Why your Startup will probably fail

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:57:21 -0000

This is a re-post of a blog I wrote for Shoe String Startups

If you’re like I was a couple of years back every idea you’d tell your friends, family or co-workers would come with negative feedback, “oh great idea, but you’ll fail because of x”, “oh fantastic idea but Google did that”, “Mike seriously? There is a tech-bubble, I’d wait 30 years before trying when the market is better” or “OMFG you’re going to quit University to work on that”.

Even worse you visit popular startup blogs and read advice on getting funded or interviews with glorious know-it-all investors and hear the same negative bullshit advice, “most startups fail, do something unique”, “you probably won’t get funded and you’ll die a horrible death for trying anything”, or “do something you love, but it’ll probably fail”. OK I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the point.

So all the advice, blogs and press suggest that you’ll likely fail and yes, the odds suggest that you will. But not us, we’re different – read on.

We know what we’re working on now is just the beginning

We’re agile enough to know that now isn’t forever and that markets, products, people and ideas rapidly change. We adapt to this change, learn from our mistakes, constantly tweak and realise that success comes from more than just a simple idea. Success comes from persistence, believing you can even at the darkest hours and knowing when to change course.

We’ve got blind folds on, we’re naive and won’t listen

We’re ignorant because we know it’s our best hope to create a disruptive startup. We don’t listen to anyone that tries to fill our heads with self doubt and we’re constantly challenging convention. We keep our blindfolds on, stay naive and don’t listen.

As a simple fail safe we have a reality check every so once in awhile. We let our measure be that people see enough value in what we’re doing to actually pay for it. We see no other metrics worth worrying about, we know that businesses work by creating a product or service and then selling it and that’s all we need to know for now.

We will be funded when the time is right and the business is scalable

We’re willing to bootstrap, busk and borrow to keep the fire alive: this is our funding. We realise funding is not a metric of success but a means to scale our idea and open the doors we need. We’re not fearful of running out of fuel. We know that if we create an opportunity of value we will continue to be funded, either by ourselves or by investors willing to back us on our journey.

We’re creative in our approach, consider our options carefully and know we will be funded when the time is right.

We set our own goal posts for success

We don’t have to sell our startup for a billion dollars to be successful. In fact, we may never wish to sell our business at all. We don’t listen to everyone else and do our own soul searching – what do WE really want, what do WE measure success by?

We set our own goal posts because we don’t want to spend our entire life thinking we’re failures because someone else says so, we and we alone define success and failure.

We’re creators, not consumers

We create, we code, we produce, we blog, we publish and we ship. We’re not consumers, we’re creators: doers.

As creators we open ourselves up to the coalition of the negative, who try and fill our minds with negativity and self doubt to bring us back down to a level of average. We know it’s much easier to criticise than create, then to have the guts to ship something and be proud. We don’t let self doubt and fear stop us from starting something, creating and spending a life being average.

We’re not average because we’ve defined our own goal posts.

We’re on a roller coaster and don’t want to get off

We deal with ups and downs daily, our moods change rapidly, we laugh, we cry and we laugh some more. We love what we do. We hate what we do. It’s hard sometimes for the people around us to fully “get it”. But we try and stay balanced. Balance can be our friend.

We’re on the ride of our life and we don’t want to get off.

We’re generation entrepreneur

We’re entrepreneurs. We’re generation entrepreneur and we believe that that our startup probably won’t fail. Because we’ve defined success, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got to get there.

My first video tutorial on Bislr

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:55:48 -0000

My mission (now that we have launched Bislr into an invite-only beta) is to put out a new video tutorial of how using Bislr can help you grow your business online each day. Let's hope I can keep it up.

So without further ado I give you my first video on How to create amazing landing pages using Bislr.

Tell me what you think in the comments below, obviously I need a bit more practice!

Steak with yabbies

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:24:55 -0000

We visited my parents in Paterson in the Hunter Valley today. For dinner we went to Paterson pub and had steak with prawns, squid and yabbies! I had to share this photo, it was like they had taken the entire ocean and dumped it on our plate.

Summer in Sydney

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 09:33:03 -0000

One of the great things about living in Sydney in summer is the endless heat, amazing beaches and of course the seafood. Today Shani, Taco and I did all three and it was amazing.

About 40 minutes drive south of Sydney lies the coastal village of Stanwell Park. It's a total gem. Driving down to Stanwell Park Beach from Stanwell Tops gives you a gorgeous view all the way down to Wollongong. I've been lucky enough to ride my bike down this route several times in the MS Sydney to Wollongong bike ride, if you're into cycling it's worth doing to explore the south coast beaches. We love Stanwell Park Beach for it's amazing views, giant park behind the beach and of course dog friendliness.

Hang gliding is popular off Stanwell Tops and if you're lucky some of the hang gliders will land right over your head while sun baking.

In the afternoon we retreated back to the air conditioning and I whipped up a seafood feast.

A great day and a testament to why nothing beats summer in Sydney.

Blog

Why your Startup will probably fail

My first video tutorial on Bislr

Steak with yabbies

Summer in Sydney