Most of the time, you learn by doing. Sometimes, you learn by reading.
An email to a friend of the best essays and posts about startups, entrepreneurship, and venture capital available online.
Below is an email I wrote to my friend Greg, compiling some of the best startup resources out there—the posts and videos that have inspired me over the years. He’s ambitious, hard working, gutsy, and passionate, but brand new to the whole world of startups. There’s a lot he doesn’t know, but like any highly determined individual, has a strong desire to learn.
He’s not the first person to ask me for a list of this nature (he’s just the first person I was willing to put the time into doing it for), so I thought I’d post it in case anyone else finds it useful.
Greg,
There’s obviously a lot of stuff to read on the internet. Most of it is bullshit and/or about cats. Here’s the top 0.00001% of the content related to startups and venture capital. Enjoy.
This guy’s amazing notes from Peter Thiel’s lectures at Stanford:
http://blakemasters.com/peter-thiels-cs183-startup
… which is coming out as a book soon: http://zerotoonebook.com
We live in an age of technological stagnation, even if we are too distracted by our new mobile devices to notice. Computers have been the happy exception, but the world needs more than just one innovative industry to have a prosperous future.
Literally everything Paul Graham has ever written:
http://paulgraham.com/articles.html
… especially these:
How to get startup ideas: http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html
Live in the future and build what seems interesting. Strange as it sounds, that’s the real recipe.
Raising capital: http://paulgraham.com/fr.html
Startups = growth: http://paulgraham.com/growth.html
If you start from the mistaken assumption that Instagram was worthless, you have to invent a secret boss to force Mark Zuckerberg to buy it. To anyone who knows Mark Zuckerberg that is the reductio ad absurdum of the initial assumption. The reason he bought Instagram was that it was valuable and dangerous, and what made it so was growth.
Do things that don’t scale: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html
Actually startups take off because the founders make them take off. There may be a handful that just grew by themselves, but usually it takes some sort of push to get them going. A good metaphor would be the cranks that car engines had before they got electric starters. Once the engine was going, it would keep going, but there was a separate and laborious process to get it going.
Ambitious startup ideas: http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html
The popular image of the visionary is someone with a clear view of the future, but empirically it may be better to have a blurry one.
What YC looks for in founders: http://paulgraham.com/founders.html
Dave McClure’s post on the evolution of venture capital:
http://500hats.com/VC-evolution-geeks-got-next
As founders come to understand which funds are making serious investments in their own operations, they will become more selective about which VCs they choose to work with, and there will be an inevitable flight to quality.
… and his other posts:
Being a late bloomer, not a loser: http://500hats.com/late-bloomer
and so here I am: still standing in the arena, in hand-to-hand combat with demons mostly of my own making, aiming to make a small dent in the universe. nowhere near a great success story, yet fighting the good fight and perhaps helping others to achieve greatness as I attempt a bit of my own.
The fear of getting started (“flying”) is worse than the fear of failure: http://500hats.com/fear-of-flying
To all of us who strive for unlikely outcomes, it is this dual challenge of consistent and regular outperformance which is our real nightmare. In fact, it’s almost certifiably insane to sign up for such a goal
… even more of his posts from his old blog:
http://500hats.typepad.com/greatest_hats/
This post is especially wonderful because of the following quotes: http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2010/09/fire-in-the-valley.html
haters gonna hate, players gonna play. just focus on the important stuff (build product, solve problems, get customers, make money... and don't be evil... much ;)
Mercedes Benz ain't cheap either.... but that shit is SHINY. if you don't like it, don't buy it.
Danielle Morrill on the 10 year “overnight” success—winning slowly—and other advice for entrepreneurs:
Most wins will be incremental: http://www.daniellemorrill.com/2013/08/embracing-the-incrementality-mentality/
You haven’t won yet but like a soldier who yearns for home you’re looking to the future and, if you allow it, that distraction can become so acute you’ll die in a daze on the battlefield
How to tell if you startup has turned into a zombie: http://www.daniellemorrill.com/2013/03/zombie-startups/
Failing is failing — do it up right.
Don’t dwell on past, “fight for the future or get out of the way”: http://www.daniellemorrill.com/2013/05/past-performance-is-no-guarantee-of-future-results/
Drew Houston’s MIT Commencement:
http://video.mit.edu/watch/mit-commencement-2013-speeches-24832/
Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure.
