Marketing.fm

I have not been doing marketing for quite some time and I thought it was time to start writing under a new domain.

You can now find all new material at www.EricGFriedman.com

See you there!

I am teaching a SkillShare class this week with Christina Cacioppo called how to get a job at a startup.  I am excited to dive into this topic as I have sorted through a ton of resumes and had a number of people reach out about this question.  I have been speaking to a number of people recently who are at different stages of their lives – but all looking to work “at a startup”.  Some are about to be college grads, some are switching from “corporate” jobs, and some are MBA’s looking for what is next.  Others are engineers looking to get into something different.  I encourage people to email me about these things because one of the most helpful things I can do is help source people. My email is available,  and I welcome the outreach.  Below are some thoughts on the discussion we hope to have as well as resources for those who cannot make it out to the class.

First ask yourself if you really want to work at a startup?

Many are exposed to the success stories but never see the tough times tech blogs, magazines, and interviews don’t share. Its a grind – no matter what. I try to convey the differences between a “normal job” and a startup.  There are a lot of peaks and valleys, and not everyone is suited for the sometimes unstable nature of the roles.  Next I ask them to pinpoint down further beyond “working at a startup” as their goal. What topics are they interested in? What categories do they want to work in? What problems do they want to help solve? These are the things I ask these questions to get a persons world view and hear how they express interest in a sector or company.

When I hear a company or sector from their answers,  I will focus in on it with specific questions on that company or category. For example if someone mentions a certain company by name, I will ask them to explain what that business does to further understand their world view.  Many people can identify a company they want to work at, but for no other reason then for its success or buzz factor.  Seldom to they name the 2-3 companies in the space that are all trying to tackle the same problems.

You need to show that you have a passion for a specific category, and understanding of a particular problem, and an overall obsession with building and being part of a solution.

Once you narrow it down you should figure out a plan of what you will actually be doing.  What’s your 100-day operational roadmap for yourself at the company? What will you be doing, when will you be doing it, and who will you need to help you? (Correct answer to the last question: as few people as possible.)

Outreach 

Getting in touch can be one of the things that can differentiate you from the crowd.  Most if not all startups will have a formal job board or application process.  I can’t stress this highly enough, but you should definitely apply through that process.  All other avenues into the company through personal referrals, friends, blog posts, or other means will eventually have you submit a formal application which may include a cover letter and resume and having it already on file within the job system the company uses is extremely helpful.

Reaching out to a Company can be intimidating.  You may think that they do not want to hear from you, or that you don’t have anything intelligent to say or offer.  The truth is that most small startups are dealing with a series of problems and trying to answer a series of questions – if you can be helpful in tackling either, then you are someone they want to be in contact with.

The coffee equation

One path a lot of folks try is to write the hiring manager, or even the CEO about going to “grab coffee to chat”.  I have recommended against this approach as it does not show enough information on your part.

There should be an inverse amount of energy and time put into a potential coffee meeting.

Let me explain with the following diagram

This may seem unfair, but putting in 4-5 times (or more!) the effort of the person you want to speak with does make some sense.  A CEO is dealing with a number of different issues at the same time trying to keep his or her startup afloat.  Things like employees, investors, a business model, the product, feedback, etc… all take up their attention.  When you reach out to spend precious time with them – even 20 minutes – you are asking them to put all the other things aside in favor of your meeting.  This is why I recommend to folks that they spend time craft an email that outlines at least 3 solutions to at least 3 issues you think a CEO is dealing with.  I can promise you that if you touch on even 1 correctly, you are someone they want to spend more time with.  This conversation may not result in a job offer, but it sure is a great way to get the attention of someone that is busy with a million other issues at the same time.

By spending time and energy on crafting a unique and thoughtful outreach request you will be differentiated from others.  It seems obvious, but this small amount of hard work is usually disregarded, and you will therefore standout.  Its an extra 20-30 minutes of work that will at least result in someone reading your note and hopefully responding.

Be reachable!

Along with submitting your information through the official means, you want to make sure you are reachable.  I always recommend to people that they should have a contact form, their email address, or some other means of getting in contact fast.  If you can get a hiring manager, CEO, or investors attention by some means – you want to make the gateway to getting in personal contact very easy.  I know of a ton of great blog posts that do not have an about page, contact page, or any way to get in touch with the author.  Don’t assume that a comments box is enough as its probably too high of a barrier for one of the people mentioned above.

