via Found&Read
full blog post is here
my favorites are here (despite they are not at the top of David's list):
5) Don't forget to set goals, early and often. Think about small: "Today I will write a blog entry and buy that printer we need so badly," and large: "This month we're going to wrap up the beta site by finishing the design pieces, sending out test-user invitations and incorporating in feedback." It was easy for me to get lost in whatever was at hand and forget about the larger picture. Benchmarks should exist in your business plan (set them, you'll do it sooner or later), within your team and in your weekly activities.
6) I didn't back up all of my information. My hardware crashed and I lost contacts I'll never get back. My laptop's screen died about six months after starting the business. It was stressful. At tax time I realized that I couldn't only get nine months of statements from my bank, the rest cost $10 a pop. Moral of the story, back it up, back it up, back it up!
7) Don't moonlight. For the first 6 months of MakeMeSustainable, I was still working a consulting job. I'd go directly from work to the coffee shop to work until midnight when it closed. I didn't have much of choice, financially it wasn't an option to go full time. However, once I was full time, I was still working 80+ hours per week. What ended up suffering was my efficiency and attention to detail. Plain and simple advice: take a break, relax. You'll still be working more then your buddy who works at the post office, but make it on your terms. I turn off my PDA email after around 9pm unless I know I'm receiving important information and I try to have one day of the week I do (almost) no work.
8) Don't neglect Quickbooks. I know it is a pain in the butt. Have someone teach you, pay for a few lessons or ideally bring in a bookkeeper and sit with them in order to learn. You'll thank yourself at tax time. I went through two versions of the company in Quickbooks before getting it right on the third time.
9) Don't cut off your funding options. VC vs. Angel vs. Corporate/Strategic?
Fundraising is the bane of every entrepreneur's existence. It is stressful, takes up mountains of time and requires amazing amounts of patience, attentiveness and humility. Everyone's opinion on how to do it right is based on personal experience, success and/or failure. It is important to keep your options open.We got great advice, but focused quickly on raising an A round with a reputable VC and slowed the Angel search. We still haven't raised that A round. But we might.
6) I didn't back up all of my information. My hardware crashed and I lost contacts I'll never get back. My laptop's screen died about six months after starting the business. It was stressful. At tax time I realized that I couldn't only get nine months of statements from my bank, the rest cost $10 a pop. Moral of the story, back it up, back it up, back it up!
7) Don't moonlight. For the first 6 months of MakeMeSustainable, I was still working a consulting job. I'd go directly from work to the coffee shop to work until midnight when it closed. I didn't have much of choice, financially it wasn't an option to go full time. However, once I was full time, I was still working 80+ hours per week. What ended up suffering was my efficiency and attention to detail. Plain and simple advice: take a break, relax. You'll still be working more then your buddy who works at the post office, but make it on your terms. I turn off my PDA email after around 9pm unless I know I'm receiving important information and I try to have one day of the week I do (almost) no work.
8) Don't neglect Quickbooks. I know it is a pain in the butt. Have someone teach you, pay for a few lessons or ideally bring in a bookkeeper and sit with them in order to learn. You'll thank yourself at tax time. I went through two versions of the company in Quickbooks before getting it right on the third time.
9) Don't cut off your funding options. VC vs. Angel vs. Corporate/Strategic?
Fundraising is the bane of every entrepreneur's existence. It is stressful, takes up mountains of time and requires amazing amounts of patience, attentiveness and humility. Everyone's opinion on how to do it right is based on personal experience, success and/or failure. It is important to keep your options open.We got great advice, but focused quickly on raising an A round with a reputable VC and slowed the Angel search. We still haven't raised that A round. But we might.
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