The Agile Startup: Quick and Dirty Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know

The Agile Startup: Quick and Dirty Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
Contents......Page 8
Why You Should Read This Book......Page 16
The Entrepreneur’s Life Cycle......Page 18
Chapter 1: Agile Philosophy......Page 22
Rule #1......Page 24
What\'s Your Why?......Page 25
You Are Wrong......Page 28
Heaven . . . and Hell......Page 29
You Get Only 15,000 Days......Page 32
The Entrepreneurial Method......Page 33
Focus on Problems, Not Solutions......Page 36
Three Requirements for Success......Page 37
Dreamers versus Doers......Page 40
Get Out of the Building......Page 41
Business Plans Are Worthless......Page 44
Let Them Steal It......Page 45
Embarrass Yourself......Page 48
Fail Fast—and Often......Page 49
Contain Risk as Early as Possible......Page 52
First, Decide What Not To Do......Page 53
Rules? What Rules?......Page 56
FOCUS—Follow One Course Until Successful......Page 57
Don\'t Drink the Kool-Aid......Page 60
Get in over Your Head......Page 61
There Is No Silver Bullet......Page 64
It Ain\'t a Problem \'Til It\'s a Problem......Page 65
Launch to Learn......Page 68
Resourcefulness, Not Resources......Page 69
Chapter 2: Make It Feasible......Page 72
Is it Feasible?......Page 74
ASS Out of U and ME......Page 75
Three Questions You Must Answer......Page 78
Double Your Worst Case......Page 79
Five Risk Factors......Page 82
Product 1.0—A Brochure......Page 83
Good Ideas, Bad Businesses......Page 86
Wrong Questions—Wrong Answers......Page 87
Vitamin, Painkiller, or Cure?......Page 90
Create Massive Value......Page 91
Why Won\'t It Work?......Page 94
Show Me the Money......Page 95
Does It Pencil?......Page 98
Play Dumb......Page 99
Take a Haircut......Page 102
If You Build It, Will They Come?......Page 103
Buying Customers......Page 106
CLV >= 2 × CAC......Page 107
Cash Is More Important than Your Mother......Page 110
Think Like a VC......Page 111
Chapter 3: Customers and Competition......Page 114
Break It Down......Page 116
Ride the Wave......Page 117
Know Thy Market......Page 120
WII.FM—Your Favorite Radio Station......Page 121
Tell Me What Sucks......Page 124
You Can\'t Boil the Ocean......Page 125
Reframe the Competition......Page 128
Make a Competitive Matrix......Page 129
Differentiate or Die......Page 132
Competition Is a Good Thing......Page 133
Follow the Leader......Page 136
Fast Followers Finish First......Page 137
10x Better......Page 140
You Need a Moat......Page 141
Zero Degrees of Separation......Page 144
Chapter 4: Making Money......Page 146
What\'s Your Business Model?......Page 148
The Best Source of Capital......Page 149
How Do You Make Money?......Page 152
Gross Profit Margins......Page 153
Prefer Variable to Fixed......Page 156
Go Bootstrap Yourself......Page 157
The First Rule to Making Money......Page 160
The First Dollar Is the Hardest......Page 161
Bottoms Up!......Page 164
Build a (Bad) Financial Model......Page 165
How Much Runway?......Page 168
Know Your Do-or-Die Numbers......Page 169
Chapter 5: Marketing......Page 172
Luck Is Not a Plan......Page 174
What\'s Your Positioning?......Page 175
Hold the Presses......Page 178
Old Meets New......Page 179
Sell Wants, but Deliver Needs......Page 182
How Can I Help You?......Page 183
Turn $1 into $2+......Page 186
Do It Twice......Page 187
Perception Is Reality......Page 190
Be a Guerrilla Marketer......Page 191
The Secret to Writing Copy That Sells......Page 194
Promise . . . Then Overdeliver......Page 195
Your Brand Talks......Page 197
Chapter 6: Team......Page 198
Not So Fast, Partner......Page 200
Get a Pre-Nup......Page 201
ABCs of Hiring......Page 204
Your Startup Is a Boat......Page 205
The Build/Sell Team......Page 208
Make Sure You\'re Aligned......Page 209
How to Get the Best People......Page 212
Fire Yourself......Page 213
You Are Not Scalable......Page 216
Mess with the Vest, Die Like the Rest......Page 217
Delegate, Don\'t Abdicate......Page 220
Form an Advisory Board......Page 221
Who\'s the Boss?......Page 224
The Right Partner Formula......Page 225
Hire Slow, Fire Fast......Page 226
Sharing a Submarine......Page 227
