‘
Overnight success’ is a myth
Gustol:
He and Tcheboratev toiled for
eight years before finally getting 500px
to the sustainable, competitive level it’s
at today. As Evans pointed out, “There are
no overnight successes.” To which Gustol
quickly replied: “No — but there should
be!” a bit of wishful thinking that generated
big laughs.
There’s no life like startup life, literally
Gustol:
“
We couldn’t pay our bills for
months. I had no life.” It’s really freaking
hard to run a startup. And time consuming,
as Yang adds: “Get your affairs in order
because you won’t see your family.”
…
but you still need family
Pulver:
Ok, so you won’t see them very
often because you’ll be so busy. But don’t
abandon friends and family completely.
They’re the best sounding boards you’ll ever
”
find to test ideas, products and services
from a user point of view, Pulver says. Plus,
who else is gonna make you dinner when
you get sick of living on pizza, chips and
pop?
Tech expertise trumps biz smarts
Yang:
“
We have a strong bias towards
technical (ie, tech) founders.” Why? No
matter how business savvy you are, a tech
startup needs technology to succeed. If you
don’t have the tech chops, hire someone
permanently who does. You’ll save time and
money over the long haul because you won’t
have to keep outsourcing development.
School isn’t real life
Payne:
“
Very little of what you learn in
business school actually prepares you for
running a business.” This coming from a
woman who’s a grad of both Ivey business
school and the Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology.
“