robfitz

40 ms·

151.
Solo founder or small team? Fix your life with a real-life non-virtual assistant(blog.thestartuptoolkit.com)
57 points by robfitz 15y ago|8 comments
152.
You can’t strategize your way past the hard stuff - on getting that first sale(blog.thestartuptoolkit.com)
36 points by robfitz 15y ago|4 comments
153.
by robfitz 15y ago
I think a lot of students just aren't aware it's possible... All through uni, literally zero people told me startups even existed as an option. No professor, no career counsellor, no guest speaker... nobody. I accidentally signed up for a c
154.
by robfitz 15y ago
Beautifully articulated. Couldn't agree more.
155.
It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users(blog.thestartuptoolkit.com)
259 points by robfitz 15y ago|63 comments
156.
by robfitz 15y ago
0.2% to 1.8%
157.
Adding a picture of me to your site will improve conversions by 788%(blog.thestartuptoolkit.com)
168 points by robfitz 15y ago|34 comments
158.
by robfitz 15y ago
I prefer DDG for general search, but google was too good at digging up obscure code errors. I end up spending more time looking for errors than general stuff (which I guess means I'm a terrible programmer), so grudgingly switched back to th
159.
by robfitz 15y ago
I actually completely agree with you[1]. My [intended but perhaps poorly articulated] point was that playing DnD doesn't feel the same as making tools for DnD. However, if you accept that premise and are willing to endure potentially dull w
160.
The coffeeshop fallacy(thestartuptoolkit.com)
233 points by robfitz 15y ago|96 comments
161.
by robfitz 15y ago
I want to buy this, but the checkout fails for me (bad merchant address?) and there's no email address to contact you in either your HN profile or the site. How do I seek help?
162.
How to date a supermodel (or get dealflow or find cofounders)(thestartuptoolkit.com)
6 points by robfitz 15y ago|0 comments
163.
by robfitz 15y ago
We actually moved from the valley to London for that very reason.. all our customers were in London (or NY, but better advisors/investors in London). On the other hand, you aren't going to be able to reasonably maintain relationships iwth 1
164.
by robfitz 15y ago
Quick apology to anyone on /newest who saw this double-posted by me within about 5 minutes -- for some reason I decided to post and then immediately change my blog's URL scheme..
165.
The mom test for good customer feedback(thestartuptoolkit.com)
4 points by robfitz 15y ago|1 comments
166.
by robfitz 15y ago
Keynotopia and mockingbird/balsamiq made a huge difference for me. I'd like to see more mockup apps (particularly an easy way to create navigable mockups!), so my vote is firmly on #2.
167.
by robfitz 15y ago
Well. I love it, at least.
168.
by robfitz 15y ago
I'll just chime in and say I quite like your reading of it and think it's a great point. Regarding my intent: that video is the example to zoom in on the uncomfortable feeling of allowing someone to misunderstand you while you get to where
169.
by robfitz 15y ago
Feel free to correct them once they stop talking, but let them get their initial braindump out of the way first. It's auditory gold!
170.
by robfitz 15y ago
You can certainly benefit from being a good talker (the inverse of #3), but the broader point I was [trying to] make is more about your own ability to listen rather than the customer's. When you tell someone your idea the first time, chance
171.
by robfitz 15y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful response. Regarding our situation: the company ran for about 4 years. We raised a couple rounds and had customers like MTV and Sony, so it wasn't a total flop or anything. I'm not actively hurting -- I've had two c
172.
The elevator pitch of failure (how and why I simplify when asked why we failed)(thestartuptoolkit.com)
9 points by robfitz 15y ago|4 comments
173.
by robfitz 15y ago
Steve Blank's Customer Development is basically a repeatable process for discovering IPO-worthy startup ideas in the enterprise space. Sounds like reading 4 Steps to the Epiphany would be worth your time (the summaries and blog posts don't
174.
by robfitz 15y ago
If you can do that, excellent! But they probably won't commit to anything they can't see. The better ones I've seen in this category have done something like: -Have idea -Walk into stores, talk to owners, managers, customers -Improv
175.
by robfitz 15y ago
Seedcamp was great once again this year. Vox.io was by far the most impressive company I've ever talked to out of an accelerator or competition. Congrats on all fronts.
176.
by robfitz 15y ago
Howdy. I'm finishing up a community/portfolio site for small game developers. I think I'm probably too early for it to be useful to you (just about to put up a quiet v1 and it's not terribly startuppy in its current form), but would be more
177.
by robfitz 15y ago
Ditto. We went through as a 4 founder team in summer 07.
178.
by robfitz 15y ago
Sadly not. It sprung to mind because my girlfriend is currently going through the training term at a PE (private equity) firm and I have been lightly flipping through her textbooks and training manuals. PE is about buying under-performing c
179.
by robfitz 15y ago
Probably not what you want to spend time reading, but a big chunk of Private Equity literature covers this.
180.
by robfitz 15y ago
Hey Chris, I've been using a similar structure for some of my projects (all involved track their billable time, which is paid off first in equal proportion, then any remaining upside is split down the middle). I haven't formalised either, s

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