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Who am I?
President, Ubero, Inc.15Years enterprise s/w experience ISVs: Plaid, Starbase, loadtestingInternet: Buy.com, Digital River (DRIV)Consulting: Ubero, founded 2000Community: OCJava, OCPatterns, OCRuby, CSUF and UCIPedigree: BS CS, BYU - MS ICS, UCITemporary millionaire
Why are you here?
Scott is coolDon’t like college footballMake more moneyHave independenceBe “the decider”Have the “CEO” title
Who is this?
And this?
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What is this?
It’s this...
Entrepreneur Patterns Very smart Macro vs. Micro Energetic Willing to take measured risks Inspires others to join their cause Leverages strength, outsource
weaknesses Focused, yet able to adapt Idea vs. Execution
Ready To Jump?
Have a plan - model, idea, mitigationBusiness experienceCash - poverty, 2nd mortgage, angelPeople - experts, contactsCustomers - early adoptersDemo - code, specs, comps, part-timeThe power of being in the gamePassion - sleep, youth, support
Before you jump...
Good with people, networkingUnderstand business domainDelegate, trust othersWork at least 12 hours a dayLove businessPrepared to fail, “fail fast” and fail oftenYouth is your friend
Business Models
ISV - shareware, micro ISV, OSSWeb – online community, SaaSConsulting - services, custom, nicheVAR, integratorGuru – author, blogger, speakerUse software to be good at a non-software businessHybrid
I Have an Idea
GoodWhat sucks? ClassMates.comWhat can be better?What’s too expensive? Load testing s/wWhat takes too much time?
Not as goodWhat has never been done?What would my friends like to see?
“You can’t build a business based on a feature”
Competition
Mimic and improve - Gmail, Jobster, Flickr, EventbriteNo “Missionary Selling”, competition is goodDon’t compete with your employer!
Recent CA non-compete judgment
Get to know them
Cash
Prepare to be poorAngels are heavenlyDon’t go on a shopping spree
Office, car, employees
Stick with what you need, be nimbleLaptop, phone, s/w tools
Angel Investors
Friends, network, individualsPeople and ideasBeta, proof of concept$100K - $1M, 1%-5%, passive, diverseLawyers, accountants, colleaguesNo NDATech Coast Angels
Venture Capitalists
Good to have a contactBoard members, angelsAn introduction, 15 second pitchExecutive summaryMuch more thorough “due diligence”Beta, paying customers, users$1M-$100M, 20%-40% equity, board seat
What VCs Want
Barriers to entryIntellectual propertySwitching costsExclusive partnerships
ScaleManagement teamExit strategy – 10xBusiness planCustomers, cash flowOffshore, OSS
What VCs Give You
A marriageCustomers, partners, “keiretsu”Money
that you have to spendfor owners pockets
Headachesditch the foundersforce you onto other portfolio companiesstring you along, “show me the money”
Don’t Screw Around
Get a lawyerGet an accountantGet insuranceGet business licenseIncorporateFile your paperwork, taxesSeparate business and personal expensesGet things in writingPrepare for the worse
Selling Your Wares
Community of Users - forums, wikisFree Version, upgrade to “pro”Open source
As a marketing strategyProvide value in support
Support extensions, APIsTurn customers into developersDownloadable - eSellerate, DigiBuy, RegNow, ShareIt, App Store
Launching an Online Business
Coming soon mailing list – “closed beta”PR, News wiresGoogle AdsForums, groups, blogs, mailing listsLive and breathe Web 2.0Encourage referrals, giveawaysDirect marketing - buy listsFree trialWeb, desktop, mobile
Consulting
Breadth is king Deliver solutions, not code You’re easy to fire and blame Make fame – write, speak, teach, cast,
meet Reasons people hire consultants
The side project The next version Lack of in-house expertise on newer platforms Clean up the mess, behind schedule No benefits, no strings attached Wall St. likes it, accounting trickery
Hiring/Staffing
Test your programmersSpoil employees with what matters to them
Coders – gear, chair, LAN partiesMarketing – awards, golf, recognition
OffshoringSeek a high-bandwidth relationshipManage mediocrityElance, oDesk, find referrals
My Favorite Magazines
Wired Business 2.0 Fortune Business Week Harvard Business Review
Web Resources
http://freelanceswitch.com/http://www.softwareceo.comhttp://www.empowerforisv.comhttp://www.venturebeat.com
Q&A
