7 ways to know for women not to fail in entrepreneurship

ByChung Ho Leung

Venture capital that invests for start-upY CombinatorSo, we have supported more than 1000 startups so far. Mr. Jessica Livingston, co-founder of Y Combinator, introduced "Points when women start up businesses" based on experience gained by Y Combinator.

Jessica Livingston's Pretty Complete List on How Not to Fail · The Macro
http://themacro.com/articles/2016/06/how-not-to-fail/

Mr. Livingstone has worked for 11 years at Y Combinator, and is now taking a paid leave for one year. Livingstone gathered 800 female entrepreneurs because Mr. Livingston's advice to his colleagues can be applied to female entrepreneurs while leaving the companyFemale Founders ConferenceI'm sending "seven advice useful when women start a business" in a presentation. The state of the presentation can be seen from the following movie.

Jessica Livingston at Y Combinator Female Founders Conference 2016 - YouTube


◆ 1: People make what they want
This is also the motto of Y Combinator, Mr. Livingstone seems to feel that "this motto is correct" from the experience of sending more than 1000 startups in 11 years. The founders of startups first make what they want to make, but in order to succeed it is necessary to develop ideas and make things for others. Mr. Livingstone said, "What entrepreneurs do is not important if people do not make what they want, entrepreneurs must also work as superior spokesmen, financiers, programmers. If you are not making products that meet the needs of the world, you will not succeed as an entrepreneur. "

BySteffen Zahn

Mr. Livingstone gave an example that theAirbnbis. Airbnb initially,Began as "AirBedandBreakfast" to lend an air bed when the conference is held in townNext, it became a service to rent out an air bed and shared space, now it became service to lend and lod accommodation facilities. Mr. Livingstone said, "It may be unbelievable that Airbnb began offering nightmare services, but musiciansBarry ManilowIt is awkward. When Manilow gets home for a long period of time on a tour, "Is it possible to lend a house to someone during my absence?" "As a result of asking Airbnb staff, Airbnb began full-fledged business in the private housing business," he said.

◆ 2: to concentrate
Many of the founders who succeeded in starting up at more than 1000 startups invested by Y Combinator said, "We concentrate on our products and users," says Livingstone. The best entrepreneurs said they are concentrating on business without taking other time on other things. According to Livingstone, female entrepreneurs tend to distract themselves to the following things.

· Go out to drink coffee with investors
· Talk with people who are likely to acquire the company
· Exchange information with people in the same industry
· Hire an advisor
· Partnering with other companies to acquire users
· Spend time on PR activities before making products that people want
Discussion on SNS
· Join the conference
· Worried about belonging to the technology industry as a woman

ByLee Down

◆ 3: Do not worry about being a woman
Mr. Livingstone will explain in more detail the fact that "at the end of the list above" I am worried about belonging to the technology industry as a woman ". It is true that women's entrepreneurs have many obstacles to stand up, but the reason why women are scrambling to become entrepreneurs is that there is too much talk or noise about such obstacles And that. Livingstone said, "If a woman wishes to establish a start-up, actually doing it, trying to do it actually is not afraid of the noise around the woman" It's difficult for women to start a business ", working without distraction It is the best way to do it. "

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◆ 4: Measure your own growth
Entrepreneurs can grow as a result by making products that people demand. Conversely, by measuring your growth it is possible to know if the startup is moving in the right direction. According to Mr. Livingstone, the ideal growth rate of startup is at least 10% per month. If it is less than this growth rate, there is a possibility that something is wrong or not concentrating enough. In addition, founder of startup is prone to take the risk of often distracting from reality, but it is also merit that we can not turn our eyes away from reality by measuring growth rate.

ByChris Potter

◆ 5: Know whether management is in surplus or red
The state where the company's expenditure is constant and the revenue continues to grow is called "default alive", and the state where funds are bottoming up is called "default dead". Y Combinator seems to be asking whether the company's business situation is default alive or default dead for all invested startups. By doing this, I understand what kind of situation the startup is, and it helps entrepreneurs to turn their attention to reality. According to Mr. Livingstone, unexpectedly, many entrepreneurs do not understand their cash flow.

ByAlan O'Rourke

◆ 6: Save money
Most of the reasons why startups have difficulty finding cash is that they hire a large number of employees from the very beginning and paid a large salary. According to Mr. Livingstone, it seems that there are many patterns that fail after hiring a large number of employees in the next stage after successfully establishing a company. Even Y Combinator, which conveys such advice to startup, sometimes fails due to employing too much employees. "By saving various expenses, we can continue business for a long time, so after we succeed in raising funds, we must think very seriously how to spend money. "Livingstone says.

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◆ 7: The fundraising becomes more and more difficult
Y Combinator said, "Because of lack of funds,Series AWe are looking for investment for "is frequently sent from startup. When asking about the business situation against such startup, the growth rate is slow and that there are still many expenditures. If business growth is not seen, it is difficult for startups to receive additional investment from investors. Founder of startups must show performance that investors want to invest in Series A.

ByFrankieleon