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Start-up tips: Advice from start-up veterans part II

Techworld Australia spoke to start-up veterans about what their top tips were for emerging start-ups.

There are more resources and technologies available to start-ups than ever before, but that doesn't mean running a start-up is easy.

Techworld Australia spoke to start-up veterans from ScriptRock, Bigcommerce, Cooper Sydney and FCB Technology about their top tips for emerging start-ups.

Mike Baukes -- ScriptRock

1. Focus on what you know best.

2. Surround yourself with smart, driven people.

3. Over communicate and cut the BS. Constantly communicate within your team, with your clients, etc. The best companies communicate very well, strive to communicate and connect with your customers.

Mitchell Harper -- Bigcommerce 1. Surround yourself with mentors and people who have accomplished what you are trying to do.

2. Acknowledge what you are good at and delegate everything else through employees, partners or freelancers. Be good at a few things -- not mediocre at many.

3. Don't raise money unless you have a proven business model that you can scale aggressively. Focus on the product and get it right, talk to lots of customers and really know the problem you're trying to solve first.

Pete Cooper -- Cooper Sydney

1. Get connected.

- Go to Sydstart. Meet 1000 entrepreneurs and see 50 companies. - Join Sydney tech meetup and Silicon Beach Australia -- online and face-to-face communities. - Visit Fishburners.

2. Get skilled. There are so many course for tech (hackers) and biz (hustlers) online. Also, the General Assembly mailing list has hundreds of courses per annum that are cheap or free and run by pros.

3. Get started. Find a co-founder with co-founder speed dating. Find an idea and execute on it at a start-up weekend and go faster with an accelerator/incubator.

Richard Breden -- FCB Technology

1. Collaboration is key. As a start-up you must embrace the networks around you.

2. Be prepared to question your strategy. Often your vision will be disrupted by factors outside of your control that may force you to re-think your original vision and strategy.

3. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. In a start-up, mistakes need to be lessons that you must a learn from and actively apply to achieve your ultimate goals. As a start-up the ability to be innovative, try new things and take risks are your greatest assets and what sets you apart from more established businesses that arguably have more to lose.

Follow Stephanie McDonald on Twitter: @stephmcdonald0

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU

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Comments

Bill Thompson

1

Mitchell Harper's Bigcommerce platform really doesn't support his advice of "Focus on the product and get it right." There have been promised improvements for nearly a year and nothing delivered. Focus seems to be on acquiring new customers and securing Series B funding - not on existing store owners who rely on the platform for their livlihood. Communication from the Bigcommerce executives is nearly non-existent, leaving store owners to wonder what's happening. Also, the most recent implementation of a Content Data Network (CDN) has owners raising alarm about using the bigcommerce.com URL rather than the store domains - dropping hundreds of thousands of images from Google's index.

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