Observations and wisdom for today's startups and investors.

Insights: Digital Entrepreneurship

[MUSIC PLAYING] Everybody wants to work for a startup, but it's estimated that nine out of 10 fail within just a few years of launching. In September, research firm CB Insight published a poll of 101 failed startups, citing the specific reasons they went belly up. Here are five reasons startups fail. [MUSIC PLAYING] Starting us off at number 5, a bad product. 17% of startups said their flop was due to a poor product. Early or beta products often come with glitches and bugs that can turn the customer off forever. At other times, the final product doesn't deliver on the initial idea. Without a good product, your company will not be successful. And the best path to a good product involves research, development, and testing, all of which cost money. Underestimating the competition is another reason for failure. If you have an idea, chances are someone else probably has an idea too. Remember, startups aren't only facing competition from other startups. Big, big companies are also always launching new products. And they have more money and more resources, which means that they can easily beat you to market. To have a great product, you need a great team. Many startups fill their space with young, eager, talented people who are so excited to be working on a new idea, but you can't underestimate the value of experienced leaders. Not having the right team accounted for 23% of the reason a startup failed, according to CB Insight. One very important person you need on your team is someone who's worked in the actual market you're trying to reach. And number 2, of course, money. 29% of the companies surveyed said they failed due to a lack of investment. Brand new businesses are the most vulnerable. 55% of failed startups raised just under a million dollars. Many of the startups surveyed said they underestimated how expensive it would be. You really need to factor in the cost of lawyers, test products, employees, and real estate, all things you need to account for in your budget. And at number 1, a lack of need. According to CB, 42% of polled startups said a simple lack of demand for their product was the reason their startup failed. One of the main drivers for any business is demand. In order for any company to succeed, their product has to be able to solve a specific problem in a scalable way. Once you find your fit in the market, the investors will come rolling in. That's all for this week's 5 Things. For more, go to fortune.com. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Insights: Five Reasons Startups Fail

Uncategorized

The top reasons some startups don't survive past two years.

Five Reasons Startups Fail

Fortune's Leigh Gallagher breaks down the top reasons some startups don't survive past two years. (October 2014)

Everybody wants to work for a start up, but it's estimated at nine out of 10 fail. Within just a few years of launching. In September, research firm CB Insight published a poll of 101 failed startup, citing the specific reasons they went belly up your five reasons startups fail. Starting off at number five a bad product. 17% of startups said their flock was due to a poor product early or beta. Products often come with glitches and bugs that can turn the customer off forever. At other times, the final product doesn't deliver on the initial idea. Without a good product, your company will not be successful on the best. Have a good product involved research, development and testing, all of which cost money. Underestimating the competition is another reason for failure. If you have an idea, chances are someone else probably has been idea, too. Remember, start ups aren't only facing competition from other startups. Big big companies are also always launching new products, and they have more money, more resources, which means that they can easily beat you to market, have a great product. You need a great team. Many startups filler space with young, eager, talented people who are so excited to be working on a new idea. But you can't underestimate the value of experienced leaders. Not having the right team accounted for 23% of the reason the start of failed, according to CB insights. One very important person you need on your team is someone who's worked in the actual market you're trying to reach at Number two, of course, money. 29% of the company surveyed said they failed due to a lack of investment. Brand new businesses are the most vulnerable. 55% of failed startups raised just under a $1,000,000. Many of the start of surveys said they underestimated how expensive it would be. You really need to factor in the cost of lawyers, products, employees. I'm real estate. All things need to account for your butt. And at number one, a lack of market need. According to CB, 42% of cold startup, that a simple lack of demand for their product was the reason they're startup failed. One of the main drivers for any business is demand. In order for any company to succeed, their products have to be able to solve a specific problem in a scale of away. Once you find your fit in the market, the investors will come rolling in. That's all for this week. Five things. For more, go to fortune dot com.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Before you launched in this current iteration, you launched a different kind of model that didn't work so well. But what was that? And why didn't it work? Yeah, I started this company because I was looking for a ballet class. I went onto the internet. I was completely lost in terms of which studio to go to. I had 15 different tabs open. And that's when I realized that there needed to be a directory for all these classes. So the initial concept was very similar to Open Tables, ZocDoc, Seamless Web. Lets put all the classes in one place. And that was great. I think it was informative. But we didn't have the motivating criteria of making it feel accessible and the discovery that people wanted to. And as we went and moved over to a membership, it became more motivating. And it became more frictionless to get to these studios. And that's when we started seeing the engagement number and our number of reservations skyrocket. So what advice would you give to another entrepreneur who launched one way and realized it's not working the way they thought and need to pivot? What did you learn from that? You can't get stuck. When you feel like something's not working, trust your gut. And don't get sort of lost in saying, well, we spent money doing it. Let's not move. I think we were very OK with being like, this isn't working. We tried a little bit. And we very quickly knew it wasn't going to work. We just went in a different direction. And we weren't afraid of failing. And we actually liked failure because it gave us a data point to say, that's not working. Let's go in the right direction to actually achieve our mission. I also think having a mission from your core is so important. And knowing that you want to achieve that also motivates your team to constantly strive toward saying, you know what, we're going to keep going until we get there. And it feels so great once you finally are able to realize your mission. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Insights: The Best Way to View a Startup Failure

