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Did you know that 0.05% of startups raise venture capital? Some startups require venture capital to succeed but most do not. And because focus is our only competitive advantage in the early days, it can be harmful to put too much emphasis on fundraising. Especially fundraising that is actually just thinly veiled vanity. Raising money…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:24 — 23.8MB)

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I didn’t appreciate our legal system until my company got sued It’s a funny story now that I’d be happy to tell you over a beer – but at the time it was scary. I was afraid that we would lose our company, but I was even more afraid that I would lose my house…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:02 — 23.0MB)

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Of course you’re not qualified to start your company! You don’t have experience in the industry. You’re not a coder. You’re not a business person. You don’t have the money. These things might be true, and they can limit the speed or way in which you start a company, but they are challenges you can…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:16 — 32.7MB)

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There are a million things you have to do when you start a company And everybody is going to have advice for you. Do you have IP? Have you hired an accountant? Did you see there’s a company in the Valley that is doing that same thing now? It doesn’t stop, and it’s overwhelming. Your…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:13 — 48.6MB)

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The world is full of great business ideas. But your time on earth is finite so you have to make choices about where to invest your time. Your career might last fifty years and if it takes ten years to build a company then you’re not getting too many chances. But if you don’t go…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:42 — 40.5MB)

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Almost nobody wants to be a salesperson. The stereotypical salesperson is pushy and annoying. So it will probably be disappointing when I tell you that If you don’t sell, then your startup will fail. And really this is true for any ambitious person in any profession – even if you work in a big company,…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:35 — 24.2MB)

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Marketing is just a giant math problem Well not completely – I just read that Kylie Jenner’s phone is the entire marketing department for her billion dollar cosmetics company. But that’s not normal. All of the other startups out there can make better investments in marketing by testing and tracking and adjusting along the way….

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:10 — 46.2MB)

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You should only build products your customer wants to buy. So what strategies do the best companies use to make sure they do that consistently? I know that sounds really obvious but startups forget all the time. There’s so much to do you just get turned around. In class we talk a lot about customer…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:58 — 27.4MB)

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Problems have more than one solution When you’re starting your company you’re going to be excited. You’re going to have a vision for what the company will do and what will make it special. You’ll start pitching the idea and becoming more and more invested in that vision. Startup mythology will encourage you to believe…