How to set up a startup company--how to Start a startup

The original was a piece of article by Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator, many years ago. Http://paulgraham.com/start.html


Below are some of the Chinese abstracts for this article.


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The establishment of a successful start-up company, at least three conditions: a good entrepreneurial partner, better meet the needs of users, less money to burn. Most startups fail to follow one or more of the three conditions mentioned above. If you are all in line, you will have a great grasp of success.


It's not easy, but it's worth trying. Because the start-up company has the improvement, will let you embark on the well-off road.


Creativity: Usually you don't need a bright, great idea, just a little improvement to the people's existing work and life methods. This is not difficult, because there are many places where people work and live in ways that are worth improving. Google, for example, has improved the way people search for information. Crawl more information, provide more efficient retrieval speed, more concise page and operation method. You can't pull a VC out of a so-called idea alone. Many startups ' creative products will gradually change, and ultimately successful products may be completely different from the original idea, even for large companies such as Microsoft and IBM. What really makes sense is not creativity, but creative people, and good entrepreneurs can get a little more done, and good ideas don't make a less reliable entrepreneur.


Person: What kind of person is suitable to stay in a startup company. They are the same workaholic as "cattle". A good programmer will never drop a bug program and crawl into bed. How to find such a person. You can imagine a person's appearance, heart meditation "XXX is a big animal", if you laugh out, then he does not belong to this species. For programmers we also need the following three test methods: He is not really smart. If so, what is his ability to solve the problem? Are there any unacceptable quirks. Hackers generally have some quirks to see if they affect his integration into the team. The partner of a start-up company is preferably three, the number is too small tango, the number of too many opinions is difficult to unify. A partner of a technical startup must have a mastery of technology, otherwise it is difficult to succeed. There is nothing magical about business issues, you can do it yourself at the beginning, and you don't need a professional corporate man. Even running a large company does not require an MBA degree. But make sure that at least one person in your partner knows enough about the user's needs.


What customers want: Many companies, not just startups, fail because they don't understand the real needs of their customers, and they offer customers what they don't expect from their customers. The most direct and effective way is to create a prototype of the product, adjust the product function according to the user's feedback. Startups ' products must not be targeted at Big Macs like Oracle and Google, and even if your products are much more powerful than Oracle's, their global sales staff will be looking for your teeth. Making low-end products stronger and easier to use, rather than making the market's powerful products cheaper. Remember a word: The low end will gradually eat high-end. It is the key to the success of a startup company to have a simple and easy-to-use product with low price.


Financing: In the initial stage, it is often necessary to find an angel investor to pull a not too big seed money. Mainly used for prototyping products. At this stage, it is necessary to establish a serious company, especially the division of the partners needs to be clear. and to ensure that the title of the product patent ownership and so on. In order to prepare for the next formal financing, it is necessary to correctly estimate your company's products, which can only be estimated, and the share quotas of the partners and angel investors should be reasonably divided. To get a big thunder from the official VC, it's not easy, you need to make sure you have money in hand to start the next round of financing, or not enough. Many VCs will also place CEOs in your startups because they think the CEO needs to be professionally competent, and that's a really lame call. Be sincere about VCs, but be reserved, because one day he may invest in your competitors. Take more of the startups and get to know VCs, which will help them understand your business plan and not invest in competitors. Sometimes it also helps your company be acquired.


Save money: Avoid the company inflating too quickly. Rapid growth keeps you away from the needs of your users more and more. Always remember that VCs are not profits, and getting a big VC doesn't mean you are rich. Don't spend a lot of money decorating your office, the professional environment means getting the job done, not the transparent glass walls. The most important way to save money is, of course, to hire fewer people.


Are you fit to start a business: In fact most people are right to start a business, but they don't realize it. Of course, at least three elements are needed for entrepreneurship: Technology enthusiasts, 23-38 years old, want financial freedom. In short, want to do, do not think that entrepreneurship is how difficult things. Do what the user likes, earn more than the flowers, it becomes.