ClassPass CEO explains the company's much-needed change.

The Best Way to View a Startup Failure

ClassPass CEO Payal Kadakia explains the company's much-needed change. (December 2015)

before you launch in this current iteration, you launched a different kind of model that didn't work so well. But what was that? Why didn't it work? Yeah, you know, I started this company because I was looking for a ballet class. I went onto the Internet. I was completely lost in terms of which studio to Goto. I had 15 different tabs open, and that's when I realized that there needed to be a directory for all these classes. So the initial concept was very similar. Open Table Doc, Doc scene with Webb. Let's put all the classes in one place, and that was great. I think it was informative, but we didn't have the motivating criteria of making it feel accessible in the discovery that people wanted to. And as we went and moved over to a membership, it became a motivating, and it became more frictionless to get to the studios. And that's when we started seeing the engagement number and our number of reservations skyrocket. What advice would you give to another entrepreneur who launched one way and realize it's not working the way they thought and need to pivot? What did you learn from that? you know you can't get stuck right when you feel like something's not working, trust your gut and don't get sort of lost and saying, Well, we spent money doing it. Let's not move. I think we were very okay with being like This isn't working. We tried a little bit when we very quickly knew it wasn't going to work. We just went a different direction and we had We weren't afraid of failing, and we actually liked failure because it gave us a data point. Say, That's not working. Let's go in the right direction, toe actually achieve our mission. I also think like having a mission from your core so important, and knowing that you want to achieve that also motivates your team to constantly strive toward thing. You know what, we're gonna keep going until we get there and it feels overly once you finally are able to realize your mission

[MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Shan-Lyn Ma, and I am the CEO and co-founder of Zola. Zola is the fastest growing wedding registry and wedding planning company in the country today. Like many successful startups, Zola was born out of personal need. All my friends got married at exactly the same time. And I found the shopping experience on those registry websites to be one of the worst e-commerce shopping experiences I had ever seen. So we set out to create a wedding registry where you can register for everything you want easily into one place. We started Zola with two of us. And we now have over 130 employees five years later. In the earliest stages, investors really looked at who was the founding team and were we the right team for this particular product and problem and market. My advice to any founder is the funding and the people that take a bet on you will often end up referring to your previous work. And so the best thing that you can do to secure great funding for your current business is to have a great track record of producing quality work previously. I'm Audrey Gelman, and I'm the co-founder and CEO of The Wing. And I'm Lauren Kassan, and I'm the co-founder and CEO of The Wing. The Wing is a network of coworking and community spaces designed for women. And our mission is the advancement of women through community. This is our brand room, so just starting the morning here at The Wing. And people are using it to work, to take meetings, to read a book from our library. It's really the sanctuary here. I worked in Democratic politics. I just had so many-- like an experience where I was on a 6:00 AM Acela to DC and putting on a suit and trying to apply mascara in a moving train car bathroom. And I just felt like there has to be a better way. And a space like The Wing, we want it to lighten women's load. The thing I continue to hear is when I walk into The Wing, I just, [SIGHS]. It's a sense of relief and calm. At the beginning, there were so many specifically male investors who had their idea of what The Wing should be. Someone told us not all money is the same color green, and that really resonated with us. And so I think finding people who really believe in you and your mission versus just taking any check is an important thing to do. And when we started The Wing, we met the founders of Soul Cycle. And they've been incredible mentors to us and really having people who've been in your shoes before who have started a business, who have operated a business is so incredibly helpful. Having that support group of other people that you can really say, gee, it's tough pitching to a room of 20 guys when you're the only woman in the room and being able to say that to someone else and them saying, yeah, I felt that, too, is actually a relief. A few months ago, we closed the series D round here at Zola. We raised a total of 100 million. And we are now launching the next product, which is wedding invitations and save the dates. We decided that we wanted to raise capital to be able to expand quickly. We opened in DC. We're going to be opening on the west coast in San Francisco and LA. We're going to London, Chicago, Paris for-- Wing world domination. 

