This document contains tips from various startup founders on topics related to starting a business. Some of the key points made include: understanding the market problems that can be solved with technology is important for successful companies; focusing on telling a genuine and interesting story about an idea can help it spread; listening to customers, such as by having company leaders answer support calls, is a useful technique; and getting early user feedback is important to improve a product before widely launching it.

1. Startup Tips
from
Startup Founders

2. We are in the twilight of a society based
on data. As information and intelligence
become the domain of computers, society
will place new value on the one human
ability that can't be automated.
Rolf Jensen, Copenhagen Institute for
Future Studies

3. Successful companies
understand marketing is not just promotion
and advertising. Industry leaders focus
first on the market place and identifying
market problems that exist and can be
solved with technology
Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman
Scott

4. If you want your idea to spread, stop
focusing on the facts, stop focusing on
your offering and start focusing on your
story. Make it genuine. Make it interesting,
and as Seth would say, make it
remarkable.
Dharmesh Shah, Onstartups. Inspired by
Seth Godin

5. Successful bootstrappers know this: Your
business is about the process. Itʼs not
about the product.
Seth Godin, The Bootstrapper’s Bible

6. Listen to customers. Useful technique:
force everyone in the company, from the
CEO down, to answer support calls
periodically.
Ali & Hadi Partovi, iLike

7. The faster your users ‘get it,’ the faster
they’ll become champions on your
behalf.
Jason Lemkin, the CEO of EchoSign

8. You need the early team to be savvy in
everything. And you have to have people
who understand the users and the
product.
Craig Newmark Founder, craigslist

9. There are a few things. One thing is,
venture capital funding is not for
everybody. Oftentimes you’re better off
just creating a really profitable business
without creating the funding.
Rebecca Lynn, Principal at Morgenthaler
Ventures.

10. Do as little as possible to get what you
have to get done. Do less of it; get it done.
If you’ve got two things that you want to
put together, take away until they go
together.
Joshua Schachter Founder, del.icio.us

11. You have to have tactics to get to
strategies, but you have to have a strategy,
and you have to put your strategy up here
and then see “Where’s my gap” to get to
this aspirational goal.
Ann Winblad Cofounder, Open Systems,
Hummer Winblad

12. When you design a product, you need to
think about whom you’re designing the
product for!.Try to achieve an out-of-
body experience as close you can, while
you are using the product.
Max Levchin, Founder, PayPal

13. I think one of the things that kills great
things so often is compromise— letting
people talk you out of what your gut is
telling you.
Evan Williams, Cofounder Pyra Labs

14. Getting your product launched is just the
beginning. Content updates, monetization,
and advertising are the driving point of
your business, most likely.
James Thomas, WackyLabs

15. For someone who’s joining a startup, just
learn about leadership from the people at
the top of the company. Watch how they
talk to people, watch how they present to
people. Companies take their shape based
on the personality characteristics and
human interaction characteristics of the
founders.
Ray Ozzie Founder, Iris Associates, Groove
Networks

16. Building a product that is perfect for
everyone is impossible! Your two choices
are: Build a product that is tolerable for
everyone and Build a product that is
perfect for a subset, and then let others
come around.
Paul Buchheit, Y- Combinator Partner and
creator of Gmail.

17. Charging for something half-baked is
really interesting, It makes the product
team uncomfortable. At the same time,
you make sure that you get honest
feedback. If the product doesn’t meet
customers’ expectations, they cancel.
It’s a very honest relationship.
Rashmi Sinha , Founder & CEO SlideShare
Inc

18. By: Thomas Oppong