A Half-Hearted Effort by Paul Graham

This comes directly from Paul's http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html



18. A Half-Hearted Effort

The failed startups you hear most about are the spectactular flameouts. Those are actually the elite of failures. The most common type is not the one that makes spectacular mistakes, but the one that doesn't do much of anything—the one we never even hear about, because it was some project a couple guys started on the side while working on their day jobs, but which never got anywhere and was gradually abandoned.

Statistically, if you want to avoid failure, it would seem like the most important thing is to quit your day job. Most founders of failed startups don't quit their day jobs, and most founders of successful ones do. If startup failure were a disease, the CDC would be issuing bulletins warning people to avoid day jobs.

Does that mean you should quit your day job? Not necessarily. I'm guessing here, but I'd guess that many of these would-be founders may not have the kind of determination it takes to start a company, and that in the back of their minds, they know it. The reason they don't invest more time in their startup is that they know it's a bad investment. [12]

I'd also guess there's some band of people who could have succeeded if they'd taken the leap and done it full-time, but didn't. I have no idea how wide this band is, but if the winner/borderline/hopeless progression has the sort of distribution you'd expect, the number of people who could have made it, if they'd quit their day job, is probably an order of magnitude larger than the number who do make it. [13]

If that's true, most startups that could succeed fail because the founders don't devote their whole efforts to them. That certainly accords with what I see out in the world. Most startups fail because they don't make something people want, and the reason most don't is that they don't try hard enough.

In other words, starting startups is just like everything else. The biggest mistake you can make is not to try hard enough. To the extent there's a secret to success, it's not to be in denial about that.

Man in the Arena - Awesome Quote by Theodore Roosevelt

Man in the Arena

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Entrepreneurial Overdrive

Entrepreneurial Overdrive - This is a characteristic that I believe every successful entrepreneur must possess. It’s the ability to reach that extra inch when you are tired or feeling like giving up. Its that extra sales call or line of code that you write at the end of a long week or while you’re dying to keep your eyes open. Its waking up on a Saturday, opening your laptop and getting at it, even before you brush your teeth.


Its not caring about spending half of your paycheck on getting that new logo designed or spending a weekend shacked up in your basement writing PRDs, fueled by pizza and beer.

In my mind it’s the only way to get things done. Cause in business excuses don’t matter, nor does anyone really give a crap why it didn’t get done. It just must get done. And especially when launching a start up, the momentum generated by getting things done is so VERY, VERY, VERY important. I have found that once you are at a standstill its incredibly hard to keep going. Its why coaches preach momentum to their team all the time. As an avid sports fanatic I see the change in momentum in games all the time. Loosing momentum will loose you games.

This is Entrepreneurial Overdrive.

Its True about True Ventures...They're cool guys

So, I had a cup of coffee this morning with a guy from true ventures, and was definitely surprised at how cool this dude was. I mean, I have met and know a ton of VCs in the web space and many, not to generalize, are so full of themselves that its a breath of fresh air to meet some that are not so pretentious and full of sh%t. This guy was actually listening to what I had to say and provided some very relevant feedback; actually feedback that that actually solved some of the issues that I was currently tackling on my Incubator55 research platform. It was awesome. The interesting thing is that us young entrepreneurs tend to forget that getting funded is like getting married, and its not entirely only about the money. In our case, its a matter of time, and funding is a way to accelerate things drastically. Its like marrying a hot women who's a pain in the a#s to deal with. Once you tie the knot you are stuck and getting out is a messy ordeal.

Now that we are in the process of exploring funding its very important to us to partner with the RIGHT fund, who will be mentors and innovators, not just a pile of cash.

Check out

or Follow them :

KickApps Launches Social Media Strategy Division Led by Alan Wolk and Justin Chase

* Although I spent a few great years at KickApps, my opinion is as objective and un-bias as possible.

I have to say that this was another great move by Alex Blum and his team. KickApps already has solid technology which over the years has evolved and is going through a hyper-innovation period at the moment. They have a world-class services team; no really it’s awesome. I had the pleasure of working with EVP of Clients Services Tom Gaffney during my time at KickApps, and they don’t get any better than Tom and his team; period. And now with the addition of a Social Media Strategy Division, I believe that this will further enhance the KickApps business, offering their clients strategies that transcend on-domain social experiences to destinations such as Facebook and Twitter. Although, I don't know Alan, I do know Justin Chase and his work, and can say KickApps is lucky to have him. Justin spent several years working on social strategies with Digitas NYC.

Although, the social software space is quite congested and highly competitive my instincts tell me that KickApps will continue to prove to be a real leader within the social media and online publishing spaces.

Also New: KickApps’s CMS Capabilities



Also New: KickApps AppStudio Allows you to create Facebook pages on-demand

Skillslate: Good Idea

So I spoke to Taylor VanAlle of Skillslate.com today and thought that the idea was pretty cool. She called it the "Match.com" for finding a handyman, dog walker,
tutor, or any other individual service provider focused on people as opposed to
companies.

They guys and gals are based in NYC, of course a startup at the moment, looking to change the way people find trusted, local individual business owners.

At First Glance:

The UI looks pretty good. Looks web 2.0'ish and is pretty easy to navigate. Its 1000 times nicer than Craigslist, which is always a plus. Also these guys seem focused unlike some of the other players. Also, its a Rails app so naturally being a fan of rails I like it already.

They are funded, just raised a seed round of venture capital. Of course, these folks are a bunch of young entrepreneurs so I'm definitely in their corner and would love to see them succeed.

Check it out at:

www.Skillslate.com

I Actually Like Facebook Ads

Yep, I can’t believe that I am saying it but, yes, I actually really like Facebook ads.

And there are a few reasons why:
First off, they are relevant to me. Because they are so focused on me, I actually like on them and are quite interested in learning more. For example, I am a big yoga lover. I constantly see ads for yoga retreats and products; which is awesome. I almost click on them 100% of the time. Another topic is entrepreneurship; which duh, is something I really enjoy. Again, there are always awesome events and info that come via Facebook ads.