In conclusion

Finally, like most investments in this space, its about the person.  People look for great team members that can work on hard problems and answer tough questions.  Background, experience, and education all play a role – but in the end it about the right fit.  There are a number of resources, top 10 lists, and other actions you can take all listed below.  I think ultimately its about how you approach a sector, and how you participate.  In a sea of sameness, standing out from the crowd can be tough.  My best advice is to participate in the space, get your thoughts down publicly, and start a dialogue with as many folks as you can.

Some resources:

[Updating this area - please leave your resource in the comments and I will add it here.]

I asked this question on Quora and invite you to participate as well: What is the best way to get hired by a startup in NYC?
CrunchBase is a great directory of Companies both large and small
Alex Taub – Tumblr
Jake Furst – Foursquare
Bijan Sabet: http://bijansabet.com/post/335646309/how-to-join-a-startup
Charlie O’Donnell: http://www.thisisgoingtobebig.com/blog/2011/4/1/how-to-get-an-exciting-job-at-an-awesome-startup-in-less-tha.html
Mark Suster part two: http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/17/whom-to-hire-at-a-startup-attitude-over-aptitude/
Eric Stromberg: http://estromberg.com/post/4778188872/how-to-get-a-job-at-a-startup-if-you-arent-a-developer
Jason Shen: http://www.jasonshen.com/2010/get-a-startup-job-out-of-college/

I have been playing around with Google+ for the past 24 hours and wanted to get down my thoughts.

I have been thinking for awhile that Google is in fact a social network that is essentially hidden.

Google+ is the common thread between all the services.  Its a final connection point between networks and services that have been existing in a void for a long time.  This common weave provides a place for this content to be shared, exist with a purpose, and hopefully be consumed.  It remains to be seen as to whether or not this will usurp other social networks for time and attention, but it is well positioned to garner a ton of usage right out of the gate.

I am excited by the prospect of Google Webmaster Tools incorporating +1 data and other services.  I think this will provide some much needed analytics and insight into whether or not all this activity has impact on sites and attention.

On the Web

• Its very clean – empty without content is a tough state, but the facebook analogy is so strong its easy to see what goes where
• Adding all contacts to a new social graph is proving difficult
• Circles are tricky, sometimes great, but definitely a positive way to organize people
• The analogies to both Gmail and FB are strong – placement of chat and newsfeed
• Now theres a reason to +1 something – I assume my +1′s will filter back into my feed
• Using the site and sharing between circles, extended circles, and public makes sense but won’t to most
• I didn’t mind having it hidden in the header bar
• Hangout is amazing – works flawlessly and group chat now has a new bar set

Mobile

• Android app is very slick
• Its actually two apps Google+ and Huddle which is like a version of GroupMe, Beluga, and WhatsApp
• Currently not running automatically in the background – opening Google+ Mobile brings up notifications upon each open (would prefer if it ran in the background)
• Slick UI and well poised for immediate International use (found this throughout the app and web)
• Its fast – most of the features work quickly and make sense
• Notifications are on the bottom which is opposed to the native Android notifications bar

The missing link for me is the disparate network problem being experienced by Google+.

Facebook started with small, tightly knit clustered networks (Colleges) that had an immediate network effect.  Once these small nodes joined together they became super nodes.  As these nodes joined, they eventually connected the farthest points of the network.  As a friend put it, the scale of facebook is now capped at the population.

Google+ is rolling out to geeks across the globe.  There is no central group or smaller node.  I am inviting those that have asked, and watching as I am populated to circles and seeing more activity happen.

The one common element here that does not exist for Facebook is that the Google+ bar exists at the top of Google.com and Gmail for me now – where I spend the bulk of my web time.  Notifications will play a key role here.  As I described before, I continue to think of Google as a social network that is there when you need it and not when you don’t.

Update: video for reference

Related articles

• Google+: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (searchengineland.com)
• First Night With Google Plus: This is Very Cool (readwriteweb.com)

Image via Wikipedia

I am teaching a SkillShare class on what to ask yourself before launching a startup.

