I'm a Paul Graham fan. I think he brings clarity of thought to a fairly soft area: Entrepreneurship. Here are his 13 things to tell a startup.
1. Pick good cofounders.
2. Launch fast.
3. Let your idea evolve.
4. Understand your users.
5. Better to make a few users love you than a lot ambivalent.
6. Offer surprisingly good customer service.
7. You make what you measure.
8. Spend little.
9. Get ramen profitable.
10. Avoid distractions.
11. Don't get demoralized.
12. Don't give up.
13. Deals fall through.
2. Launch fast.
3. Let your idea evolve.
4. Understand your users.
5. Better to make a few users love you than a lot ambivalent.
6. Offer surprisingly good customer service.
7. You make what you measure.
8. Spend little.
9. Get ramen profitable.
10. Avoid distractions.
11. Don't get demoralized.
12. Don't give up.
13. Deals fall through.
To this, especially for startups in Turkey, I'd add:
- Don't wait. You are usually the only barrier to getting going, not lack of funding or time.
- Pick depth. Shallow markets are a problem in turkey. If you go too niche, you may never get to even "ramen profitable". Turkish market, in many cases, is itself a niche. Be careful diving in, as the water may be too shallow.
You can read further thoughts on these at Paul's blog.
Cem Sertoglu 