Insights: Female Founders Talk Fundraising, Mentorship, and Advice For Women Entrepreneurs

Zola cofounder and CEO and The Wing cofounders.

Female Founders Talk Fundraising, Mentorship

Fortune sits down with Zola cofounder and CEO Shan-Lyn Ma, and The Wing cofounders Audrey Gelman and Lauren Kassan. (August 2018)

My name is Shannon Lynn Ma, and I am the CEO and co founder of Lola Foley is the fossil going wedding registry and wedding planning company in the country today. Like many successful startup, Zola was one out of personal needs. All my friends got married at exactly the same time, and I found the shopping experience on the registry websites to be one of the worst Connor shopping I have ever seen. So we set out to create a wedding registry where you can register people everything you want, usually in the one place we gotta Zola with two of us. And we now have over 130 employees. Five years later, in the earliest stages, investors really looked at who was the founding team. And we're we've the right team for this particular product and problem and market my advice to any found ribs. The funding and the people that take a bet on you will often end up referring to your previous work. And so the best thing that you could do to secure great funding for your kind of business is to have a great track record of producing quality work. Previously, I'm Audrey Gelman, and I'm a co founder and CEO of the way. And I'm Laurin, Captain, and I need a battery. The Wing is a network of co working community for women. On our mission is the advancement of women's community brand room. So just starting the morning here in the way people are using it worked to take meetings to read a book from our library. Really? Thanks. You're here. My work in Democratic politics. I just had somebody like any experience on 6 a.m. l a t like putting on a food and trying to apply with Keira in like a moving train car back on dhe. I just felt like there has to be a better way and a face like the wing. We want it lightly with low. The thing I continued to hear when I walk into the Wayne, I just a sense of relief and calm. In the beginning, there were so many specifically male investors who had their idea of what the wings should be. So until that's not all, money is the same color green, and that really resonated with us. So I think finding people who really believe in you and your mission. Taking any check morning down What we started The wing way met the founders of Soul Cycle And they've been incredible mentors, Really Having people who been in your shoes before started a business operated business is so incredibly helpful having that support group of other people that you can really say top pitching to a room of 20 guys when you're the only woman in the room and being able to say that to someone else and then saying, Yeah, I felt that, too is actually a relief. A few months ago, we closed the Series B round here. Lola, we raised a total of 100 million on DDE. We're now launching the next product, which is wedding invitations and save the day. We decided that we wanted to raise capital quickly. You were to be opening on the West Coast of going away. We're gonna London in Chicago, Karen Wing World

