Y Combinator合伙人：新創(chuàng)企業(yè)要成功，不能偏離這7條原則
Derek T. Dingle
2016-11-15
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Y Combinator合伙人，世界級(jí)創(chuàng)新大師邁克爾·賽博爾為參加硅谷TechConneXt峰會(huì)的企業(yè)家們上了一堂精彩紛呈的創(chuàng)業(yè)課。Y Combinator是一家種子加速器，曾推動(dòng)多家初創(chuàng)公司獲得驚人的成功。賽博爾以已故的塞隆尼斯·孟克表演爵士樂《勇往直前》(straight no chaser)的方式，分享了一些關(guān)于科技創(chuàng)業(yè)的教益。 創(chuàng)業(yè)者渴望聽到賽博爾的建議有諸多原因。首先，他利用自己的技術(shù)和商業(yè)才能共同創(chuàng)辦和運(yùn)營(yíng)了Socialcam（2012年以6000萬美元的價(jià)格售出）和Justin.tv/Twitch（2014年被收購(gòu)，成交價(jià)高達(dá)9.7億美元）等公司?，F(xiàn)在，他成為YC合伙人。從軟件行業(yè)到航空航天業(yè)，這個(gè)創(chuàng)業(yè)孵化器每六個(gè)月資助100到120家公司，涉及各種領(lǐng)域。此外，非洲裔美國(guó)企業(yè)家可能尤其贊賞賽博爾的想法：“我希望每個(gè)找到Y(jié)C的少數(shù)族裔創(chuàng)始人，都能躋身行業(yè)前20％。我希望每個(gè)少數(shù)族裔的創(chuàng)始人都能擁有優(yōu)秀的團(tuán)隊(duì)，迅速成長(zhǎng)，并占據(jù)一個(gè)龐大的市場(chǎng)，讓那些以創(chuàng)始人種族為由不愿投資的投資人變得像白癡一樣。” 他稱，在YC投資的公司中大約15％的團(tuán)隊(duì)有黑人或拉丁裔創(chuàng)始人——這在硅谷風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資圈前所未聞。 在他20分鐘的講話中，他道出了在硅谷掙扎、生存和成功的真相：“這不是實(shí)現(xiàn)夢(mèng)想的地方。這是個(gè)賺錢的地方?！彪m然他說得略顯直白，但事實(shí)證明，賽博爾的坦率令人耳目一新，而且他言語(yǔ)幽默又振奮人心。 在以下經(jīng)過編輯的摘錄中，我們挑選了他在TechConneXt的分享中七大要點(diǎn)： 走上創(chuàng)業(yè)之路 如果有人要?jiǎng)?chuàng)業(yè)，我會(huì)告訴他們先準(zhǔn)備夠花一年的現(xiàn)金。年輕時(shí)這很容易做到，跟兩個(gè)、三個(gè)或四個(gè)室友住在一起，吃一年拉面花不了太多錢。但你得愿意辭去目前的工作。我們經(jīng)常說的一句話是，“如果你不是100％投入，怎么能期待我們這樣做？”這些先決條件真的、真的、真的很難。這是人們正在尋找的模式。我要告訴你的是，帶上你應(yīng)用到產(chǎn)品中的所有天賦，開始思考如何讓自己適應(yīng)這種生活。 拋棄那種憑借創(chuàng)意就能獲得融資的幻想 創(chuàng)意會(huì)改變; 創(chuàng)意是一種商品，課堂里正在講授的課程都是錯(cuò)的。事實(shí)并不是你想出一個(gè)好主意就能得到錢，然后做出點(diǎn)什么東西。這不過是一個(gè)謊言。你與誰共事才是最主要的。當(dāng)你考慮做什么時(shí)，我會(huì)建議他們跟有可能成為聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人的朋友先認(rèn)真討論下，如果你們都能興奮起來，好啦！跟你一起聊的人就是你的創(chuàng)業(yè)伙伴。 熱衷于解決問題 創(chuàng)意是一種解決方案。第一個(gè)解決方案不會(huì)太好，但沒關(guān)系。投資者完全可以接受。如果你對(duì)要解決的問題沒有熱情，你就不會(huì)想出第二個(gè)、第三個(gè)、第四個(gè)、第五個(gè)想法。如果你的客戶每天都碰到一個(gè)問題，而不是隔天才碰到一個(gè)問題，你就擁有多得多的機(jī)會(huì)為他們提供幫助。 了解你的市場(chǎng)規(guī)模 每個(gè)投資者都想知道你的市場(chǎng)規(guī)模。為什么？答案很簡(jiǎn)單。你得把公司發(fā)展到十億美元的估值，投資人才能賺到錢，如果市場(chǎng)很小，打造價(jià)值十億美元的公司就很難。有兩種方法可以做到這一點(diǎn)。如果你要進(jìn)入已存在的市場(chǎng)就容易些。比如你要建一家在線小型商業(yè)銀行，只要在線查詢小型企業(yè)銀行市場(chǎng)規(guī)模，砰！你就知道你的市場(chǎng)多大。如果你想創(chuàng)業(yè)的領(lǐng)域之前不存在，就要弄清楚有多少潛在客戶，你計(jì)劃每年收取多少費(fèi)用，砰！市場(chǎng)規(guī)模有了。這不是什么艱深學(xué)問，只是不知不覺踢你出局的潛規(guī)則之一。 拿出最簡(jiǎn)可行產(chǎn)品 最簡(jiǎn)可行產(chǎn)品（MPV）。一旦你成立起團(tuán)隊(duì)，做出了一款有瑕疵的產(chǎn)品，這就是你需要著手解決的事情。說清楚些，不是從一開始就要這么干。你不要說，“我要請(qǐng)人做個(gè)MVP，證明是個(gè)好點(diǎn)子后組建團(tuán)隊(duì)?！庇衅邆€(gè)原因可以證明這樣做不對(duì)，但其中最重要的一個(gè)是大多數(shù)投資者不會(huì)投資。然而，你需要他們的資金。大多數(shù)投資人一看到外包開發(fā)團(tuán)隊(duì)就會(huì)說，“不，謝謝你。”最簡(jiǎn)可行產(chǎn)品是你第一次有機(jī)會(huì)把產(chǎn)品展示給用戶，那一刻的確令人提心吊膽。很多人選擇拖延，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為，“如果我發(fā)布了一款糟糕的產(chǎn)品，業(yè)務(wù)可能永遠(yuǎn)沒法順利起步?！笔聦?shí)上，一些商業(yè)專家確實(shí)就此討論過。這完全是胡說。很少有人記得谷歌什么時(shí)候上線。也很少有人記得亞馬遜或Facebook什么時(shí)候上的線。人家現(xiàn)在都做得很好。做出什么就趕緊交給用戶。如果你正在解決客戶經(jīng)常遇到的視頻問題，你的產(chǎn)品再爛他們也會(huì)用，總好過沒得用。從這一點(diǎn)開始，你會(huì)了解到他們喜歡什么，不喜歡什么，產(chǎn)品就會(huì)逐漸改進(jìn)。 了解啟動(dòng)和控制權(quán)的價(jià)值 我們要告訴創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的是：“啟動(dòng)之前你們什么都不是”。我不想聽你的想法。我不想聽你的偉大戰(zhàn)略。我不想聽到你的偉大幻想。我只想聽到你的公司已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)了。然后我們可以談一談。現(xiàn)在，成立一家公司要比以前便宜得多。我一直想告訴創(chuàng)業(yè)者，要掌握控制權(quán)。不要把控制權(quán)拱手讓與投資者。如果你告訴我這樣一個(gè)不錯(cuò)的投資者，拿到我的錢后才能啟動(dòng)公司，那么控制權(quán)就握在我手里。我會(huì)不慌不忙，甚至先去度個(gè)假。如果你告訴我你們已經(jīng)啟動(dòng)了，那我就得留心了，因?yàn)橄乱淮文阍賮砀艺剷r(shí)，你的公司可能已經(jīng)成長(zhǎng)起來，價(jià)格自然也更高。你的產(chǎn)品上線會(huì)讓我恐懼，而恐懼是讓別人認(rèn)真對(duì)待你的好辦法，比喜愛有效多了。 要么成長(zhǎng)，要么死亡 從啟動(dòng)那一刻起的每一周，如果沒有成長(zhǎng)就是在走向死亡。這事不復(fù)雜。我們會(huì)做很多準(zhǔn)備和額外工作幫你成長(zhǎng)。創(chuàng)業(yè)公司時(shí)時(shí)刻刻面臨著失敗。你會(huì)問，“為什么沒實(shí)現(xiàn)每周成長(zhǎng)？” 你永遠(yuǎn)也解決不完技術(shù)問題，永遠(yuǎn)也解決不完經(jīng)營(yíng)問題，永遠(yuǎn)處理不完人事問題。公司越大，問題就越多，這是必然的。所以還不如專心成長(zhǎng)。此外，我曾經(jīng)得到的最好建議之一是，成長(zhǎng)是樹立企業(yè)文化的第一要?jiǎng)?wù)。每個(gè)人都想加入贏家的團(tuán)隊(duì)，而一個(gè)致力于成功的團(tuán)隊(duì)每周都在成長(zhǎng)。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者：Peter Pei 審校：夏林 |