Some gems from Sam Altman:
Advice for ambitious 19 year olds like us: http://blog.samaltman.com/advice-for-ambitious-19-year-olds
If you stay in college, make sure you learn something worthwhile and work on interesting projects—college is probably the best place to meet people to work with.
How the best advice no longer comes from those who give you money: http://blog.samaltman.com/the-separation-of-advice-and-money
Great bulleted list of startup advice: http://blog.samaltman.com/startup-advice
How the best new things tend to involve the real world: http://blog.samaltman.com/electrons-and-atoms
new companies that exist only in the real or online world do not seem to do as well as companies that connect them
Dustin Curtis on thinking ideas are stupid at first:
Some of the most successful companies came out of the stupidest sounding ideas: http://dcurt.is/what-a-stupid-idea
The future is extremely hard to see through the lens of the present. It’s very easy to unconsciously dismiss the first versions of something as frivolous or useless. Or as stupid ideas.
Sage Chris Dixon insight:
Credentials are important, but not that important: http://cdixon.org/2013/02/13/the-credentials-trap/
Great institutions can prepare you for great things. Credentials can open doors. But don’t let them become an end in themselves.
The future will be defined by what the smartest people do on the weekends (in their free time): http://cdixon.org/2013/03/02/what-the-smartest-people-do-on-the-weekend-is-what-everyone-else-will-do-during-the-week-in-ten-years/
Good entrepreneurs spend most of their time focusing on their product, rather than their company: http://cdixon.org/2012/12/02/the-product-lens/
It’s increasingly easy to get users, 10MM is the new 1MM: http://cdixon.org/2012/08/03/ten-million-is-the-new-one-million/
The best of 37Signal’s Signal vs. Noise blog:
Sketch things with a sharpie to keep ideas high-fidelity: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/466-sketching-with-a-sharpie
Edwin Land was awesome, he inspired Steve Jobs, and he should inspire you: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2666-the-story-of-polaroid-inventor-edwin-land-one-of-steve-jobs-biggest-heroes
It’s more important to explain why you’re a great fit in your cover letter than it is to have a rockstar resume: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1748-forget-the-resume-kill-on-the-cover-letter
A great resume will get you not-rejected, a great cover letter will get you hired.
Turning things that inspire you into things that you are good at: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2412-how-do-you-turn-inspiration-into-skill
Smart people are obsessed with details but often change their minds: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3289-some-advice-from-jeff-bezos
Someone obsessed with details that only support one point of view. If someone can’t climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they’re often wrong most of the time.
Establish a great process, do things in a way that inspires you: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2904-forget-passion-focus-on-process
Don’t be a workaholic: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2051-step-one-is-admitting-you-have-a-problem
Jeff Bezos on being misunderstood:
http://www.businessinsider.com/bezos-pioneering-requires-being-misunderstood-2013-1#ixzz2mJ0LCcqF
“One thing that I learned within the first couple of years of starting a company is that inventing and pioneering involves a willingness to be misunderstood for long periods of time.”
Two incredible posts from Brett Martin, founder of Sonar, including Sonar’s postmortem:
Some incredible lessons learned the hard way: https://medium.com/best-thing-i-found-online-today/72c6f8bec7df
We started Sonar with a belief that everyone has the potential to be amazing and that technology can unlock that potential. My experience at Sonar has only strengthened my conviction.
Sound advice on building social products: https://medium.com/on-startups/aa2445ab3b4c
Read some great advice from friend and UPenn senior Dan Shipper:
Great advice on framing the story of what your product does: http://danshipper.com/heres-what-i-learned-hanging-out-with-jason-fried
the only two people who can give you real feedback about your product are people who just purchased it and people who just canceled.
Determining what you are good at: http://danshipper.com/how-to-figure-out-what-youre-good-at
A common first step in figuring out what you’re good at is emulating successful people.
