A quick startup “how-to” guide takeoff on the Sunscreen song. My words and voice. Animation by the incredibly talented Assaf Yogev and the Zemingo team (Published 2016).
Launching a startup is like strapping your butt to a rocket, aim for a star and bang off you go... all the while knowing you don't have enough fuel to get you even halfway where you want to go. The trick is to find fuel in space, refuel while suspended in midair, and do it multiple times. If you don't, you will stand still, then fall.
Don't stand still!
Don't worry about the voyage, or worry but know that once launched, there is no going back. Travel you will and as far as you possibly can. The real troubles in your life are all about where you are going - your star, is it really what you think, is there someone there already... or does it exist at all?
Don't waste your time on the competition, sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind... The race is long, and in the end, it's only about finishing.
Don't feel guilty if you don't follow the exact path you initially planned. The most interesting companies I know didn't stick to their plan either. Some of the most promising ones are still morphing.
Raise as much cash as you can. Be kind to your investors - You will miss them when they are gone.
Maybe you'll IPO
Maybe you won't
Maybe you'll make an exit
Maybe you won't
Maybe you'll shut down in six month
Maybe you'll retire on your 40th founding anniversary...
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.
Raise money, even if you have nothing to do with it but save it for when you will. Acknowledge market trends even if you don't agree with them. Do not sign open-ended contracts. They're sure to come back to haunt you...
Sleep on the office floor once but stop before it makes you dizzy. Fly business class once but stop before it spreads around.
Accept certain inalienable truths. Funding will run out, term sheets will fade, you too will be pressed to the wall. And when you do, you'll remember that when you were on the outside, funding seemed a breeze, strategic partners looked noble, and entrepreneurs respected their investors.
Respect your investors!
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Do everything you can to break even. Maybe you have an angle. Maybe you have landed a VC investment. But you never know when either one might run out.
And trust me on the funding...
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