Entrepreneurs who attended our Silicon Valley-based TechConneXt Summit were treated to a master class from Michael Seibel, a partner at Y Combinator, the seed accelerator that’s propelled scores of startups to stratospheric heights. This world-class innovator offered lessons on tech entrepreneurship the way the late Thelonious Monk played jazz—straight no chaser. There are a number of reasons why company founders covet Seibel’s advice. For one, he’s applied his technical chops and business prowess to co-found and operate Socialcam, acquired for $60 million in 2012, and Justin.tv/Twitch, purchased for $970 million in 2014. Today, he’s affiliated with YC, which has funded 100 to 120 companies in a range of sectors—from software to aerospace—every six months. Moreover, African American entrepreneurs can fully appreciate Seibel’s approach: “I want every minority founder that goes to YC, to be in the top 20% of the batch. I want every minority founder to have such a good team, so much growth, such a big market that investors look like idiots if they let race get in the way of making an investment.” At YC, he says roughly 15% of its portfolio companies have either a black or Latino founder—unheard-of within the Silicon Valley venture community. In his 20-minute talk, he laid out the real deal of scratching, surviving and making it in the Valley: “This place is not about realizing your dreams. This place is about making money.” And although blunt in his delivery, Seibel proved to be refreshing, engaging, and motivational in his candor. In the following edited excerpts, we reveal seven powerful nuggets he shared at TechConneXt: Take the entrepreneurial journey I tend to tell people they need to have a year’s worth of cash. When you’re younger, this is a lot easier, this is like a year’s worth of cash to live with two, three, four roommates and eat ramen. You need to be willing to quit your job. One of the things we say all the time is that “If you’re not in 100%, how do you expect us to be?” These prerequisites are really, really, really hard. It’s the pattern that people are looking for. What I would tell you is take all the genius you’re applying to the product and start thinking about how you can get yourself set up in this kind of life. Discard the myth you’ll gain financing on the strength of your idea: Ideas change; ideas are a commodity, and the lesson that’s being taught out there in the world is just simply wrong. It’s not you come up with a genius idea and you get the money and then you build something. That’s just a lie. Whom you’re working with is primary. When you think about what you want to work on, I tend to tell people to brainstorm the problems with people who you might want to be your co-founders because when you all get excited, bam, the same people you’re brainstorming with can be the people you can start a company with. Be passionate about problem solving: Ideas are solutions. The first solution that can be released won’t be good, and that’s OK. Investors are completely happy with that. If you’re not passionate about the problem that you’re solving, you’re not going to be coming up with the second, third, fourth, fifth idea. You have so many more opportunities to help your customer if they have a problem every day than if they have a problem every other day. Know the size of your market: One question every investor wants to know is how big is your market. There’s a very simple answer to why. They don’t make money unless you build a