Vitaly Golomb shares insights from his experience starting multiple companies and advising startups globally. He emphasizes that startups should solve a painful problem for customers, validate assumptions by talking to customers, and focus on achieving product-market fit and traction above all else. Golomb also stresses the importance of building a balanced team and acquiring customers through internet-driven methods to achieve repeatable and scalable business models.

1. ACCELERATEDSTARTUP
VITALYM.GOLOMB//@VITALYG FEBRUARY25TH,2016
#acceleratedstartup

2. VITALYM.GOLOMB//SANFRANCISCO&THEWORLD
WANTTHESLIDESANDMORE?
golomb.net/techcode
✓ BORNINUKRAINE,GREWUPINCUPERTINO-STARTUPSSINCEAGEOF13
✓ FOUNDEROF“STARTUPADDVENTURE”CONFERENCE-SEVENCOUNTRIES
✓ DEGREEINCOMPUTERANDVIDEOIMAGING
✓ STARTEDTHREECOMPANIES,ONEVC-BACKED
✓ GUESTLECTUREDATSTANFORD,UCBERKELEY,ANDOTHERS
✓ SPEAKER&MENTORIN20+COUNTRIESANNUALLY
✓ GUESTCONTRIBUTORTOTECHCRUNCH
✓ AUTHOR“ACCELERATEDSTARTUP”COMINGIN2016

3. corporate
people
startup
people
P expertsinonearea
P yearsclimbingladder
P stablelifestyle
P realresponsibilities
P lifebalance
P generalists
P earlystart
P cheaplifestyle
P nothingtolose
P nothingelsematters

5. SOWHATTHEF***
ISASTARTUP?

6. ASTARTUPIS...
anexperimentinsearch
ofabusinessmodel-steveblank

7. SCALABLE
STARTUP
TRANSITION COMPANY
businessmodelfound
product/marketfit
repeatablesalesmodel
managershired
break-even
profitable
rapidscale
newseniormanagement
~150people
“astartupisnotasmaller
versionofalargecompany”-steveblank

8. ASTARTUPISACOMPANY
THATISCONFUSEDABOUT:
1.WHATITSPRODUCTIS,
2.WHOITSCUSTOMERSARE,
3.HOWTOMAKEMONEY
-DAVEMCCLURE

9. “ASTARTUP’SDEFAULT
STATEIS#FAILURE.ASA
FOUNDER,YOUHAVETO
WORKTOUNFAILIT.”
-VITALYM.GOLOMB

10. whywouldyouwantto
startacompany?

11. getgoodgrades
gotoagoodcollege
getinagoodcompany
getregularpromotions
retire,playgolf,die
normalcareer

12. startupcareer
ifsuccessful
whatpeoplethink
itlookslike
whatitreally
lookslike

13. entrepreneurship
isamentaldisorder

14. butittakesa
littlecrazy...
tochange
theworld

15. so,whyareyoudoingit?

16. forthe
money?

17. fortheIPOmoney?

18. 100
200
300
400
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
numberofglobal
techipossince1999
371
35
75
53
SOURCE: UF WARRINGTON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS IPO DATA REPORT

19. fundedstartup
successrate
30%fail
30%
unprofitable
30%
somewhat
profitable
10%big
success

20. BYTHEWAY...
#FAILUREIN
STARTUPSIS
OVERGLORIFIED

21. FAILUREIS
ahardlesson

22. 1sttimefounder18%
repeatfailedfounder20%
repeatsuccessfulfounder30%
theoddsareagainstyou

23. you’llgetacquiredif
youareluckyandgood

24. freedom?

25. normaljob:
oneboss

26. startup:
everyuser
isyourboss

27. haveafamily?
theywillsuffer

28. “asastartupceo,islept
likeababy. iwokeup
every2hoursandcried.”
-benhorowitz

29. DEPRESSIONISNOTAJOKE
INARECENTSURVEYOF242U.S.ENTREPRENEURS
30%DEPRESSION
29%ADHD
27%ANXIETY
yourcompanyisnotyou
don’tbeashamedtotalkaboutyourfeelings goo.gl/ItX20d

30. ALESSONINTEAMMORALE
jess lee - “why startup founders are always unhappy”

31. feeling
defeated
yet?

32. goodnews:
youcanimprove
yourchances

33. findaproblem
youcan’tlive
withoutsolving

34. don’tbuildtechnology
lookingforaproblemtosolve
solveapainfulproblem

35. whatisallthisleanbullshit?

36. lean=quickiterations

37. morechancesto
solvetheproblem

38. morechancesto#unfail

39. sowhat’sagoodstartup?

40. firstthingsfirst

41. NOTHINGMATTERS
MORETHANTRACTION

42. solvesapainfulproblem
foraspecificcustomer

43. howcanyoubesure
you’resolvingaproblem?

44. how is it currently
being solved?

45. no competitors
=
no problem
=
no market

46. stopcoding
getoutofthebuilding
talktoyourcustomers
faceyourfears
validateassumptions

47. HOWAREYOUDIFFERENT
ANDBETTER?
HARD?EXPENSIVE?SUCKS?

48. F’IN

49. ARISINGTIDE
LIFTSALLBOATS

50. SOURCE: CHRIS DIXON, WHAT’S NEXT IN COMPUTING?
skatetowherethe
puckisgoingtobe

51. DOESITscale?

52. $2,250,000
$4,500,000
$6,750,000
$9,000,000
Craigslist Apple Facebook Google Amazon McDonalds
revenueperemployee$8.5M
$2M
$1.2M$1.4M
$464K
$203K

53. don’tforget:
youarebuildinga
repeatablebusiness

54. measureeverything

55. internet-driven
customeracquisition

56. mainingredient:team

57. hiringishard

58. O much money
O stability
O support structure
O a long-term plan
P stock
P flexibility
P chance to make
a difference
whatyou
don’thave
whatyou
dohave

59. BUSINESSwithdomainexpertise
DESIGN ENGINEERING
balancedstartupteam

60. whatisyour
unfairadvantage?

61. ITISEASIERTOSTARTUP
ANYWHERENOWTHENIN
SILICONVALLEYIN1999

63. thenewtools
ofthetrade

64. VENTURE
CAPITAL
ISCHANGING

65. SEED:SELLADREAM
SERIESA:BETTERHAVETRACTION

66. SOURCE: STEVE BLANK

67. SOURCE: SEED DB
MEDIANEXIT=$20M

68. ACCELERATORSARETHE
NEWBUSINESSSCHOOL

69. ADVISEDBYMENTORS
FILLINKNOWLEDGEGAPS
SURROUNDEDBYCO-SUFFERINGPEERS
STAMPOFAPPROVALTOSEEDINVESTORS

70. ARETHEMENTORSACTIVEANDHELPFUL?
ARETHEPREVIOUSBATCHCEOsHAPPY?
REMOVEDISTRACTIONS,PREPARETOFOCUS
WHATMILESTONESAREYOUHOPINGTOACHIEVE?

72. @VITALYG
WANTTHESLIDESANDMORE?
golomb.net/techcode
PRE-ORDERACCELERATEDSTARTUP
golomb.net/book
QUESTIONS?