Chapter 7: Pitching Your Startup......Page 228
Get Your Story Straight......Page 230
Get to the Next Step......Page 231
Half as Long Is Twice as Good......Page 234
First Rule of Elevator Pitches......Page 235
Get Used to Rejection......Page 238
Use the Use Case......Page 239
Make It Stick......Page 242
Name It and Frame It......Page 243
Find the Hot Buttons......Page 246
Fake It \'Til You Make It......Page 247
Be Simple, Not Simplistic......Page 250
Don\'t Bury the Lead......Page 251
Back of a Business Card......Page 253
Chapter 8: Investors......Page 254
You Are the First Investor......Page 256
Got Traction?......Page 257
Passionate Obsessed......Page 260
Pigs Get Slaughtered......Page 261
Investors Are Not Created Equal......Page 264
Do You Want to Be Rich or Be King?......Page 265
When No Leads to Yes......Page 268
The Train Is Leaving the Station......Page 269
Calling All Angels......Page 272
The Lemmings Need a Leader......Page 273
Don\'t Expect to Hear \"No\"......Page 276
Save the Best for Last......Page 277
Get to Your Next Milestone......Page 280
Fuel to the Fire......Page 281
A Demo Is Worth 1,000 Words......Page 284
Money Only Buys Time......Page 285
If You Want Money, Ask for Advice......Page 288
The Investor Triad......Page 289
The Day You Take an Investor\'s Money......Page 292
What\'s the Business Worth?......Page 293
Valuation Isn\'t Everything......Page 296
Friends, Family, and Fools......Page 297
Chapter 9: Building the Business......Page 298
Nail It before You Scale It......Page 300
Tipping Point......Page 301
Think on Paper......Page 304
The First Question to Ask......Page 305
Make Meetings Matter......Page 308
Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst......Page 309
Expect the Unexpected......Page 312
Be Your Own Customer......Page 313
Think Big, Execute Small......Page 316
Forget the Mission Statement......Page 317
Metrics Matter......Page 320
Your Network Is Your Net Worth......Page 321
Who\'s the Bad Guy?......Page 324
Your Reputation Precedes You......Page 325
Build It Like You\'re Going to Sell It......Page 328
Be Frugal, Not Cheap......Page 329
When the S#!t Hits the Fan (and It Will)......Page 332
Know When to Fold \'Em......Page 333
Chapter 10: What to Know Before You Go......Page 336
Startups Are Boring......Page 338
Young at Heart......Page 339
Your Three Hats......Page 342
You Are on Your Own......Page 343
Dangers in the Moonlight......Page 346
The Part-Time Entrepreneur......Page 347
A Family Affair......Page 350
Congratulations, It\'s a Boy!......Page 351
Ten Things You Should Never Do Before Starting......Page 354
The Five-Year Overnight Success......Page 355
Conclusion......Page 356
Acknowledgments......Page 358
Recommended Reading......Page 360
About the Authors......Page 362
Online Course Offer......Page 364
Bonus Material for eBook Readers......Page 366
Talk to People......Page 367
Forget About Google......Page 370
How’s Your Project Going?......Page 371
Stop Experimenting, Start Building......Page 374
Growing Pains......Page 375
The Price Is Wrong......Page 378
To B(2B) or Not to B(2B)......Page 379
Get Them Early......Page 382
Nice Guys Finish Last......Page 383
#1 Startup Killer......Page 386
Lady Luck......Page 387
Get a Job......Page 390
Fire Your Customers......Page 391
You Are Running Out of Oxygen......Page 394
Get Loaded......Page 395
Gut Check......Page 398
Fall in Line......Page 399
Who the Hell Are You?......Page 402
Needle in a Haystack......Page 403
Take a Timeout......Page 406
Pass the One-Thirty Test......Page 407
What Did I Just Say?......Page 410
Tease, Don’t Teach......Page 411
Simple and Standalone......Page 414
Post-Courtship......Page 415
Level the Playing Field......Page 418
Counting Chickens......Page 419
Get a Meeting......Page 422
Part of the Family......Page 423
Credibility Is Key......Page 426
Wheelin’ and Dealin’......Page 427
Adding or Subtracting Value?......Page 430
What Business Are You In?......Page 431
In or Out?......Page 434
Core Values......Page 435
Lifestyle or Scale?......Page 438
How to Know When “It’s Time”......Page 439
Plan B: Get Franchised......Page 442
Unadulterated BS......Page 443
Welcome to the NFL......Page 446
Index......Page 447