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Lessons for startup owners

Recently a post on TechCrunch (http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/06/how-i-started-zerocater/) grabbed our attention. It talks about the experience one very determined young man – Arram Sabeti – and how he went from scooping ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s to founding his own company and being CEO of ZeroCater. Below are some lessons we’ve learned from Arram’s story.

[success]The Dream:[/success]

Arram’s dream was simple, but it was also a long shot. Start a company. He never specified that he wanted a successful company, because while he was a dreamer, he was also realistic. If we look at the statistics, it’s blatantly obvious that the majority of startups don’t end up anywhere or they peak too early and fizzle into oblivion. But nonetheless, the dream was to have a company – however the experience of having a company and going through failures and successes is all a part of that crazy dream.

[success]Plan Ahead:[/success]

This young man sold his car, moved cities, and quickly found himself unemployed. As it turns out his plan to get hired by a start-up so that he could gain some experience hadn’t worked out. Did he give up and go back home with his tail between his legs? No. He simply used his back-up plan which was to find a filler job while still applying to start-ups which is where he really wanted to work. Once again he was realistic – he knew his ice-cream scooping days wouldn’t go on forever because he had a plan, and step one was getting his foot in the door at a startup company.

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[success]Determination:[/success]

Without a degree or any previous experience, it would seem that Arram has a lot of huge hurdles to overcome in his near future. However, when the opportunity arose to interview with two people who already had success in the startup world (creators of Justin.tv), he took it. His goal was to stand out from the rest of the applicants. So he did what he could with the skills he had – he proved his determination to the interviewers by being clear about his goals, proving that he’d kept up with news in the startup community, and asking questions.

[success]Long Term & Short Term Goals:[/success]

Arram’s long term goal was to one day have his own company – we know this – but his short term goals were very specific. He wanted to gain experience at his position but he also didn’t want to get too comfortable at his new job (after all, with a not so great economy having a job is pretty awesome, and people get comfortable real fast). So what did he do? After a year of working he still hadn’t come up with a start-up idea and it’s probably because he didn’t have any motivation to do so. He had a job he liked, a steady income, and no need to immediately come up with something. So Arram changed his mindset. He gave himself 6 months to come up with an idea and quit – and he made sure to stick to that deadline by giving himself constant reminders at every turn.

[success]Creativity:[/success]

Startup ideas don’t have to insanely creative to work – but it does take at least a bit of creativity to take a simple idea and turn it into a business. That’s exactly what Arram did. Instead of coming up with wild a crazy ideas, he looked at the things in his life that could be made easier. At the time, ordering lunch for a whole office was a huge pain and it could be made so much simpler. That’s how the idea of ZeroCater was born. Arram saw an opportunity to make something that shouldn’t be difficult – but some reason was – and making it a simpler process. Intern’s with massive lunch orders of the world rejoiced and Arram was on his way to a successful startup.

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[success]Practice Makes Perfect:[/success]

We all know how important it is to impress investors and get them to hand over large stacks of cash for a startup idea. That’s why Arram got serious about his presentation. He made it appealing in multiple ways for investors. He had a solid business plan, this provides a sense of comfort for potential investors and he was creative and entertaining which will catch and keep an investors attention. Then he practiced his pitch over and over until it was perfect – over 150 times in case you wanted an exact number.

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[error]What lessons did you take away from Arram’s story? Did his experience help you get back on track for your own startup ideas? Let us know in the comments, we’d love to hear from you![/error]

photo credit: dierken, jontunn & kaibara87 via photopin cc