This document contains a presentation about starting a startup given by Augusto Coppola. It includes sections on spoken words of inspiration and the unspoken words of discipline needed for startups. The spoken words section contains quotes from songs about bravery, passion, determination, luck and money. The unspoken words section discusses the discipline required for learning, building a team, understanding the market and finances, managing time, and the importance of discipline for transforming talent into ability.

1. Rome Startup Weekend, 29 October 2010
Augusto Coppola
acoppola@baia-network.org
The Unspoken Word
or
Songs, Notes and Quotes about “the art of start”
I contenuti di questa presentazione sono liberamente riproducibili laddove si citi la
fonte (Augusto Coppola, se non diversamente indicato) e non ci siano fini di lucro

2. Section One: Spoken Words
So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from hell?
Blue skies from pain?
Can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
(Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here)

3. Take a little trip back with father Tiresias
Listen to the old one speak of all he has lived through
I have crossed between the poles, for me there’s no mistery
Once a man like the sea I raged
Once a woman like the earth I gave
There is in fact more earth than sea
(Genesis, The Cinema Show)
Who am I?

4. I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
of diving in too deep
and possibly the complications
especially at night
I worry over situations
I know we’ll be alright
perhaps it’s just imagination
(Men at Work, Overkill)
What’s the real life of a founder?

5. Sunday night Mr Farmer called and said
Listen son, you’re wasting your time
There’s a future for you
...
But I remembered a voice from the past
Gambling only pays when you’re winning
(Genesis, I know what I like)
Spoken word: Bravery

6. Spoken word: Passion
E' na passione
cchiù forte 'e na catena
ca mme turmenta ll'anema
e nun mme fa campá!*
(Dicitencello vuje, Neapolitan song)
*
It’s a passion
Stronger than a bond
Tormenting my soul
And won’t let me live

7. Spoken word: Determination
I can’t get no satisfaction
I can’t get no satisfaction
‘cause I try and I try and I try and I try
I can’t get no, I can’t get no
(Rolling Stones, Satisfaction)

8. Spoken words: Luck and Money
I work all night, I work all day
to pay the bills I have to pay
…
and still there never seems to be
a single penny left for me
…
So I must leave, I'll have to go
To Las Vegas or Monaco
And win a fortune in a game
(Abba, Money Money)

9. Section Two: The Unspoken Word
A time of valour, and legends born
A time when honour meant much more to a man than life
(Genesis, Time Table)

10. The Unspoken Word
Learning
Team
Market
Financials
Time
Discipline
Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability
(R.L. Smith)

11. Discipline of learning
You know nothing about how to make a startup and how to
make your business. Nothing at all!
Self-discipline is not trait of character. It is a skill
Everyone is able to shout about rights. You need to shout
about duties
Beware!
- Smart people often are bad learner
- Learning is not related to motivation
- Learning is not related to improvement

12. And you still behave like a five-year-old child. People gather, scatter. They go left and right following their interests.And you still behave like a five-year-old child. People gather, scatter. They go left and right following their interests.
And you still behave like a five-year-old child. People gather,
scatter. They go left and right following their interests.
(Akira Kurosawa, Kagemusha)
Discipline of the team
How do you select co-founders?
How do you select advisors and influencers?
How do you select your investors?
How do you select employees?
How do you motivate employees?

13. Questions about co-founders
• What have they accomplished in the past?
• What is their reputation?
• Whom do they know?
• Who else needs to be on the team?
• Are they prepared to recruit high-quality people?
• How realistic are they about the venture chances?
• How will they respond to adversity?
• Do they have the mettle to make the inevitable hard choices
that have to be made?
• How committed are they to this venture?
• What are their motivations?
• How do they deal with criticisms?

14. Team roles
What happen if...?
Advisor/influencer motivations/reputations
Value added by investors
How to motivate employees
The startup making is not about making friends…
…but friendship is a by-product of integrity of well designed
teams
Critical Points about Team

15. Discipline of market
Find your
customers
Ask for money
Collect their
feedbacks
Incorporate
feedbacks
Understand
their structure
and need
SPEED is key
I often went fishing up in Maine in the summer. Now, I am
very fond of strawberries and cream, but I have found that,
for some strange reason, fishes prefer worms
(D. Carnegie)

16. Discipline of financials
Find your
money
suppliers
Ask for money
Collect their
feedbacks
Incorporate
feedbacks
Understand
their goals
SPEED is key
Never enough money (and I’m speaking about cash)
Understand your project extent and money suppliers
Plan your Cap Table

17. Discipline of time
Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined
with the time we have?
(K. Johnson)
Don’t waste time in clerical works, time is money
Set your MAT (milestones, assumptions, tasks)
Plan is nothing, planning is everything
(D. Eisenhower)
Freedom is not license

18. Final Quotations
Many of life's circumstances are created by three basic
choices: the laws you choose to obey, the people you
choose to be with, and the disciplines you choose to keep
(C. Millhuff)
The more I practice, the luckier I get
(G. Player)
Start by doing what you have to, then do what you can. And
suddenly you will discover that you are doing the impossible
(St Francis of Assisi)

19. Thanks
http://www.baia-network.it/contatti/
Also on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter
http://innovationlab.dia.uniroma3.it/
Also on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter