What Does a Startup NEED to Succeed? - 7 TRUTHS

What Does a Startup NEED to Succeed? - 7 TRUTHS

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What does a startup entrepreneur really need to succeed? Let's
talk about it. I participated in a VC meet up
the other week as a panel speaker, and one of
the questions asked to us was what does a startup
entrepreneur really need to succeed? The question was asked with

(00:22):
a little bit of attitude, which I fully understand. In
many of these cases, these types of zoom pitch deck
pitch practice opportunities can be somewhat of waste of time. Regardless,
the venture capitalists tend to bloviate a lot about things
that they've never actually experienced in the trenches. So I
felt for this young upstart in this salty question with

(00:46):
a little bit of a tinge of attitude. I was
third in line to answer the question, so as this
was a fully digital conference, I had about four to
five minutes to pull together an answer. I immediately began typing
out my ideas into a zoom chat. I stared into
the camera waiting for my turn. It's moments like these
that I know, and I'm happy that I can type

(01:06):
over one hundred words per minute while looking at you
pretending to pay attention. Anyway, I'm proud of what I
cobbled together. It feels good enough to know your stuff
since the question was asked with a little bit of attitude.
When they finally got to me, I responded with this,
since you're looking for pragmatic two does get ready to

(01:27):
take some notes? I got you, man. Here are my
top seven off the top of my head. Into some notes. Here,
let's go. So what I basically did is I reviewed
all of the notes, so let me give it to you.
Seven core needs to succeed in your startup. Number One
clear vision and mission. You need an all encompassing clear

(01:49):
vision and mission that aligns every one of your decisions
in the business. If your decision isn't aligned to your
mission and vision, you already know to say no. Two
strong team and leadership alignment. A skilled and committed team
that complements each other's strengths that you've put together. Based
on the alignment and shared understanding around the mission and vision.

(02:11):
You can clearly tell when people in your early stage
startup aren't committed to the mission and vision. They aren't
delivering almost daily like this is one of the biggest
I wouldn't say red flags, but obvious behavior patterns. If
the leadership and the people building your startup aren't shipping

(02:34):
delivering product services, experiments, trials, shipping content every single day.
They're misaligned. They don't truly have it in their gut
and their soul to actually want to be here and
help this startup succeed. You will know them through the
evidence of their work. You don't have time to be

(02:55):
directing and telling people what to do in an early stage.
If you do, their employees ease, not startup characteristics you
need right now. Number three market understanding and data centric decisions. Frankly,
the best investments are in people who already deeply understand
the market. Their market research is much different than someone
trying to understand the market. Deep knowledge of the target

(03:18):
market and customer needs are imperative here. You won't ever
define the market by the way you just play in it.
Number four Adaptability and resilience. Getting punched in the face
daily is a requirement for startup entrepreneurs. The ability to
pivot and adapt to changes in the market or business
environment outside of your control is the fine print you

(03:40):
signed up for. Persistence and the ability to overcome challenges
and setbacks are the only evidence of your ability to
win Number five speed of execution and customer focus. If
you're not shipping some type of product or content every
single day, then you've missed the narrative. You don't know
what you need until you find out out what doesn't work.

(04:01):
The faster you find out that you're wrong, the faster
you can get back on track. A deep commitment to
solving customer problems and delivering value to them creates the
feedback loops necessary to hone in on the right problems
to solve that'll make you money. Number six marketing and
social Nobody knows about you, Nobody cares about you. Nobody

(04:23):
wants to buy your product. Now, you must be the
voice in megaphone for your idea to all. If you're
not willing in today's market to be the face of
your product, do you actually really care about it? I
find it fascinating that people will slow roll their projects
because it might put more spotlight on what they're trying
to do than they'd like. What's the problem with that?

(04:46):
You want people to know about what you're doing right,
Get over yourself. Read the book Gravity, How to Create
an Irresistible Brand by Peter Saddington, and be a voice
for your project number seven, Networking and relationships. You can
always go fast alone, but you'll need others to go farther.
Building relationship with mentors, partners, and potential customers. Has the

(05:08):
daily and week has to be a daily and weekly
thing for you. This is why we've built communities and
conferences like the Full Snack Business Builder Conference. Join the
Full Stack Business Builder Conference and put your idea and
build it in public in the full Snack business Builder community.
After you're executing daily, growing your feedback cycles weekly, and

(05:29):
networking and meeting new people to help you monthly, then
you can find the funding you need. That's what I
said to him, pretty hefty. He took good notes. I
felt accomplished, and frankly, everybody wins. Oh. By the way,
we launched on the community at got fsbb io our

(05:52):
Advanced Accelerator program and our pitch Deck Accelerator program for free.
Check it out one