What to focus on when starting up.

1. Starting a Startup
Hild Imre

2. 20 years
1993-1998 Ithaca, NY - Cornell University (B.S. & MBA)
2004-2005 Hild Life Annuity, co-founder, owner
STARTUP PIRATES
2009-2012 Primus Capital
5/2/14
2
1990-1993 Hungary - Tourism
1998-2003 Lehman Brothers, New York, NY (Conduit Hotel Securitization)
2003-2004 Hild’s, owner (Securitization Advisory)
2005-2009 OTP Life Annuity, founder, CEO
2012- iCatapult

3. What is a startup?

4. What is a startup?
Define by non-quantifiable qualities
A Human institution operating under extreme uncertainties
An organization searching for a solution
A group of people conquering the unknown

5. WHY DO YOU START A STARTUP?
- for good cause
- for money
- for fame
- for fun
- for being cool
- for independence
- or to simply to be:

6. Startup Operations – Running a gig
Startup Pirates
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Idea Funding
Product
developme
nt
Sales

7. WHAT ARE YOU AT WORK?
A. Fast
B. Precise
C. Both
D. …what do you mean by work?

8. THE STARTUP PROCESS
• Let’s do startup
• …I have an idea!
• Idea = guess
• Guess = hypothesis
• Guess about the product, market etc.
• Test, test, test a.k.a. ask questions
• Your offer (a.k.a. value proposition) is…
• vitamin (nice to have)
• medicine (MUST have)
• If at least 70% significance = MUST have

9. • Hypothesis
• Get out of the building
• Test and measure responses
• Learn facts
• Build MVP
• Test (measure) traction
• Learn until you have a repeatable model
• ….. Build - Measure - Learn cycle

10. THE PROPER PROCESS OF STARTING UP
FOCUS ON PRODUCT OR SERVICE
BUILD A FOUNDING TEAM AROUND IT
BUILD STARTUP AROUND THE TEAM
…IF NEEDED, FORM A COMPANY

11. Who do you have to fight?

12. Startup Operations – Running a gig – for success
Startup Pirates
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Identify
need or
problem
Prototype a
solution
Test and
iterate
Fund
Scaling

13. VALUE PROPOSITION
Value is material, emotional or abstract benefit to user or client
13

14. VALUE PROPOSITION
Value is material, emotional or abstract benefit to user or client
14

15. VALUE PROPOSITION
Value is material, emotional or abstract benefit to user or client
15

16. STARTUP ZONES
16
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
RISK
RETURN

17. STARTUP ZONES
PREZI
17
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
BARBERSHOP
AMAZON
RISK
RETURN
SNAPCHAT

18. STARTUP ZONES
PREZI
18
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
BARBERSHOP
AMAZON
RISK
RETURN
SNAPCHAT

19. STARTUP ZONES
PREZI
19
AMAZON
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
BARBERSHOP
RISK
RETURN
SNAPCHAT

20. STARTUP ZONES
20
AMAZON
SNAPCHAT PREZI
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
BARBERSHOP
RISK
RETURN

21. STARTUP ZONES
21
AMAZON
PREZI
KNOWN UNKNOWN
GROWTH
INCOME
BARBERSHOP
RISK
RETURN
SNAPCHAT

22. Startup Operations
Startup Pirates
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Product
Team
(founders)
Startup Company

23. LEARNING IS EVERYTHING
If you're not willing to learn, no one can help you.
If you're determined to learn, no one can stop you.

24. THE SINGLE THING THAT HOLDS YOU BACK FROM SUCCESS
Not good enough idea
Lack of funding
Customers do not understand
Few Sales people
Too much competition
Mixing Assumptions with Facts
Not enough customers
Slow patent registration

25. YOUR No.1. TASK AS AN ENTREPRENEUR
REPLACE ASSUMPTIONS WITH FACTS

26. A STORY
A father and his son are mountain climbing.
Both of them fall down and are injured.
One ambulance helicopter takes the father to a hospital
in Györ, the other takes the son to a Budapest hospital.
The son is rolled into the operating room in Budapest
immediately.
The surgeon steps into the operating room, looks at him
and says: I can not operate on him, he is my son.
- - ?? - -

27. WHAT ASSUMPTIONS DO TO US
Clouds one’s vision of known and unknown facts
Make one think of complicated solutions
Keeps one guessing
Makes one come up with additional assumptions

28. CHECKLIST - BEFORE THE TEAM STARTS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT…
Turn assumptions into facts by:
Testing the hypotheses
Asking questions - develop answers
Learning your market’s drivers
Being objective
Daring to change frequently
Being objective with your team’s strengths
Only do what you love (the FREE test)

29. KEY ELEMENTS OF A GOOD STARTUP
BIG MARKET
EVEN BIGGER MARKET
DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF THAT MARKET
(Extensive googling does not count)
REPEATABLE BUSINESS MODEL
TEAM THAT FITS THE ABOVE
ASKING QUESTIONS FROM EACH OTHER
DONE BETTER THAN PERFECT
WWYCD

30. Richest people on Earth
30
1. Bill Gates, Net Worth: $76 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
2. Carlos Slim Helu & family, Net Worth: $72 B
Source of wealth: telecom
3. Amancio Ortega, Net Worth: $64 B
Source of wealth: retail
4. Warren Buffett, Net Worth: $58.2 B
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
5. Larry Ellison, Net Worth: $48 B
Source of wealth: Oracle
6. Charles Koch, Net Worth: $40 B
Source of wealth: diversified
6. David Koch, Net Worth: $40 B
Source of wealth: diversified
8. Sheldon Adelson, Net Worth: $38 B
Source of wealth: casinos
9. Christy Walton & family, Net Worth: $36.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
10. Jim Walton, Net Worth: $34.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
11. Liliane Bettencourt, Net Worth: $34.5 B
Source of wealth: L’Oreal
12. Stefan Persson, Net Worth: $34.4 B
Source of wealth: H&M
13. Alice Walton, Net Worth: $34.3 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
14. S. Robson Walton, Net Worth: $34.2 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
15. Bernard Arnault & family, Net Worth: $33.5 B
Source of wealth: LVMH

31. Day 1

32. Startup development – a word about the co-founder
+ Minimum 1 maximum 2
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+ Dissolving dilemmas, doubts
+ Reality check
+ Reasoning practices
+ Do more if you work together
STARTUP PIRATES

33. Chances of success – lets do the math
Startup Pirates
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The Forward labs experiment
18 months, 14 projects
20% Great, 35% Zombie, 45% dead
After pivot and optimization?
= ± 0
Even good team’s good ideas do not guarantee success

34. How to avoid this trap..?
Startup Pirates
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Don’t believe the ‘Devizahitel’ hype – it is not in your favor
BE sure you need the money - VC money is only for growth
Do not focus on a market that limits your ‘good team and good idea’
Create value and everything will follow

35. Cliffnotes
Energy Challenge – E-OFF
Study markets
Lose
assumptions,
build upon facts
Don’t wait, act
fast
Break some
rules
Be critical of
your
environment
Speed is key Have fun
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36. Recommended reading
- Lean Startup by Eric Reis
- Early Exit by Basil Peters
- Startup Nation by Saul Singer and Dan Señor
- Venture Deals by Brad Feld
Blogs:
- feld.com
- avc.com
- Open View Ventures blog
- Hacker News (YCombinator)

37. Contact and more info
37
E-mail: imre@icatapult.co
LinkedIn: hu.linkedin.com/in/hildimre/
This presentation available at:
http://www.slideshare.net/hildimre