[MUSIC PLAYING] How do you both assess a company before deciding to give it credit? What are the factors you use? Yeah, so there's several things, right? So one is you've got to look at how they've been capitalized, if at all, right? So they've raised some seed financing of some type. That helps. That's the part that when you don't have revenue and you truly are getting started, that's probably one of the only ways that you can assess. You do look at the team itself, but it starts with just kind of how they're capitalized at the beginning. Do you ask for revenue and you look at the people who have backed the company? Well, it may not be-- so this is pre-- Pre-revenue. Pre-revenue, and it could be pre-venture capital, right? So it could be, have they raised a seed round from somebody, right? It may or may not be venture capitalists. If it's a venture capitalist, that obviously helps. But if it's other ways to raise money in other ways, we'll take a look at that as well. So it starts out when we were talking about it, said, how much money has been raised before, that's what you mainly look at before there's any revenue. Once they start having revenue, you can start looking at metrics, and you can start to lend to those metrics. And that is really helpful. So we don't just look at capitalization. We clearly look-- we have great profits in there. That's a very important check the box, that hey, there's a great venture capitalist involved. But that's one piece of the puzzle, right? It's also important, as much of it is a important check that you're involved or other venture capitalists are involved, right? We look at other factors. And as you know, I mean, startups don't always work out. And there is no guarantee, right? The venture capitalists are guaranteeing the debt. Individuals also aren't guaranteeing the debt, so the principles of the firms. And so we do have to look at the business overall and what the prospects are for success. And so all that comes into consideration as companies scale. And then we layer on different products and services. And they get bigger and bigger. Yeah, and it's important to note that even really well-funded startups have trouble doing business with banks. Because it's very, very high risk. So what happens when a startup that you've decided to back goes south, and you realize you have a Fyre Festival on your hands? Yeah. We don't call it a Fyre Festival, but it happens, right? Companies don't always work out. And so what our approach has always been that we're working with the investors. We're working with the management teams to what we call is a soft landing, right? How do you end up in a situation where you can come up with the best outcome possible in a difficult situation, right? And that means trying to figure out, OK, can the business-- does it have intellectual property? Is there something there that that can be sold to another partner who values that in some way? And so we work with kind of the other constituents to make sure that we're doing as much as we can. A lot of it, the reason we think that way is because entrepreneurs, they're not done. With that company, even if it doesn't work out, they're going on to the next company, right? If you're working with a venture capitalist, they're not done just backing that one company. They're going to work with other companies. And so it's a very long term relationship that we look at both with the entrepreneur and with the venture capitalists. And so we try not to overreact in situations when it becomes, as you described, a Fyre sale. 

Insights: How Silicon Valley Bank Decides Which Startups to Fund

The risks involved funding startups and entrepreneurs.

How Silicon Valley Bank Decides Which Startups to Fund

A discussion of the risks involved funding startups and entrepreneurs. (June 2019)

