Jobs Thruth

Here are a few of the quotes from Steve Jobs that make me relate to him on a startup point of view.

1.“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”  -via
2. “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”– Inc. Magazine
3. “So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.” – Classic Gaming
4.“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” -All Things Digital 5
5. “It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” – Businessweek

6. “The problem with the Internet startup craze isn’t that too many people are starting companies; it’s that too many people aren’t sticking with it. That’s somewhat understandable, because there are many moments that are filled with despair and agony, when you have to fire people and cancel things and deal with very difficult situations. That’s when you find out who you are and what your values are.

7. To write a novel, you have to read a novel––one that reads like a mystery to most people. They’re not going to learn slash q-z any more than they’re going to learn Morse code. That is what Macintosh is all about.” Playboy


Because he came from the garage startup scenario I think he really understood entrepreneurship and what it takes to get to success. Let's just try to emulate what he did.

Typical Startup Experience

I meet a lot of entrepreneurs in what I do and most of us have a similar story. I felt like sharing one story would be sharing a thousand. I'm sure you will recognize or see yourself in this adventure from a friend of mine, Mark Rosenberger.

Mark was working at a large corporation, Bell Canada, and saw opportunities from diverse issues that were related to his work. He could not be alone with those problems and if he could solve some of those he thought he would have a good case for a viable business that would meet the need of a large target market. Time goes by, the idea matures and you get the feeling that you need to "do it". You become restless and decide it's time. Mark takes the plunge into the unknown. Tagle is born.

Having a family to support, time is of the essence. As all first time entrepreneurs, investors are not throwing money at you. You put in your own money and some from your friends, family and fools. You flush ideas out, you get a prototype and get to a point were you attract attention from others. Mark was onto something and was lucky enough to get and angel investor on board. Working with his team from across the globe and with poverty knocking at his door, Tagle develops a robust set of tools to manage files with the philosophy that Drag and Drop is the easiest way. They go for a consumer approach and launch a beta. Friends and users start using the product but things don't go gangbusters on the first iteration. That's when a good entrepreneur comes alive.

Tagle pivots and refocuses towards a business to business play. This comes with letting people go which is alway one of the hardest things to do. The new team is woking hard and zeroes in on tools that their new target market absolutely needs. They simplify their approach and go for in their backyard customers. Being from Alberta they set their sight on the oil and gas market as a beachhead. Not long after their pivot the best part of being an entrepreneur happens. Their first customer signs up. The first contract is never big money but it shows that the decisions you made were the right ones plus any kind of money coming in makes you feel like things are on a roll. Tagle then receives even more attention and that's when people start to take notice and want to join the party. Ganesh Murdeshwar, an experienced business man with lots of oil and gas experience, joins the ranks and brings a fresh breath to Tagle and much needed cash injection.

Soon after, other customers sign up and things feel like you have made it. In a sense you did but many more battles are to come, headaches to cure and hard decisions to make. Somehow it's all worth it.

Of course not everyone makes it but if you are thinking of making that jump or are in the process of getting things rolling, it's a great ride no matter what happens.

Does this experience feel like deja vu to you?

Startup Wisdom

Here are some things to think of when you are in a startup. These come from my experiences founding Blackline GPS and budtobud and might reflect yours as well.

1. Nothing is simple but
2. Everything is doable.
3. Talk about what you are doing to a broad range of people. The feedback is extremely valuable.
4. Pitch all the time. That's how you get good and how you validate your ideas.
5. Be prepared to be on the clock 24hrs. That includes your dreams since sometimes good things come out of those half asleep ones.
6. What the company starts out to be might not be what it ends up being. Both Blackline GPS and budtobud changed directions.
7. Fail early so you can be better quicker.
8. Think big all the time but start small.
9. Don't be afraid to give some of the company for real value. Basically don't be Gollum.
10. Make sure you have fun and that means surround yourself with people you like in and out of the office.

What would you add?