Lessons learned by bootrstrapping a company in college: http://danshipper.com/what-i-learned-bootstrapping-a-6-figure-business-from-school
Startups are an emotional roller coaster: http://danshipper.com/why-youre-on-a-startup-rollercoaster
Slow down a little: http://danshipper.com/why-are-you-in-such-a-rush
Andy Dunn’s anecdote about not taking risks:
In the end, we regret the risks we didn’t take: https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/40cf0a8919cb
If you can’t decide what to do, get on the road. You won’t find the answer. It will find you.
…and his other great post:
Demystification of many things founders wrongly believe: https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/a9c3286360b8
A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs:
He was never embarrassed about working hard, even if the results were failures. If someone as smart as Steve wasn’t ashamed to admit trying, maybe I didn’t have to be.
Some of Ben Horowitz (of Andreesen Horowitz)’s best posts:
How A16Z evaluates CEOs: http://bhorowitz.com/2010/05/30/how-andreessen-horowitz-evaluates-ceos/
Being the CEO and the product visionary at the same time is hard but important: http://bhorowitz.com/2013/08/12/why-founders-fail-the-product-ceo-paradox/
It turns out that almost all the great product-oriented founder/CEOs stay involved in the product throughout their careers
The Struggle of startups: http://bhorowitz.com/2012/06/15/the-struggle/
How to be a good CEO: http://bhorowitz.com/2012/10/17/making-yourself-a-ceo/
Running a revenue-less company can be dangerous: http://bhorowitz.com/2013/10/08/cash-flow-and-destiny/
Mark Andreesen explains the difference between angels and venture capitalists:
Obviously, there’s a difference between angels and VCs, but the line is getting blurry: http://blog.pmarca.com/2010/03/02/angels-vs-venture-capitalists-1/
Startup advice from entrepreneur turned VC Mark Suster:
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/on-entrepeneurship/
…and his collection of posts on entrepreneurial DNA, raising money, and working with/being angel investors:
DNA: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/entrepreneur-dna/
Fred Wilson of USV’s posts, including:
Work hard and perservere: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/04/tenacity-and-persistence-pays-off.html
Ask lots of questions, get ample advice, but in the end, trust your gut: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/05/great-entrepreneurs-will-listen-to-you-but-will-follow-their-own-instincts.html
Eventually, healthy businessness need to make profits, but there are points when they will not make money and that’s okay: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/10/they-dont-make-any-money.html
You really need to have a view towards its future performance. And you need to understand why the company is not currently profitable.
Focus on doing a few things well: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/08/focus.html
Product > Strategy > Business Model: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/06/product-strategy-business-model.html
So my advice is not to rush into business model without first finding product market fit and then taking the time to lock down on a crisp, clear, and smart strategy for your business
Products and companies are not the same thing, here are the similarities between the two: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/08/the-similarities-between-building-and-scaling-a-product-and-a-company.html
What exactly is strategy: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/06/what-is-strategy.html
Social entrepreneurship; talk by Jessica Jackley of Kiva and Collaborative Fund:
The stories we tell each other matter very much. The stories we tell ourselves about our own lives matter. And, most of all, I think the way that we participate in each other’s stories is of deep importance.
Great post about the “Unicorn Club” of billion dollar startups by KPCB/CowboyVC’s Aileen Lee:
http://cowboyvc.tumblr.com/post/65804808731/welcome-to-the-unicorn-club-learning-from
It is also good to be reminded that most successful startups take a lot of time and commitment to break out. While vesting periods are usually four years, the most valuable startups will take at least eight years before a “liquidity event”
…plus some great posts on women in tech:
“If you figure out how to harness the power of female customers, you can rock the world”: http://cowboyvc.tumblr.com/post/65747129198/why-women-rule-the-internet
Since women rule the internet, you should probably have one on your board: http://cowboyvc.tumblr.com/post/65668593301/why-your-next-board-member-should-be-a-woman
Elon Musk on work ethic:
If other people are putting in 40-hour workweeks, and you’re putting in 100-hour workweeks, then, even if you’re doing the same thing, you will achieve in four months what it takes them a year to achieve.
Watch Semil Shah’s conversations with smart people:
As well as Kevin Rose’s conversations:
…especially:
Evan Williams:
Elon Musk:
Jack Dorsey:
Take a look at Sequoia Capital’s “Grove,” a well organized repository of topical advice:
First Round Capital also has a lot of great advice in their “First Round Review”:
Thanks for reading.
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