How do you both a company before deciding to give it credit. What? One of the factors? You? Yeah. So there's several things, right? So what is? You know, you gotta look at how they have been capitalized, if at all. Right? So they've raised some seed financing of some type that helps the private When you, when you don't have revenue and you truly are getting started. That's one of the only ways that you can assess. You do look at that the team itself. But it starts with just kind of Howard there capitalized, beginning for revenue, and you look at the people who have back company. Well, may not be so. This is pre pre pre revenue, and it could be pre venture capital, right? So it could be have their raised a seed round from somebody, right? It may or may not be venture capitalist venture capitalist. That obviously helps. But if it's other ways, we have raised money in other ways. We'll take a look at that as well, so it starts out when we were talking about it, that how much money has been raised before. That's what you mainly look at before there's any revenue. Once they start having revenue, you could start looking at metrics and you could start to lend to those metrics. And that is really helpful. So we don't just look att, capitalization. We clearly look, a great crop is in there. That's a very important, you know, check the box that it is a great great venture capitalists involved. But but that's just what It's one piece of the puzzle right there. It's also important, as much of it is a a important check that you're involved or other venture capitalists are involved, right? We look at other. We look at other factors and, you know, I mean, startups don't always work out and there is no guarantees, right? The venture capitalists aren't guaranteeing the debt. Individuals also aren't guaranteeing the debt, so the principles of the firms. So we we do have to look at the business overall and what the prospects are for success. It's all that comes into consideration is cos scale and then we layer on different products and services. They get bigger and bigger. Yeah, and it's important to know that even really well funded startups have trouble doing business things because it's very, very high risk. So what happens when a startup that you've said it back go south and you realize you have, you know, a fire festival on your hands? Yeah, art. We don't call it a fire festival, but, uh, you know, it happens, right? Cos don't always work out. So what our approach has always been that we're working with. The investors were working with the management teams to what we call a soft landing. Right? How do you end up in a situation where you could come up with the best outcome possible in a difficult situation? Right. And that means trying to figure out okay, can the business doesn't have intellectual property? Is there something there that that can be sold to another partner who values that in some way? So we worked with kind of the other constituents to make sure that we're doing as much as we can. A lot of it. The reason we think that way is because entrepreneurs they're not done with that company. Even if it doesn't work out, they're going on to the next company, right? If you're working with the venture capitalists, they're not done just back in that one company, they're gonna work with other companies. So it's a very long, long term relationship that we look at both with the entrepreneur and with the venture capitalists. So we try not to overreact in situations when it becomes, as you described it, a fire sale.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Kirthiga, I did want to get into the gender component of this because obviously, there's a dearth of women at the top of tech companies in general. But in venture capital, it's really low. And you've talked about the hesitancy, or how do you see women in how they approach their pitches and concerns you might have and how they might pitch better? Yeah. It's incredible how well-- we had a great discussion yesterday in the transformative investing session, where we have research being done about this kind of difference. There is a focus more on risks versus opportunity when it comes to female versus male. And this goes both ways, both from the entrepreneur pitching, but also the kind of questions that are being asked to the entrepreneur as part of the due diligence process. So it really goes both sides. And that's helping founders be more bold, as well as making sure that from an investment process, we're very conscious of the process. But you find that women founders are less bold. Yes. Is that what you find? OK. It is-- there are exceptions, as always. But if I had to generalize, the same idea, the man will come and he's saying he's going to conquer, change the world. The woman will come and say, I have this idea. And of course, there are all of these risks associated with it. So there's a very stark difference between the index on opportunity versus the index on risk. And I think it behooves all of us as a community to help these founders be bolder. And again, we have people in the room helping that. Any questions with that note? OK, one quick. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want to monopolize the discussion here. But I just find it so passionate, and I'm just, I'm going to play the devil's advocate here. And yes, we can learn from men how to make women bolder. But could we also learn from women how to perhaps be a bit more grounded and realistic in approaching some of the opportunities? I love that comment. Thank you. One of the-- I love that. Because I think one of the things when I look at the social enterprise sector, 41% of the founders in that sector are female. And I actually believe that in today's world, where technology is touching so many aspects of our lives and automating so many of the processes that we engage with on a daily basis, we should not lose sight of the value of humanizing each and every touch where that is possible. And I think that that's the role that we can bring the authenticity, the difference that we can bring to this entire framework. We are also looking very closely as an executive board at the kinds of investments that we make in startups. And we have committed that 40% of our investment will be to diverse founders over the next five years. And we love it when they come in and tell us, here's the reality of the challenge that we're facing. 

Insights: Why Male & Female Founders Pitch Differently

Male & Female Founders Pitch Differently

Women are more upfront about the risks related to their business idea. (June 2019)

you want to get into the gender component of this because obviously there's a dearth of women at the top of tech companies in general. But in venture capital, it's really low. And you've talked about the hesitancy. Or how do you see women in how they approach their pitches? Um, and then concerns you might have and how they might pitch better? Yeah, it's incredible how well, we had a great discussion yesterday in the trunk automated investing session there. We have research being done about this kind of difference that is a focused, more on. This was his opportunity when it comes to female versus male. And this goes both ways, both from the entrepreneur pitching but also the kind of questions that are being us. Tow the entrepreneurs as part off off the due diligence process. That really good five enough helping founders be mobile as well, making sure that from an investment process, a very conscious. But you find that women founders are less bold. Yeah, but you find it is it is it? There are exceptions as always, but if I had to generalize the same idea, the man will come and anything is gonna conquer change the world. The woman will come and say, You know, I have this idea on. Of course, you know that are all of these risks associated with it So there's a very stark difference between the index on opportunity forces the index under it. And I think it was all of us as a community to one healthy founders. Be bolder. Onda Again, we have people in the room helping any questions with that. No, and have any. Okay, When will Quick. Yes, Go ahead. Yeah, I don't want to monopolize the discussion here, but I just find it so passionate. And I'm just I'm gonna play the devil's advocate here. And yes, we can learn from men how to make women boulder. But could we also learned from women perhaps be a bit more grounded and realistic and approaching some of the opportunity I back home that you know, one of the o love better? Because I think one of the things when I look at the social enterprise sector 41% of the founders in that sector are female on. I actually believe that in today's world, where technology is touching so many aspects of our lives on automating so many of the processes that we engage with on a daily basis. We should not lose sight of the value of humanizing each and every touch where that is possible. I think that that's the role you know, that we can bring the authenticity, the difference that we can bring to this entire framework. You know, we are also looking very closely as an executive board at the kind of investments that we make in startups, and we have committed that 40% of our investment will be to diverse founders over the next five years. Onda We love it when they come in and tell us here is there. You know, here's the reality of the challenge that we face.