SkillShare is a distributed learning platform that pairs people who are passionate about topics with those eager to learn.  Its run by my good friend Mike Karnjanaprakorn and recently launched to allow more learning to happen.

I recently asked the crowd on Quora the question as well – things to ask yourself before launching a startup and got some smart answers and below are a few.  There are many great threads about this topic as well.

• Is this something you want to do for the next 5+ years?
• Is this something you want to do to the detriment of other things in your life?
• Do you have the mindset to do/be in a startup for the foreseeable future?
• Is there a large enough target market for my product/service?
• What type of skills are you bringing to the table?
• How far will the skills you have bring you and the business?
• Who else do you need on your team?
• Do you have customers lined up?

A startup is a labor of love.  Its something that you will do for quite a long period of time and involve many ups and downs that can sometimes be difficult to deal with.  Chances are, the lessons you learn and trials you go through will stick with you for the rest of your life.  The upside of embarking on this journey is that you will be able to take these business lessons with you on to your next project whether you are successful or fail.

What are my metrics of success? (or, define success for your business)

One of the most common things I see when people ” do a startup” is not defining what success metrics are.  By doing this you can measure your performance, show milestones, and define for yourself and your team whether or not you are on the right track.

Going through an exercise of creating milestones associated with a timeline can put you in a realistic position of measuring success.  Perhaps its X users in a week, a month, or a quarter.  Perhaps its 500 downloads in a year.  Perhaps its selling Y units in a quarter.  The goal is to see if you can achieve these goals in the time you set out for yourself.

Startups can operate in such a lean way these days that its actually hard to tell when you are failing vs. succeeding.  Let me explain.  In the case of a small web app that costs $20-$30 per month to maintain, which provides a service to people, you may be in a situation where the app is on autopilot.  It might be getting used by a few people, and new signups each day or week, but it may not truly be getting “traction” in the market you want to enter.  Its hard to know when this is going to occur, and harder to know when to shut things down.

Can I be committed to this endeavor and for how long?

One of the more interesting questions that people forget to ask is what will they be doing 3 years from now.  If the answer is “not this project” then you should consider the longterm implications of the commitment.  A startup is a labor of love because there are a ton of highs and lows associated with it.  Its easy to be distracted, easy to get down on yourself and your team, and easy to lose focus.  Thinking about things in the longterm can help you narrow down if this path is right for you.

The other side of this coin is whether or not you are the right person to be running a startup in 3-5 years.  Many people are great at getting things off the ground, but have no longterm management experience or interest in running a 100 person company.

Is this going to be a small business or a big business?

Sometimes people refer to small businesses as “lifestyle businesses” which sounds negative, but its really not.  There is nothing wrong with a small-er business that perhaps does not have the same debt responsibilities to investors as a large business, that is profitable.  There are many more “success” stories out there that do not get written up in the so called tech press and are thriving for the founders and employees. Going after a problem, providing a solution, and having a positive cash flow business because of it is a successful business (if you are going after that lifestyle).

A big business, in my definition, is one that you have to borrow (or give up a piece of your Company for) to grow the business while you wait for the product, revenue, service to be ready for customers.  There could be any number of reasons why you want to go out and get money from an outside source such as a venture firm or angel investor – but they should all be vetted against your plan and how you hope to achieve it.  I will not get into the nuances of raising outside capital here as that is enough for another day.

Do I have a large enough target market? (or, who’s interested in my business?)

When thinking about starting a Company, its always good to think about whos pain you are going to ease.  The simple ideas and products sometimes start out from people who are so fed up with how something works (or doesn’t!) that they decide to create a solution.  I love these types of businesses because it shows that the person has a vested and personal interest in seeing the problem solved.  A great example of this is Instapaper which is a read it later service that lets you bookmark things to read in the future.  The total addressable market here is any article that has a permalink online (in other words a lot!).  Another is a recent TechStars company called Nestio.com which lets you quickly compare real estate listings together and collaborate with roomates on which is the best (Disclosure; I mentor this company).  The addressable market here is anyone that is looking for an apartment, and those that are looking with a roomate.

Doing some quick math on the examples above, you can see that the audience for these services is immediately within the millions.  That is a good sign for products that are solving problems in a simple and elegant way.

