slides

@davidskidder
Startups: How It Actually Feels
Easy
Initial
Rewards
Optimized Focus:
Product to Market Fit
Grinding Failures
A Gladwellian Journey
Jan 2010
: 45 Profiles
: 45 Videos
: 200+ Hours
: 1:1
The Playbook = The Focal Lens
“The Playbook” curates and defines the
unspoken, gritty, hardwired, and innate
beliefs, theses, and philosophies that
transcend all aspects of economic creation.
Profiled Founders
Adeo Ressi
Ben Horowitz
Bill Gross
Caterina Fake
Charles Best
Chip Conley
Chris Anderson
Chris Dixon
Colin Angle
Eileen Gittins
Elon Musk
Jacqueline Novogratz
Jason Calacanis
Jay Walker
Jeff Dachis
Jeff Stewart
Jeffrey Hollender
Jim McCann
Joe Green
Kevin Efrusy
Kirill Sheynkman
Linda Rottenberg
Lisa Gansky
Marc Ecko
Michael Diamant
Mitch Free
Reid Hoffman
Robin Chase
Rodney Brooks
Sara Blakely
Scott Harrison
Scott Heiferman
Scott Kurnit
Seth Goldman
Steve Blank
Steve Case
Tariq Farid
The Messers
Tom Gardner
Tony Hsieh
Humbling Blurbs
“The world needs more entrepreneurs. Kidder brings both It’s like having a virtual
a writer’s mind and a startup veteran’s urgency to an advisory board of some of entertaining and useful trip inside the minds of today’s the best entrepreneurs in
most successful creators of organiza:ons” the world.
“I love this book.
You will discover valuable
insights or a good idea on
every page to add to your
own playbook.”
—Brian O’Kelly Founder,
AppNexus
—David Kirkpatrick Founder, host, and CEO, Techonomy Media; Author of The Facebook Effect “Kidder’s Startup Playbook is a one-inch punch of the startup
experience — a raw insider’s guide to the real playbooks behind
some of tech’s great successes and comebacks.
It's an urgent and prescient read”
Marc Andreesen, Co Founder + General Partner
Andreeseen Horowitz
HUSBAND, FATHER & ENTREPRENUER
Bionic
Co-Founder and CEO
Clickable, Inc.
Co-Founder and CEO
Acquired by Syncapse, Inc.
SmartRay, Inc.
Co-Founder
Acquired by Lifeminders, Inc.
Net-X, Inc
.Co-Founder
Acquired by TargetVision, Inc.
CREATOR AND CO-AUTHOR
The Startup Playbook
Published by Chronicle Books,
April 2012
The Intellectual Devotional Series
Two Time New York Times Bestsellers
Published with Rodale
5 Books Series in 15+ Languages
INVESTOR
Alt Option Return, LLC
Founders Fund III,
15+ Angel Investments
PHILANTHROPY
The Smithsonian
National Board Member
The Acumen Fund
Founding Member, A1Fund
Endeavor
Advisory
Playbook Core
1
INNATE
Know Thyself
Zero Focus On Weaknesses
Following The Rabbit Hole
INNATE
INNATE
INNATE
INNATE SMARTS
2
EXTREME FOCUS
Courage
Has Bet It All
Quit Optionality
3
PAIN KILLERS
Addictive drugs for chronic pain
4
10X BETTER
Incrementalism = Path to Death
5
STARTUPS ARE STUPIDLY HARD
Intend To Be A Monopolists From Day One…
Founder
Hosain Rahman
Jawbone
1.  Scale an Experience Continuum (Everything A Prototype)
2.  Focus on What Customers Truly Care About (Unbiased)
3.  Keep The Taste of Dirt and Blood in Your Mouth
Chris Anderson
TED
1.  Passion is Proxy for Potential
2.  Leverage Large Communities for an Upward Spiral
3.  Build A Broadly Appealed Niche
4.  Own The Stage
Reid Hoffman
LinkedIn
PayPal
1.  Execute on Your Biggest Idea
2.  Radically Differentiate
3.  Be Early To Market, Create Patience
4.  Maintain Rebellious Outsider Thinking
Elon Musk
SpaceX
Tesla
PayPal
1.  Impact The Future of Humanity
2.  Great Companies are Built Around Great Product
3.  Never Engage in Wishful Thinking
4.  Overall Market Prioritizes Over All Short Term Metrics
Steve Blank
Epiphany
Stanford
1.  Build Only From Core Expertise
2.  Entrepreneurism Can Be Taught
3.  First Convince Yourself, Then Your Team, Then Market
Jay Walker
Priceline
Walker Digital
1.  Think – Aim, Aim, Ready, Fire
2.  Recognize The Complexity in All Things
3.  Talk to People Close and Far From Your Problem
The Walker Library
The Walker Library
Startup School
KNOW + EXPLAIN WHERE THEY ARE
Always in A Dip – Name It – Attack It
Easy
Initial
Rewards
Optimized
Product to Market Fit
Grinding Failures
FOCUS: MAKING LIVE vs DIE DECISIONS
FOCUS: PRODUCT TO MARKET FIT
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Sell Like Hell
Build + Align Every Resource
Distribution Data Speaks
Customer Impact
Product Thesis
COURAGE: THE COST OF HARD DECISIONS
Market
Hero
Roadkill
PRACTICAL: DEFEAT INCUMBENT FRICTION
Today 9x
3x
Future PATIENCE: REVENUE DISCOVERY TAKES YEARS
Final Deep Thoughts
You have won humanity s lottery
We should be walking miles for water
Don t suffer from the sin of comparison
Be grateful, Celebrate Others Success, Don t Chase
Work only towards your innate effort
Success is rolling balls down the hill, not pushing them up
Love and forgive people
Don t indulge in contempt, 7:1 Rule
WHAT
Greed ∧ Is Good
Thank You
@davidskidder