Category: business plans

Game Changing

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Sometimes we convince ourselves in the early days of our start up that the fun stuff is most important. Yes it’s seriously important, and it’s partly why we decided to leave the cubicle.

 

But the biggest reason we left cubiclesville was because we wanted to win. We wanted to do something, change something, prove something and achieve success which other corporate plankton couldn’t claim on our behalf.

 

That said, we ought ask ourselves this:

 

Is what we are doing Game Changing?

 

Will what we are spending investing our time on today be the thing that ensures we win the game in our web domain, category or industry?

 

 

Fact: When Youtube launched there was over 450 other video sharing websites. Youtube won video sharing for these reasons:

 

1.      They had the simplest user experience

2.      They had the most videos uploaded

 

That’s it.

 

So – are we investing our day on Game Changing activities, or just passing time?

Great Quote

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

“Being busy is a form of laziness – lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.”

 

Timothy Ferriss

 

Startup blog agrees, and adds – if we blame our employers for the above, there’s no locks on the door…. and we’re still being lazy.

Pop quiz

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Two people went to work on their startup business.

 

Joseph got up early started at 8am and worked until midnight, he finished all the tasks on his to do list.

 

Mary slept in, was tired, got up mid morning flicked through the newspaper, had a few good solid hours in the afternoon and goofed off after 5.30pm. She did not complete all the tasks on her to do list.

 

Question: Which entrepreneur achieved the most in said day?

 

A)    Joseph

B)    Mary

C)    Cannot tell.

 

Answer: C

 

As entrepreneurs the most crucial mistake we can make is confusing activity with progress. The entrepreneur who achieved most is the one who made the most progress towards their end goal.

 

We should not confuse time spent with value created.

Business plans

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

For those of us not raising Angle or Venture Capital, our business plans should be directly proportional to the size of our business.

 

No revenue = no plan.

(ok – a small mud map that focuses on the very basic business model which will lead to revenue.)

 

<$1 million revenue  = 1 page.

 

The law of diminishing returns sets in at around about 10 pages, regardless of the size of the business. 

Cool brands

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Cool brands are put simply, just like cool people. It’s not so hard to believe when we consider that brands (well known ones) have personalities. Brands have values, share ideas and represent something.

Brands are just like people, the personification of things or services.

So what makes a cool brand? The same stuff that makes a cool person.

Cool people:

·        Cut new ground

·        Dress how they want

·        Don’t care about being popular, which is why they ‘become’ popular

·        Do stuff they like, not what others like

·        Have strong opinions and values, don’t care what others think

·        Don’t try and impress – so they do

·        Are confident and relaxed

·        Aren’t selfish, mean or vindictive

·        Are often compassionate and kind

·        Are easy to get along with (easy to use?)

·        Take a while to be understood

·        Get discovered eventually as being – thought leaders

·        Cool in a crisis

             fonzie.jpg 

Hey, there’s plenty more personifications where these came from – so be

like Arthur Fonzerelli and add them to the comments.

Some stuff all web startups should know

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

I’ve just read the following book. 50 great e-Businesses and the minds behind them. By Emily Ross and Angus Holland. It includes all our favourites over the past 10 years. Put simply it’s insightful.

 50-great-e-businesses.jpg

I really think you should read it, but if you’re time poor like most entrepreneurs here’s my bullet point summary for you:

  • More than 80% of these businesses were founded and run by non-technical people (web designers / coders etc)
  • Only a handful actually went viral and had overnight success
  • ‘Fun parks’ build traffic & members quicker than ‘real commercial sites’ (see next blog entry)
  • The majority did not have VC funding, fancy offices, or even staff. They bootstrapped.
  • Most took much longer than 2 years to build
  • The most unexpected and common thing that drove success was cold calling & collaboration 
  • The entrepreneurs behind them we’re driven by the idea, belief and excitement – not only the potential for big money.

Worth a read.