Is your New Year’s resolution to start a tech company? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We here at the Founder Institute have gathered some of our most popular and useful blog posts to help you build a startup in 2018.
Make the Leap - Startup Checklist: Are You Ready for Entrepreneurship?
FYou’ve probably heard before that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, which probably makes you question your ability to build a startup.
However, it’s possible to determine if starting a company is the right choice for you well before you use up your savings on building a product, only to discover later on that you simply don’t have it in you.
In this blog post you’ll find all of the questions you will need to ask yourself before taking your first step on the path of entrepreneurship, as launching and running a company will take up years of your life and put all of your relationships at risk.
Find an Idea - Startup Quick Tips: Generate a Bunch of Startup Ideas - Right Now!
Yes, yet another article devoted to helping you come up with a startup idea. However, after reading and writing numerous blog posts on startup ideation, I thought it was my moral duty to shed some light on a useful and unique approach to coming up with a startup idea.
A whole bunch of them.
Right now.
While there is definitely considerable value in conducting extensive research into various markets, interviewing industry experts, and meeting with colleagues, sometimes the hardest part is just starting. And starting is even harder to do when you don’t have a direction to follow, which this technique should hopefully help you with.
Get Started - How to Build a Startup as a Non-Tech Founder
Startups and cutting-edge technology have become so synonymous with one another, that many people now think that you can’t create one without the other. And while it’s necessary to have an understanding of the technology that you’re building, you actually don’t need to be a developer or engineer to launch an impactful company.
If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to launch a tech startup but doesn’t have much tech experience, this blog post will give you the wisdom you need to build your dream company, featuring insights from Weiting Liu, the founder and CEO of Codementor.
Marketing & Social Media - Social Media for Startups: Everything You Need to Make Your Company Stand Out
The internet has accelerated word of mouth marketing with the help of social media. But with so many people and so many companies promoting themselves on a growing number of channels, it only gets harder and harder to cut through the noise and be heard.
And that’s why we’ve created a guide that will provide you with everything you need to craft your social media strategy. Packed with all of the most important details for the most popular social media channels, this blog post will set you on the path to make your startup stand out.
Attract Customers - How to Get 10K Users Within 4 Weeks of Launching Your Product
If you’re getting ready to launch your product and want to learn how to get the most from your release, we’ve got a guide to help you get started, filled with insights from someone who managed to attract over ten thousand users in just four weeks of launching their product - WITHOUT a marketing plan or budget. That someone is Manoj Khani, a Graduate of the Los Angeles Founder Institute and the Founder of the photo management app PhotoPanda.
Hiring and Onboarding - How to Build a Strong Startup Team
Why do some startup fail and others succeed? Could it be the idea? Access to capital? Perhaps the secret to startup success actually lies in who you choose as your cofounder. According to Joe Abraham, most successful companies started with just two things: complimentary cofounders, and team members. “Not all entrepreneurs are the same”, says Joe, “and when you begin to match people according to their entrepreneurial DNA, it's game- changing”.
In this talk from the 14th Founder Showcase, Joe Abraham, Founder of BOSI Global, explains his unique approach to helping startups find cofounders. How does this method work and could it be the secret to your startup’s success? Watch the video below to learn more.
Generate Revenue - The 10 Most Popular Startup Revenue Models
There are countless factors that need to be taken into account when you set out to bring your product to market, like the industry you’re working in, whether you’re selling a web-based product or physical hardware, the channels you use to attract your potential customers, etc.
We’ve created an extensive guide that clearly outlines some of the most commonly used revenue models that startups employ to sell their offerings, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each to help you pick the best revenue model for your company.
Get Creative - The Art of the Hustle: Unconventional Methods for Building a Startup
Creativity is the heart of entrepreneurship. The best companies were founded by people who saw a problem to be fixed, a gap to be filled, a demand to be met. But a creative solution is only as successful as its execution.
Launching a startup is inherently risky, so if you plan on venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, why not take the opportunity to risk it all on trying something different? This blog post gathers some of the most unusual, unorthodox, and unexpected methods of launching a startup from some of the top experts in the field.
Craft the Pitch - Creating an Elevator Pitch that Attracts Investors, Customers, and More
A startup needs plenty of steady capital in order to survive and, ultimately, to thrive. Whether it's in the form of investor funding or a strong customer base, every company relies on the financial resources of others to grow.
But how can founders convince other of the viability of their offering in a compelling way?
Luckily, this blog post dives deep into how entrepreneurs can fashion their pitch in a way that will attract the attention of anyone - including investors, customers, co-founders, and more - featuring insights from Carter Laren, co-founder and Managing Partner at Gateway Incubator.
Apply to an Accelerator - Applying to an Accelerator? Read this First.
Joining an accelerator like Y Combinator or Techstars is a major step forward for any startup. In fact, getting into any accelerator is beneficial. But how does a founder get their company into an accelerator, and when is the right time to apply?
While it’s entirely possible for any startup to get accepted into an accelerator, there are numerous factors that need to be considered before a founder decides to apply. Hopefully, our guide will help you decide if applying to an accelerator is right for you, as well as what to do to ensure your startup is accelerator-ready.
Make an Impact - Profits Are Not Enough: 11 Impactful Startups that You Should Know About
Why do you want to be an entrepreneur?
This is one of FI’s favorite questions to ask, because if you don’t have a good ‘why’ for building a company, you’ll never have a good “what”. For example, if you don’t have a good ‘why’, you’ll have a very hard time surviving the challenges, developing a strong vision for the business, and pitching the business to potential team members, customers, and investors. It will be easy for people to see that your heart isn’t in the company.
Luckily, for every entrepreneur trying to make a quick buck, we have seen nearly as many entrepreneurs trying to build a potentially impactful company. Check out some of these companies tackling large problems from across the globe.
Final Thoughts
Entrepreneurship is about innovation, which means that there is no single guide out there that will provide you with every bit of startup wisdom you will need to launch a successful company. However, hopefully this article has provided you with enough to get started, and we here at the Founder Institute will do our best to continue giving you the best and most relevant entrepreneurial insights in 2017, and beyond. But, since you have everything you need to begin, now is the time to get started! For, as Mark Twain once said,
The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
