Dangerous Reasons What convinces entrepreneurs to start up? Nick Pelling, Nanodome Ltd –

The Obligatory 2x2 Matrix

5 Startup Mythologies

1. “Startups are for winners” Reality: statistically, startups are for losers. (Startup failure rate: 80%+)

2. “Good ideas are like gold dust” Reality: they’re tiny and hard to work with (Execution and sales are 50% each.)

3. “Everyone on TechCrunch is funded” Reality: it’s history as written by lottery winners. (Would reading Wayne Rooney’s autobiography help you play better football?)

4. “It worked for James Dyson” Reality: that’s far, far more nuanced than you think.

5. “It worked for Alan Sugar” Reality: apart from the selling aerials bit, he’s not really a great entrepreneurial role model.

18 Startup Misconceptions

1. “My business plan rocks” Reality: your business plan sucks, but everyone’s far too polite to tell you. (Don’t worry, almost all business plans suck.)

2. “The world changes fast” Reality: the world changes too fast. (i.e. your opportunity will probably vanish.)

3. “I’ve read 100 good books” Reality: they were outdated at the time, and they’re positively antiquated now.

4. “I understand economics” Reality: manitee husbandry is just as useful.

5. “I’ve got an MBA” Reality: an MBA in a startup is like a fish on the moon. Yes, there’s water there, but…

6. “I’ve got great tech skills” Reality: 90% of entrepreneurship is sales.

7. “I see things you don’t” Reality: are you an entrepreneur or a spiritualist? How are we to tell them apart?

8. “I’ve got a big company CV” Reality: how is this useful, exactly?

9. “I’m hungry and ambitious” Reality: most entrepreneurs are just hungry.

10. “I’d do anything to succeed” Reality: as with alcoholics, the most crucial startup skill is knowing when to stop.

11. “I’ve got great projections” Reality: nobody believes graphs any more.

12. “I plan to buy all the tech in” Reality: if you outsource what your business is, you have no real business.

13. “I hate my day job” Reality: so you plan to pay your mortgage… how, exactly?

14. “I’ve got great market research” Reality: business library research stinks. Talk to customers instead, early & often.

15. “I’m 100% focused on functionality.” Reality: in most cases, it’s design that wins.

16. “I’ve got something to prove” Reality: counselling is quicker and easier.

17. “I have a compelling vision” Reality: how can you tell this from delusion?

18. “The world needs my gadget.” Reality: the world neither knows nor cares about it, nor will it ever (in all probability).

15 Genuinely Good Reasons Not To Start Up

1. UK angels won’t fund you. (Not a serial entrepreneur? Oh dear.)

2. UK banks won’t lend to you. (Sub-£100K turnover? Oh dear.)

3. UK VCs won’t fund you. (Sub-£1m turnover? Oh dear.)

4. There are no grants any more. (You’re a decade too late for those, sorry!)

5. You’ll lose your own money. (It’s nice having a shirt. You’ll miss it.)

6. Nobody at all believes in you. (Not your partner, your children, your dog.)

7. Is your startup worth a divorce? (Because that’s basically how bad it gets.)

8. Business schools know squat. (Will Peter Drucker help you start up? No.)

9. Web business advice is crap. (Toxic, self-serving, superficial nonsense.)

10. Nothing prepares you for this. (The school of hard knocks to the power N.)

11. Nobody will work for you. (…because they know you can’t pay them.)

12. Nobody will supply you. (…because they know you can’t pay them.)

13. Nobody will buy from you. (…because you have no track record, no obvious ability to deliver, nothing.)

14. “An army of one” ≠ “team” (Are you Leonardo da Vinci? Sorry, no!)

15. Your savings will run out… fast (…and is that a brick wall at the end of the runway? Almost certainly yes.)

So… are there any good reasons left?

…actually, there’s just one. (…but you’re not going to like it)

1. You absolutely have to. The raging animal inside you won’t let go. You come to realize: this is how it ends. You will battle the consequences till you die. Worse still, you know it isn’t a real reason. But… you have no choice.

(I told you you wouldn’t like it)

The End! Thanks for listening! Any questions?