Startup Tips

Startup Tip #15: Fight the urge to spin more plates

* “Busy” does not equal “productive”. * You shouldn’t be doing 1,000 different things. * Business isn’t that complicated. * Very few things are urgent. Very few things actually even need to get done. * Figure out what your goals are for the coming 3, 6, 12 months and work your way backwards. * Identify exactly what things need to get done to accomplish those goals. * Chances are it’s not actually that much. * But most people pick 10–20 things and try to do it all. * But instead of getting a lot done…then end up getting almost nothing done. * Pick just 1 or 2 “must do” things and focus on them. * If you get those done, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Startup Tip #14: Hire slowly & methodically

* Resist the urge to hire. * If you’ve raised any amount of money, the very first thing you’ll have a deep burning desire to go do is hire people. * But resist it. * Growing a business isn’t an overcomplicated task that needs a huge team to do it. * Hyper-focus on tasks that actually move the needle. * You can do an unbelievable amount with a small team. * And then, when there’s a deep need for someone with specialized skill, they’ll have a much bigger impact on growth.

Startup Tip #13: Hire a nerd

* Dave Ramsey talks about “nerds” and “free spirits” when it comes to finances in marriage. * The “nerd” loves to manage the budget while the “free spirit” loves to forget there’s a budget to manage. * My wife is the “nerd” and I’m the “free spirit”. * She’s managed our finances for the entirety of our nearly 12 years of marriage. * It’s not that one is better than the other. Without the nerd, the free spirit would spend recklessly and go broke. * Without the free spirit, the nerd would never spend any money at all and would be miserably uptight. They need each other for balance. * Your business is the same way. * If you, as a founder, aren’t the “nerd” and obsessing over finances and forecasting the future isn’t your bag, don’t force it. * Hire a nerd. * Today.

Startup Tip #12: Become part of the company workflow

* Want to reduce churn? * Of course you do! * Make your product part of your customers’ daily workflow. * Engaged users don’t churn. * And really there’s no more sure-fire way to keep a customer engaged than by becoming a part of the workflow of the entire company! * The fastest way to do this is by having multi-user support in your product. * When multiple people within a company start getting value out your product, it’s much harder for them to churn. * You’ve become part of an entire organization’s or department’s toolset * And people don’t like changing tools.

Startup Tip #11: Use ad retargeting to convert visitors

* Retargeting is a mystical world of unicorns and fairies...clothed in a shroud of banner ads. * If not used properly, you can blow through thousands of dollars in no time and have no new customers to show for it. * What is this mystical banner-ad-shrouded retargeted unicorn you speak of? * Retargeting is a type of online advertising that resurfaces your brand/product around the web after a user has visited your site. * It’s the whole scenario where you go to the Cinnabon site to check out the new Cinnabon Bites and then you go to Facebook 3 days later and there’s a huge picture of cinnamon roll in your news feed. * In our example your app is a gooey taste piece of bread slathered in butter, cinnamon and sugar. * The concept here is that once you’ve express some level of interest in a product * (As indicated by your visit to the site) * You’re much more likely to become a paying customer. * Retargeting effectively optimizes your banner ads. * Retargeting, as with any form of advertising, won’t work for everyone. * But you’re potentially leaving a cost-effective acquisition channel on the table. * So, give it a try and see how it works for you!