Who else do you need for your team?

Building your team is arguably the most important part of a startup.  These are the people you will be in the trenches with for the foreseeable future and you need to choose them carefully.  More importantly you need to figure what roles you will need.  At first, many of the people will be jack of all trades.  As your team grows and you need to start giving out responsibility you need to ask yourself about your management style and how you are prepared to handle this situation.

The most important people that join your team are going to be the first 10-20 people.  Typically this is a make or break team for a business.  I personally have not seen a full regime change of core team members that have led to a successful business but I am sure there is an edge case out there.

How are you going to split the ownership of the Company?

This is one of the things that is most obvious in hindsight.  I have personally been a part of “bad breakup” situations and been in the middle of settling ownership disputes.  You should setup the equity split as soon as possible.  For the sake of clarity let me repeat that last sentence; you should figure out the ownership of the company immediately.  Use this post as your crutch, and lean on it to tell your partner(s) that you must figure it out.  There is a ton written on whether or not a fair split makes sense (50/50 or 33/33/33) but I will leave that to your own research.

The benefit of figuring this out immediately clarifies any “unknowns” for people involved and helps you determine how the work will be split.

Do you have the discipline to set your own goals, and reach them?

One of the hardest things about being an entrepreneur is getting and staying motivated.  In the beginning things can get pretty hectic, but there are certainly low points.  One of the things I have seen first time entrepreneurs struggle with is the ability to stay on track, keep working, and skip all the distractions.  You can use many different tactics to help combat these distractions and things that can derail your progress and below are a few of my favorites.

Board Meetings – yup, even this early
This sounds very official and perhaps like overkill for a small startup.  Forcing yourself into a monthly meeting where you are accountable for things from the month before provides a great structure to get yourself organized (stay organized) as well as present exactly what you have done in the past 30, 60, or 90 days.  For many entrepreneurs there is no formal board in place, but I have found most groups have a “kitchen” cabinet of advisors.  This can help solidify those relationships and also hold you accountable to a meeting that you setup on a regular basis.

Milestones
You can see my thoughts on milestones above but they are very important to set.  Doing this provides a clear roadmap for you and your partners.  You would be amazed at how coming up with milestones separately provides transparency into how different you and your partner(s) view the business.

When are you going to start?

This may seem like a strange question to ask yourself, but let me explain what I mean.  Many people are “going to quite and start something” or “looking for the right partner before starting” or my favorite “just adding one more feature before we launch”.  You can see my thoughts on never launching and only iterating here.  The act of “starting” vs. “saying you are going to start” is a huge psychological hurdle you should consider getting over before too long.  You will feel different, act different, and speak differently about your business.  Its the difference between saying “I am thinking about starting something” vs. “I started something”.

For some this can be finding a partner.  For others its about incorporation.  Still others its about launching a beta product that even 1 person uses.  Different hurdles for different people – but in the end its about getting out there and “doing” vs. talking about it.

I am sure there are many more questions that could be added to this list and I look forward to the discussion!

I recently saw that Amazon is running a smart promotion where they give away one paid app every day on the new Amazon App Store for Android.  This is an incentive to get Android users to try out their version of an app store marketplace to compete with the one Google provides on all Android devices.

The link I clicked from Amazon.com can be seen above – obviously throwing a ton of promotion into the Amazon App Store.  Its a smart play and got me using their app store daily as I have downloaded apps that are $.99, $1.99, and $1.99 respectively each day since I started using it.  At first glance this seems unsustainable – but like many things its all about the details.

I wonder how long it would take before they ran out of app developers that would want to increase their userbase by giving away their app free for one whole day to Amazon App Store users?  With 365 days in a year I would say they could continue this promotion for awhile.

Overall, I love having more choices.  The Amazon App store is smartly tied to my Amazon credentials so my credit card info is already on file.  I have seen the layout, update structure, and device switching abilities of this new flavor of an App Store and its been great.

I think consumers win when there are more choices, and app developers should have multiple conduits of distribution.  It would not surprise me if there were paid components of the Amazon App store coming soon, integrated with the typical commerce portal of Amazon.com.

App developers care about downloads, purchases, and usage.  Anything that allows them to distribute the same binary to get more of any of those three is a win.