Layoff-Aid busts 4 Startup Myths on its first birthday 🎉
It’s hard to believe that Layoff-Aid is turning 1! I learned a lot over this incredible first year, and I wanted to share some lessons I’ve learned that might surprise aspiring entrepreneurs who are looking to “take the leap.” The myths below simply did not reflect my personal experience, and I hope these lessons are helpful for early-stage startups everywhere.
Myth 1: You need the perfect brand name. Reality? You need customers.
There is no need to agonize over the perfect name. While it is valuable to take minimal time to pick a good name for your venture, and free tools like https://namechk.com can help you easily test what’s available online, you shouldn’t let this task take too much time.
Instead, you should be laser-focused on experimentation, developing your elevator pitch, and earning your first customers. Ideally they’ll be paying you, but even non-paying customers (“users”) can help validate that what you’re building is valuable. As startup guru Paul Graham would advise, make something people want.
It’s ok to get the brand wrong. And, you can always change your brand name. Even Google, after 16 years of operation, with 61,000 employees, and $66bn in annual revenue, rebranded to “Alphabet”.
Myth 2: Choose your project or your day job. Reality? You can (hopefully) do both.
If you’re faced with a choice of whether you should work on your side project or get a real job… you should probably do both. To paraphrase Chip and Dan Heath in their book Decisive, you should broaden your options when making decisions. Layoff-Aid launched in the summer of 2017. Then, I joined OpenTable’s product management team a few months later. While doing “double duty” with OpenTable by day and Layoff-Aid on nights and weekends, Layoff-Aid earned its first revenue. But, “double duty” requires you to manage your time resourcefully. Managing competing priorities is challenging, for sure, but developing that skill is something that any business owner will need anyway in order to succeed. So, try to do both!
Myth 3: You can do everything yourself. Reality? You can do more by building a team.
One way you can manage your time is by building a team. While founders obviously need to remain hands-on and nimble, I have found that team-building is critical, even at an early stage. Aside from simply having more hands on deck, a small team can offer similar advantages that would exist within established organizations. Think increased creativity, idea flow, and accountability. Right now, this is easier than ever to do. Beyond the traditional in-person searches for co-founders and early hires, platforms like Upwork and Fiverr provide easy access to an army of exceptional freelancers who can help you with pretty much any work that can be completed online. While I haven’t outsourced everything, I am able to accomplish more thanks to timely contributions from hard-working freelancers like Nayem Hossen.
Myth 4: Your product will market itself. Reality? Your community will advocate.
A good product does generate word of mouth referrals, but you can amplify your message by activating your community as early as possible. I’m not just talking about posting to LinkedIn one time to let people know you have launched. I’m also not talking about posting to Facebook 100 times to beg far-flung friends to buy a service or product that doesn’t interest them or anyone they know.
Instead, I’m talking about sharing information that is valuable to your audience. This is effectively the “Inbound Marketing” movement that Hubspot helped to define, and it’s what we’re trying to do here since many of our hiring managers are startup founders themselves. If you’re helpful to your core audience, and tactful about how and when you ask folks to connect, you can build up a following which will grow over time. When I launched one year ago, I failed to start an email list, but it’s better late than never. Friends want to follow Layoff-Aid and support our mission, and SF techies want to know about and report on downsize news. Now, you can (and should!) subscribe to our exclusive email list 📩
Know someone dreaming up a side hustle in the SF Bay Area? Send this article to them to help give them a kick in the pants! And let them know they should feel free to contact me directly if I can do anything to help. Here’s the bonus tip: Startup founders like to help each other out. With that, I hope you’ll give this piece some “applause” 👏 and join me in wishing Layoff-Aid a very happy first birthday! 🎂