 In your book, The Startup Way, you talk about the difference between an old fashioned corporation and a modern corporation. Would you talk about that a little bit? Sure. A modern company is one where I can just randomly pick any person the organization, and I could ask them, if you had a good idea about how to move this company into the future, how would you get it implemented? How would you get it tested to find out if it actually is a good idea? I've done this exercise many times. And most companies today, people look at you like, I have no idea. I guess I'd ask my manager's manager's manager to ask their peer-wise subordinate-- by the time they've described to you the process, it's like, forget it. Obviously, this is never going to happen. So a modern company is one that views the creativity and talent of every employee as too precious a resource to waste. And so there's a system, a practice for doing it. Because most ideas are terrible. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Right? It's not that we can implement everybody's ideas. We have to have a fair and scientific way to test ideas. It has to be no big deal. And we go back to thinking about entrepreneurship as a corporate capability. That, to me, [? is ?] the defining attribute of a modern company. Entrepreneurship [? as ?] corporate capability means we want to make sure all the entrepreneurs in the organization are properly trained and literate in these concepts. But how are you going to identify the entrepreneurs in advance? The whole point of entrepreneurship is we never know where it's going to come from, right? I've met some of the most unlikely entrepreneurs over the years, where if you look at their resume before they became a-- you'd be like, this person never had a creative thought in their life, and boom, they're an amazing startup founder. So in order to actually address the entrepreneurs in the organization, you have to address everybody. 

Insights: The Key Difference Between Old and Modern Corporations

Leadership

According to 'The Lean Startup' author Eric Ries.

Key Difference Between Old and Modern Corporations

According to 'The Lean Startup' author Eric Ries. (February 2018)

in your book the startup way. You talk about the difference between an old fashioned corporation and a modern corporation. Would you would you talk about that a little bit? Sure, a modern company is one, or I can just randomly pick any person the organization I can ask them. If you had a good idea about how to move this company into the future, how would you get it implemented? How did you get it tested? To find out what actually is a good idea? I've done this exercise many times. Most companies today, people look at you like I have no idea. I guess I asked my manager's manager's manager to ask their peer wise subordinate that by the time they described to the process, it's like, Forget it. Obviously this is never gonna happen. So a modern companies one that views the creativity and talent of every employee is too precious of resource and waste. So there's a system of practice for doing it because most ideas are terrible. Most likely, it's not that we can implement everybody's ideas. We have to have a fair and scientific way to test idea that has to be no big deal and that we go back to thinking about entrepreneurship is a corporate capability that we had, like the defining attribute of a modern company controversy. The corporate capability means we want to make sure all the entrepreneurs, the organization, are properly trained and literate in these concepts. But how you gonna identify the entrepreneurs in advance? The whole point of entrepreneurship is we never know where it's gonna come from, Right? I've met some of the most unlikely entrepreneurs over the years where if you look at their resume before they became like, spurs never had a creative thought in their life and boom, they're an amazing startup founders. So in order to actually address theon towards the organization, have to address everybody.

[MUSIC PLAYING] Has the environment changed for startups and innovators? So the environment has changed for startups and innovators. Founders are preferring to stay private for much longer. And that's where the SoftBank Vision Fund also comes in, providing them with that long-term patient capital, that freedom level capital, to allow them to do that and to be bigger and bolder in their ambitions. The environment has changed in terms of the power of technology here and now. So as we look at companies and founders, we look for bold visions. We look for the use of data, the use of technology for transformation. We look at proven business models that we can somehow scale globally. The scaling globally is also another aspect in terms of aspirations of entrepreneurs. And the vision phenomena of if you don't scale globally quickly, you risk losing out to local players. Interesting. That's interesting. And so if you have the candidate-- You have to have that. --You have that expertise and you have the kind of geographic capabilities that sum up a company like SoftBank and SoftBank Vision can provide. It allows you to do that. And I must highlight we do have woman co-founders, with companies like Brandless. We have the CEO of [INAUDIBLE] is a woman. We have underrepresented minority representation among our companies. Our minimum check size is 100 million. 

