I’m pretty new to the space but I do have some creds in a few of the topics raised here as I’ve been running a startup for the past 4 years.
I created a development agency doing coding work for a few years and met my original cofounder of my current company. Then we worked it all out, got things together, filed this that and the other and learned a ton. Then he left for another business and I had my first panic attack and had to fire pretty much everyone as we learned the hard way the difference between cash and accrual accounting.
I pulled it out, worked my ass off to hire/partner with the right people and try to play things the right way.
Two years later we’ve done $1M in sales with no investment, last year finally took some to hire more of what we need and cover the patent costs. There’s 9 of us now!
The way I describe it is that it’s like a pro surfer riding one of those insanely tall waves you only see in the movies. You’re either going to have the ride of your life or it’s going to smash you and potentially kill you.
My quick advice, don’t do it. It’s hard. REALLY HARD. No entrepreneur will admit it when times are hard and you only hear about it when they write their biography but it’s really really really hard. And not just on you, on everyone around you. All your friends, your family, hell even your pets suffer. To do it right you will 100% work 100/hour weeks. You will most likely fail in the first year, and for sure in the second.
If that scares you, good, stay out and live a good safe life. If not, here’s my real advice:
- Learn how your whole business works, then try to hire/partner with experts in the parts you’re weakest at
- If you aren’t a lawyer or accountant, hire one. I spent so much time doing stupid things that had to be redone anyway
- Value your own time. You will think “Oh I can do that!” or “I’ll just do it myself and save time/money” but if you’re an engineer/expert worth $100hr and you’re doing $12/hr jobs you’re wasting company resources. Hire/Partner.
- Dont be one of those “I cant tell you my idea/ NDA people” Everyone hates them and its an instant sign you don’t really understand this world yet. I’m not saying give away the blueprints or recipe, but chances are there was someone who tried to do what you did and failed, or you’re really just merging two already done ideas. (Uber for X)
- Put your whole business into a ROCK SOLID legal foundation. Even if your business is with your friend/spouse. (See the book founders dilema)
- Have a life. It will take concentrated effort to do. You will want to bury yourself in work and suddenly you’ll look up and have alienated everyone. Make an effort.
- The patent office is now “First to file” and you only have 1yr to file from when you start selling or marketing your idea. At a minimum file a provisional.
I could go on and on, fundraising, networking, creating a biz without servers, etc… I feel like I’m rambling though haha.