9 Crucial Pieces of Startup Business Advice from Batman’s Bane

Startup Advice from the “The Dark Knight Rises” Villain

Just as you might not have seen yourself as an entrepreneur at some point (but we all are in some way!), you probably didn’t think Batman’s chief nemesis, musclebound mask-wearing Bane, could provide business advice — but you were wrong. So herewith, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, wise-ish words from Bane, the masked villain from 2012's highly successful Batman flick “The Dark Knight Rises”:

1. Don’t be Afraid of Starting a Company, But Know There Will Be Tough Times.

Most people think starting is hard, but sometimes keeping going is the hardest thing of all. You should be ready to run lean both personally and as a company when you start something, but it’s also almost impossible to prepare for the unexpected things that will happen along the way, so just get started.

Calm down, Doctor! Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.

2. Team is Important, But So is Having a Passion About your Market and Approach.

Your team matters a lot, but you need to have a founding team that cares about the problem you’re looking to solve AND the way you’re going after it, otherwise none of it matters.

It doesn’t matter who we are, what matters is our plan.

3. Get a Mentor & Learn from Those Who’ve Been There.

You’re going to make some dumb mistakes whether it’s your first time at bat or the fifth, but hopefully fewer over time and choosing the right mentors or advisors can be crucial. Even a few seemingly trivial, well-timed (especially tax, legal or accounting) tips can save time, energy and money — but more importantly a solid advisor might know who the right people in your industry are who will help vs. those who will waste your most precious resource, time.

Theatricality and deception are powerful agents to the uninitiated… but we are initiated, aren’t we Bruce? Members of the League of Shadows!

4. The Only Real Startup Experience, is Startup Experience.

I’ve been asked by young entrepreneurs whether they should go into investment banking or management consulting as ways to learn about business in a way helpful to starting a company at some point, while they pay off their student loans. It’s nice to earn a salary for a while, but don’t expect to learn anything truly useful in those situations. Nothing is a substitute for startup experience, especially when (as a young person) you have the luxury of a relatively low burn-rate. If you can learn at someone else’s early stage startup, or your own, and pay the minimum on your student loans, so much the better.

Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, moulded by it.

5. Keep Taking Risks Even After Some Success.

Don’t stop testing new things, even when you’ve found what seems to be a winning formula. Not all business problems can be A/B tested of course, but I liked always running what we think is our best algorithm or strategy 80% of the time and doing something new and untested 20% of the time — that way when the performance of what’s best starts dropping you may have something new you can try for replacing it.

Peace has cost you your strength! Victory has defeated you!

6. Think About How to Become Self-Sustaining Early On.

Fear can be a good thing, but perhaps fear of failure (‘death’ in Bane’s view here) is less useful than having a fear of becoming a zombie, a more severe punishment, where you have some minor success but you’re stuck for years in your business having raised too much money to sell for a small bit of upside (a number which can be life-changing for founders but won’t get VCs too excited), but still find yourself dependent on outsiders. Revenue solves a lot of problems and may let you control your fate.

You don’t fear death… You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.

7. Treat Your Investors’ Money As You Would Your Own.

Spend money on important stuff like hiring the best people and getting them fair benefits. Don’t waste it on things that don’t add value, and be careful in justifying expensive unnecessary ‘vanity’ expenses (sometimes, but definitely not always, fancy office space falls into this category). Sometimes instead of just seeing what seems like a too-high number on a spreadsheet or expense report, picture the number in twenty or hundred dollar bills and think if you’d do the same thing if it were actually coming out of your pocket.

Trader: This is a stock exchange! There’s no money you can steal!

Bane: Really? Then why are you people here?

8. Be Diligent In Selecting Investors and Your Board of Directors.

VCs and angels are going to ask questions about you and your team, but be sure to do your due diligence on prospective investors too. You might sometimes be in a situation where you feel like you have no choice, but often you have more options than you think. The stakes are higher in later rounds when you may no longer control the board of directors. Talk to other entrepreneurs who’ve worked with these individuals (not just the firms they represent). Read more about managing boards from people like Brad Feld or Mark Suster.

Daggett: I paid you a small fortune.
Bane: And this gives you *power* over me?
Daggett: What is this?
Bane: Your money and infrastructure have been important… ‘til now!

9. Expect Development Will Take Longer Than You Thought and Plan Accordingly.

If you have a tech startup, you’re going to need more runway than you thought because development almost always takes longer than anticipated, and you’re unlikely to speed things up by trying to more engineers quickly (good luck: let me know if it works out for you!). Be prepared. If you’re in a competitive space and things are taking too long, you may find yourself having to make adjustments, even pivot. As Bane says, you can always “go mobile” — let’s hope it doesn’t come to that for you! Best of luck!

Bane: How much longer does the program need? CTO: 8 minutes

Bane: Time to go mobile.