6 Steps to Being a Better Founder

Startup tips gathered from Michael Staton of Learn Capital as part of his lecture at Draper University.

1. Get more productive

It’s never going to get easier or more simple. What you need to learn is how to juggle and hustle, while keeping in mind that nothing will go according to plan.

Fail fast and iterate!

2. Reduce your personal burn

You can’t get a company off the ground without all the founding skill sets to create that product on your team. You need a Doer, Promoter, and Leader. Hire a team that will complement your strengths.

3. Get current and stay current

Be aware of your competitive landscape. An investor won’t give you money if you aren’t willing to take 6 months to educate yourself on what needs to be done. Learn as much as possible.

4. Build serendipity inbound and truth outbound networks

You've got to hire slow, and fire fast. High expectations are met through designing and implementing human systems. Carry with you & seek out the "entrepreneurship" gene in your networks.

5. Build an audience

Dave Mclure says: A startup is confused about at least one of three things: What their product is, who their customer is, or how they make money. Know all of these to build the proper audience.

6. Skill up

The skill most necessary to being a better founder is design—or the methodology to choose from infinite possibilities. This means being able to make disciplined choices and form ideas into concrete actions.