Startups.fm has long been narrating stories of startups. This new year we plan to hit some really kickass resolutions that might get startups off of their butts. Here are 4 mantras. Keep reading.
Be Vocal
Yes being an entrepreneur is not about becoming oblivoius of the world around you. It is more about a movement that plans to change our planet. Entrepreneurs are essentially those troublemakers, the changemakers and they cannot possibly sit in an idle corner of a garage and work. Raise your voice and blow your trumpets hard so that all and sundry gets to know that you are working to innovate and to change.
KISS
Yes startups need to KISS (Keep it Simpe, Stupid). Why is it so that most startups who try to make it big crumble often? The answer to this is to avoid complications. For example if you are preparing a startup pitch, keep it short and simple. See what Youtube says “Upload your videos”, Facebook says “An online Yearbook”, Twitter says, “Real-time text updates”, Instagram says, “fancy photo-sharing”, Pinterest says, “an online pinboard” and many more to mention. The best example was when Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone as “an iPod, a phone, an interner communicator”. That is the magic of conveying message in a few words.
Staying focused
Most startups think that whatever they are thinking is unique and will be big. But bad stars often tell them that they are not the only players. So startups need to do a competition check and also iterate business models. Being stubborn is the worst trait if you are starting up. You will have to do away with your rigidity. Let your idea be the same but the excution matters. It is also seen that startups fail to get tractionw ithin their deadlines and they lose interest. The real fact is that when you have started up you will need to think that you are playing with an audience who is not interested in your idea or product or service. It is your effort to stay focussed and reach out to users and bring traction and foster growth. Initially you will need to think that no one cares about your idea or your product. You will need to play in an empty field and keep toiling and releasing your blood sweat till the time you reach from zero to one. Also do not make people go frustrated with push selling techniques. That indeed is an ogre.
Gaining traction
This is a cliched phrase in the startup arena. But it is interesting to note that the word “traction” refers to an engineering discipline where it refers to friction created by a pulling force. In the startup tech world this essentially refers to a state where an idea or a product has gathered enough energy so as to sustain a movement or rather momentum on its own. This means where the business goes into an auto pilot mode. Traction comes automatically because of the brand pr product positioning. Today traction comes as a deadly combination of various factors like leveraging social media platform, pitching to celebrity like investors who are constantly hovering around us, seed capital despite the lags in the economy. This gives rise to a dozens of products and services. For startups to gain traction, one just needs to connect with the right person the right time.
