More often than not, when speaking about setting up a startup, other people are surprised. Why this way? IT specialists earn so much these days, why do you want to take such a decision?

These questions seem sensible. Statistics show that only one or, according to other data, two startups out of ten manage to survive.

How important is it to advertise your product while creating a startup? Do you need to participate in startup events? Or maybe you just have to spend money on advertisements?

Emotions during building a startup are pretty well described on The Startup Curve created (seriocomically) by Paul Graham:


The story of Peter Reinhardt, the chairman of Segment startup, shows very well how to look for a product that just sells itself.

Today, Segment employs 150 people, but the beginning wasn’t so easy. It started out with 4 founders who were looking for their business idea.

Everyone is born with some sort of talents but if we judge a fish by how it can climb a tree, it will think that it’s stupid for the rest of its life.

Running a business is very similar. Each business is different, just as entrepreneurs’ approaches towards it.

(więcej…)

Imagine that your IQ is twice as high as Leonardo da Vinci’s. They never calculated it, but he’s said to be one of the most multi-talented people in history. But in this thought experiment, you were born in 5000 BC.

It will be an entry in which I would like to write about a few basic rules connected with creating a great product in your startup. I’ll also write about how the already functioning startups used these rules in developing their own products.

AN INTERVIEW WITH KAMIL LASZUK, THE CREATOR OF MUSICON

I’ve met Kamil Laszuk during the Hardware Massive Conference in Warsaw. It was an event during which several dozen of startups producing various types of equipment were showing their products.

The solely interesting product isn’t sufficient  today if you want to reach a great numer of people, the more so if you want  the company to make money. It’s especially noticeable in internet businesses. What is also important is to find the way to earn money which means finding a so-called business model.

The title of this entry can sound not very seriously for some people, but it is the seriousness of this subject that doesn’t let people function normally. I wouldn’t limit it only to worrying – it leads to stress which probably most of people encounter every day. I don’t know an entrepreneur who wouldn’t worry about what is yet to come either all the time or at some stage of the business development. Some people  claim that over half of hospital beds are occupied by people with neurological or mental disorders, even if the direct symptom is somatopathy. They  are usually a result of accumulated problems and concerns about the future. Dr Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize winner, once said:

WHAT WILL YOU FIND OUT FROM THIS ENTRY?

• Is passion essential when setting up a business?
• What is necessary to make even the most clichéd idea profitable?
• How did I start my first business in England spending about 100 zl on it?
• How can you earn millions of zlotys on a blog?
• How is it possible that teaching people Excel can bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in income?