Rath, Samir; Georgieva, Teodora

No Startup Hipsters : Build Scalable Technology Companies

Does this feel familiar? - you have spent more time preparing for a VC pitch than working on you idea - you keep hearing "lean", "pivot", "gamify", "ninja" no matter where you go - you want to "build to last" but are being pushed to "build to be acquired by Google" Although starting a technology startup has never been easier and cheaper, building a real scalable business that solves a real problem for real people stays just as elusive. Startup ecosystems worldwide have gotten filled with pre-accelerators to coach startups for accelerators, excessive amount of hackathons, buzzwords which make you switch off mid-conversation, apps to make founders look smart, more angel investors than founders and the list goes on. If you feel you are building the next billion dollar startup by sketching its business model on the back of a napkin that you want to pitch at the next networking event to investors hosted by the new accelerator that just joined the ranks of numerous others springing up around you, this book is a waste of time. You should put it down now. If you understand that three out of four venture-backed startups fail and more than ninety five percent of startups fall short of their initial projections, then this book is for you. If you understand that someone who creates a startup is going to work very hard for three to seven years, make just enough to get by, juggle many roles and constantly deal with the emotional turmoil of futile sales calls, lost customers, disputes with partners, increased competition, wrong hires, and all of this while struggling to keep the firm afloat, then this book is for you. If you want to navigate the noise around you and figure out your personal truths, tactics and strategies in the context of the specific problems that you are trying to solve, then this book is for you. If you do not want to meander through early stages of company building with freewheeling potshots which could be a fatal way of discovering feasible business models, then this book is for you.