Will Marlow

The rarest and most valuable people in a startup company are the ones who not only understand their role, but can perform that role, even when things that should happen first, don’t happen first.  If you can't find these people, you can still be one of them yourself.

Without these types of people, the first part of a startup would feel like the story of Little Tuppen, whose mother needed water to help her stop coughing, and everyone wanted to help, but they all wanted her to do a different task before they would lift a finger.  (The stream told her to see the tree, the tree told her to see the boy, the boy told her to see the cow, the cow told her to see the blacksmith...)  

In the earliest days, this may be your feeling when you approach your very first investor, who wants you to have traction, or the very first clients, who want to know who your other clients are, or the VCs, who want to know about the other companies you've built and exited, or the potential partners, who want to work for a startup as long as it's already scaling halfway up the hockey stick.

Your only hope is to be the type of person you're looking for, and be grateful (I am) for all of those great people who find you.

Filed under  //   Business plan   early-stage investing   Little Tuppen   Seed-stage   Startup   Startups   VC   VCs   Venture capitalists  

You're not going to change the world by building a sales force, even if you build the equivalent of Napoleon's Army to sell your products.

If the most exciting thing in your business plan is the number of sales reps you hope to hire once you get serious funding, you are not likely to get the funding.

If a company is fundable (not merely viable) your sales force will manage the demand for your products as your company flies through the tornado.  The tornado doesn't wait for the presence of your sales force to materialize.

This is what Marc Andreessen means when he starts talking about how the goal of any seed stage company is to find the right "product/market fit."  

The most exciting part of your business plan is the potential for you to change the world by finding a new "whole product" that everybody wants, but that only you have built.  If the most exciting part of your business plan is something else, your plan is probably not very exciting. 

PS - Here are some awesome resources for entrepreneurs from Carl Grant (@carlgrant).  These resources are VERY helpful if you're raising capital for your company, whether you're talking to venture capitalists or anyone else.

Filed under  //   Business plan   Carl Grant   Cooley   Cooley Godward Kronish   Entrepreneur   Entrepreneurs   Marc Andreessen   Product-Market fit   Sales force   Sales reps   Whole Product