billion-dollar company and it’s hard to build a billion-dollar company in a small market. There’s really two ways of doing this. It’s really easy if you’re building a company in a space that already exists. Let’s say you’re building an online small business bank. All you have to do is look up online how big small business banking is and, bam, you know your market size. If you’re looking up something that never existed before all you have to do is figure out how many potential customers there are, how much you’re going to charge per year and, bam, there’s your market size. This isn’t rocket science but it’s one of those sneaky things that can disqualify you without you really knowing. Achieve MVP status: Minimal Viable Product. Once you have that team and once you have that product that has a problem you will solve, this is what you get to work on. Let’s be clear, you don’t start with this. You don’t say, “Let me hire someone to build an MVP and prove that there’s something good here, and then hire my team.” There are seven different reasons why that’s a bad idea but the most important one is most investors will not invest. You need their money. Most of them will look at outsource development team and say, “No thank you.” When you think about your minimal viable product, this is the first opportunity you have to get something in customer’s hands and it’s very scary. A lot of people delay this because they think, “If I release something that sucks, I’ll never be able to get my business off the ground.” In fact, some business gurus talk about this. It’s complete bulls**t. Very few of you remember the day that Google GOOGL -0.79% launched. Very few of you remember the day that Amazon AMZN 0.19% launched or the day that Facebook launched. Those guys are doing pretty well. Just get anything in your customer’s hands. If you’re solving a video problem that the customers have often, they will use whatever piece of crap you release because it’s better than nothing. Then from that point forward you’ll learn what they like and what they don’t, and you’ll make it better. Learn the value of launching and leverage: What we tell startups: “You’re nothing until you launch.” I don’t want to hear about your idea. I don’t want to hear about your great strategy. I don’t want to hear about your delusions of grandeur. I want to hear you launched. Then we can have a conversation. Nowadays, launching is significantly less expensive. One thing I always try to tell founders is that you want to own leverage. You don’t want to give the investor the leverage. If you tell me—this good investor—that you can’t launch until you have my money, now I have all the leverage. I can take my time. I can go on vacation. If you tell me we’ve already launched, well now I’ve got to pay attention because the next time you talk to me, you might be growing and the price might go up. By launching, you put fear into me and fear is a great way to get someone to take you seriously. Way better than love. Grow or die: The second that you launch, every week that you’re not growing, you’re dying. Don’t think about this as some kind of complicated setup. We have to do a lot of prep work and a lot of extra stuff to prepare yourself to grow. A startup is constantly in the state of failure. You say, “Why doesn’t it grow every week?” You’ll never get ahead of your technical debt. You’ll never get ahead of your operational problems. You’ll never get ahead of your personnel problems. The bigger you are, the more problems you will have, guaranteed. So you might as well grow. Also, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was that growth was the No. 1 thing to help start your culture. Everyone wants to be on the winning team, and a winning team grows every week. |
