Founding a Startup Part 1: From the Idea to the Realization
Have you ever thought about founding a startup, but you didn’t know how? The three co-founders of the Swiss tech startup Earlybyte — Remo, Philipp, and Charles — share their experiences, motivations, and how they realized their visions.
TLDR
In an interview, the co-founders of Earlybyte tell us their startup’s origin story in three parts. This first one is all about motivation, ideas, visions, and strategy before taking the actual step of founding a company. Here are the top five takeaways from the article:
- Find something that you have a passion for and form your startup accordingly.
- Having an idea AND a vision helps to find out who you are and what you are doing as a company. Otherwise, finding a niche gets potentially more challenging.
- A strategy includes knowing if you want to finance your startup with investors or if you want to grow without one; “organically” via bootstrapping.
- Keep it as simple as possible strategy-wise, and don’t expect too much in the beginning.
- It is not necessarily easier to found a startup with many co-founders.
- Don’t waste time on minor things.
Motivation is Key
“I wanted to use the things I’ve learned in my studies.” — Charles Chojnowski
The first step in founding a startup is your motivation: Why do you want to create a startup? Don’t worry; no answer is better or worse than the other. Still, it is helpful to know why someone wants to build a company and risk financial instability. Find something you see yourself doing – that you have a passion for — and form your startup idea accordingly.
Take Charles, for example: “I wanted to use the things I’ve learned in my studies.” The co-founder perfectly explains his struggles with education and applying the gained skills in a regular job. He wanted to do something where he could use his know-how and even improve it. When his friends came up with the startup idea, he immediately took the opportunity.
The Idea and the Vision
“We had a company, we threw out a net, but we are slowly finding our niche just now.”
While the idea is basically the definition of what your company will do, the vision also includes the direction you are heading. When asking the co-founder Remo about their vision when founding Earlybyte, he admitted that they “had a vision but not really an idea.”
In the case of the tech startup, the lack of idea led to an attractive strategy that seems more suitable for B2B companies. The customers of the tech startup are mainly other companies, which means that, in the beginning, the founders offered very generalized services and every skill they had. “We had a company, we threw out a net, but we are slowly finding our niche just now.”
When it comes to a company’s future, the vision of where it is going is just as important as the idea itself. However, the chances are that the founder’s visions are not realistic or point in one direction, whereas the company is going somewhere else. The third co-founder, Philipp, explains: “Envision big but don’t expect it to work out from the beginning. Take smaller steps into account.”
This is most important as it demonstrates that a vision has to be adjusted throughout the years. Make milestones and adapt in case there is an opportunity on the horizon. that you might not have thought about.
You Need a Strategy
“Don’t have too many strategy meetings and keep it as simple as possible in the beginning.” — Remo Hoeppli
According to co-founder Philipp, one crucial point is deciding whether you want to use the classical approach with investors or grow “organically” via bootstrapping. On the one hand, if you take the bootstrapping method, you will rely on your own investment and workforce, thus possibly working part-time in another company to sustain yourself. However, the pressure of investors, be it financial or strategic, is minimized.
On the other hand, having investors provides you with enough money to prosper quickly. It also allows you to realize your idea and go full in; maximum risk for maximum reward. Nevertheless, getting someone to invest in your startup needs lots of work and determination. Not everyone is willing to invest, and you need to prove why your idea is unique and worth financing.
Additionally, having people who help and advise you brings a valuable advantage in founding a startup. Try to find out where you and your co-founders might not be experienced enough and search for people who could fill this gap, even with a mentoring or advisory role.
Strategy-wise, Remo also adds: “Don’t have too many strategy meetings and keep it as simple as possible in the beginning. You will never know where your startup is heading, and you lose precious time discussing the same three things repeatedly.”
3 Possible Dangers and How to Deal with Them
“We had long, endless discussions about the simplest things. We had different ideas.” — Remo Hoeppli
It is not necessarily easier to found a startup with many co-founders.
Being more than two co-founders may sound like everyone can bring in their strengths and experience, and it is true. However, every person will also have different visions and ideas for the startup. “Finding common ground will get more complicated the more founders you are.”, Remo elaborates, “We had long, endless discussions about the simplest things. We had different ideas.”
Don’t rely on how other startups are doing things.
Find your own way or mix of what you think can work for you. As Remo further explains: “You have an idea and how your company should work, and copying someone else might not fully suit you and your employees.” Therefore, being flexible and willing to adjust helps you get your company ahead. Try something out and if it suits you, keep it; if it doesn’t change it.
Don’t waste time on minor things
Planning a startup needs time and effort. There are many things to consider. Nevertheless, according to Remo and Charles, there are a few ways to increase efficiency by reducing time-consuming tasks and meetings.
On the one hand, some administrative tasks and documents need to be taken care of. Sometimes, there are already standardized and pre-defined documents that work for nearly everyone.
Take the statues, for example. The founders of Earlybyte wasted nearly thee days individualizing their terms and conditions in lengthy discussions. After finally agreeing with everything, the commercial register rejected them. Eventually, they took the standardized version.
On the other hand, many things can be taken care of later, like creating the perfect logo, business cards and decorating an office. Yes, those things are essential, but there might be more important tasks. Focus on the essentials first, and try not to get distracted by your imagination.
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