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I talked to a lot of people at the Business of Software conference (basically a conference by and for boot strappers) and a huge number of them had five hard ye
by tonystubblebine 17y ago
I talked to a lot of people at the Business of Software conference (basically a conference by and for boot strappers) and a huge number of them had five hard years followed by easy street. I know for myself, the three years we've been going have been as much about learning new skill sets as they have about building customers and product. Three years in, things are opening up a tiny bit, but I definitely feel like we're on a five year plan.
- bensummers 17y agoSo, only two more years to go! That timetable makes sense. There's just so much to do and learn, and the number of people involved is inherently limited by the resources available. Three years is probably the time needed to build something wonderful and learn about the environment within which it exists, and then you've got two years to learn how to sell it!
- mattwdelong 17y agoYou should know how to sell it from day 1.
- bensummers 17y ago"No plan survives contact with the enemy." ~ Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke Of course, one always 'knows' how to sell the product from day 1. It's just that the more you do, the more you know about how to actually sell it. I've found that being in a startup is a continual learning process, where you mainly learn how little you know! If you've been successful in your startup with the same sales plan that you had at the very beginning, then I'd be somewhat shocked.