Insights: How Today's Startups Have Changed Investing

Many founders are choosing to stay private longer. 

How Today's Startups Have Changed Investing

Many founders are choosing to stay private longer. (June 2019)

I think the environment change for start ups and innovators, uh, the end Lyman has changed. Founders are prepping to go oppressing, to say private for much longer on DDE. And that's where the Salt Mine Vision Fund also comes in, providing them with that long term patient capital, that freedom level capital to allow them to do that right on to be bigger and bolder. India's are visions. Um, the environment has changed in terms off the power of technology here and now so as to be looked at companies and founders. We look for bold visions. We look for the use of data, the use of technology for transmission. We look at proven business models that we can come help scale globally. The killing globally is also another aspect in terms of aspirations of entrepreneurs on the aerial phenomena off. If you don't kill globally quickly, you risk losing out to local players. Interesting. That's interesting. And so if you have the campus, I don't have that you have that expertise on. Do you have in the kind of geographic after capabilities that from a company like bang and clang vision can write for why it allows you to do that on. I must highlight. We do have, you know, a woman cofounders with companies like brand less. We have the CEO of DOT Com is a woman we have underrepresented minority representation among our companies are minimum check sizes 100 million.

[MUSIC PLAYING] If you want to be an entrepreneur, the most important thing is to be customer-obsessed. So don't satisfy your customers. Figure out how to absolutely delight them. That is the number one thing, whoever your customers are. Passion-- you have got to have some passion for the arena that you're going to develop and work in, because, otherwise, you're going to be competing against people who do have passion for that. And they're going to build better products and services. You can't be a mercenary. You have to be a missionary. Missionaries build better products and services. They always win. The mercenaries are just trying to make money. And paradoxically, the missionaries always end up making more money. You have to pick something that you actually have a genuine passion for. You have to take risk. You have to be willing to take risk. If you aren't going to take risk-- if you come up with a business idea, but there's no risk there, you're probably-- you know, it's probably already being done. Those ideas already being done. And they're being done well by many, many people. So you've got to have something that might not work. And so you have to accept that your business is going to be, in many ways, an experiment. And it might fail. And that's OK. That's what risk is. The good news is, at Amazon, we still take risks all the time. And we encourage it. And we talk about failure. We should be failing. Our failures have to grow with the company. We need big failures if we're going to be moving the needle. We need to have billion-dollar scale failures. And if we're not, we're not swinging hard enough. 

Insights: Jeff Bezos’ Tips for Being an Entrepreneur

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Jeff Bezos’ Tips for Being an Entrepreneur

He spoke at the 2019 re:MARS conference. (June 2019)

If you want to be an entrepreneur, the most important thing is to be customer obsessed. So don't satisfy your customers. Figure out howto absolutely delight them. That is the number one thing. Whoever your customers are passion, you have got to have compassion for the arena that you're going to develop and work in because otherwise you're gonna be competing against people who do have compassion for that and they're gonna build better products. And service is you can't be a mercenary. You have to be a missionary. Missionaries build better products, and service is they always win. The mercenaries were just trying to make money, and paradoxically, the missionaries always end up making more money to pick something that you actually have a genuine passion for. You have to take risk. I have to be willing to take risk if you art gonna take risks. If you come with the business ideo there's there's no risk there. You're probably, you know, it's probably already being done Those ideas already being done there being done well by many, many people. So you gotta have something that might not work. And so you have to accept that your business is going to be, in many ways, an experiment and it might fail and that's OK. That's what risk is. The good news Is it Amazon? We still take risks all the time and we encourage it. We talk about failure. We should be filling. Our failures have to grow with the company. We need big failures. If we're gonna be moving the needle, we need to have a $1,000,000,000 scale failures. And if we're not, we're not swinging. We're not swinging hard enough.

Insights: Digital Entrepreneurship

Insights: Five Reasons Startups Fail

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Fortune's Leigh Gallagher breaks down the top reasons some startups don't survive past two years. (October 2014)

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