 200 attendees
• 44 business plans
• 6 companies pitched 10 mins
• 5 companies pitched Ignite (3.5 mins)
• One winner: $125,000 in seed funding
• One conference/year (Corvallis/Eugene)

30. Goals…
– Connect entrepreneurs
with expertise and
financing for success
– Increase skills of
entrepreneurs
– Increase number and
engagement of angel
investors
– Promote our region as a
vital market for new
venture development

31. May 13, 2010 in Eugene

32. Local angels…
• Accredited Angels from Lane County
– Worth minimum of $1M in assets
– Earn minimum of $200K/year
• Review business plans
• Eugene Chamber conducts due diligence/
screening for good deal flow
• Company pitches 4x/year
• Chose whether to invest
– Individually
– Co-invest

33. Summary to engage…
• Attend Smart-ups on Jul 23rd at OES
• Subscribe to smartups.org RSS Feed
• Free Review of your exec summary/PPT
• Join smartups.ning.com (community)
• Join OEN.org | “virtual membership”
– $35 students/40 individuals

34. Thank You!
carolineineugene@gmail.com