Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#1

Post by matt1 » Sun, May 31, 2009, 12:24 AM UTC

In a few years I'd like to found or co-found a startup but I don't have any business experience and I don't plan on getting an MBA. I've picked up a few things from reading HackerNews and have skimmed through a few books on starting a small business, but none focus on internet startups and they're more of a "Take this survey and if you mark four or more check boxes, you may have the traits necessary be an entrepreneur"-type books.

What's the best way to learn about the nitty gritty details of running a business? I'm talking things like hiring and paying employees, purchasing insurance, paying taxes, etc.

Essentially I'm looking for any books, blogs, or resources that will demystify the second part of this equation:

1) Make something people want (internet style)

2) ???

3) Run a successful, multi-person small business

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#2

Post by mediaman » Sun, May 31, 2009, 1:48 AM UTC

Find advisers and mentors who have run and scaled small businesses. Talk to them casually and ask if they'd be willing to offer advice on occasion. That's how I did it, and I built to 15 employees while avoiding many (but not all!) of the common business basics blunders due to their assistance. If you find their advice valuable, you can even formalize a relationship with these advisers and provide a token number of warrants in exchange for a bigger time commitment.

I'm always happy to help people get started so feel free to email me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#3

Post by aristus » Sun, May 31, 2009, 1:58 AM UTC

The best training regime for X is actually doing X. If you want to work in TV you get a job as an assistant. If you want to be a ski instructor, go work at a resort. Etc.

Go work for a successful, multi-person small business, the kind you want to build yourself someday. Study it from the inside. Be useful & dedicated, ask questions, and make it clear you want to learn as much as you can.

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#4

Post by vaksel » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:20 AM UTC

Jump in head first, when something comes up that you don't know, crack open Google and do a search. If you can't find an answer, go ask around the more knowledgeable people you know or post on HN

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#5

Post by matt1 » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:43 AM UTC

aristus wrote: post #3

The best training regime for X is actually doing X. If you want to work in TV you get a job as an assistant. If you want to be a ski instructor, go work at a resort. Etc. Go work for a successful, multi-person small business, the kind you want to build yourself someday. Study it from the inside. Be useful & dedicated, ask questions, and make it clear you want to learn as much as you can.

Great advice, but alas, I am not in a position to do that at the moment due to prior commitments.

I'm interested in learning as much as I can right now so that when the time is right I'm as prepared as I can be.

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#6

Post by sachinag » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:43 AM UTC

It's not hard - just ask someone. Seriously. The mechanics aren't particularly hard, and if you act in good faith, the vast majority of mistakes are fixable. Step one is by far the hardest (assuming you're including "selling it to customers" in the "make something people want").

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#7

Post by pj » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:46 AM UTC

The best way is to have no fear. Do your best to treat people right and build something with a vision of the future. Figure out what is impossible and do that. People may not want it right away, but concentrate on building something they not only want, but are willing to pay for.

Subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Financial times. Read as much of them as you can.

As far as books go, I recently put together a business reading list, here are some that you may find interesting:

The E-Myth revisited (note: this is e as in entrepreneur, not e-commerce, basically it's about building a franchise and enabling yourself to focus "on the business," that is, making it better, advertising, managing, rather than "in the business" which for programmers would be programming...)

Built to last : successful habits of visionary companies (note: some of them have failed)

Confronting reality : doing what matters to get things right (haven't started reading this one yet, funny huh)

An empire of wealth : the epic history of American economic power (haven't started)

Good to great : why some companies make the leap--and others don't (some weren't so great)

An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, by Smith, Adam, 1723-1790. (goodness, this is 300 years old and still dead on and an easy read)

Microtrends : the small forces behind tomorrow's big changes (haven't started reading yet)

Negotiate like the pros : a top sports negotiator's lessons for making deals, building relationships, and getting what you want (good book, especially if you know anything about sports, which I don't, but still enjoy reading)

Who : the A method for hiring (This is a good one for helping to find talented people to join your team, short easy read)

Why we make mistakes : how we look without seeing, forget things in seconds, and are all pretty sure we are way above average (haven't started reading yet)

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#8

Post by alex_c » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:49 AM UTC

One of my first year Engineering courses, "Engineering, Society, and the Environment", was complete BS and an utter waste of time, but I did end up retaining exactly one thing from it: the course made the distinction between "Knowledge separated from experience" and "Knowledge embedded in experience".

While working on my first startup, I was reminded over and over again of that distinction. Near the beginning, I read - and understood, I thought - many blog posts and comments here about the startup experience. Many times, though, I got to a point where I experienced something I had read about - and found that I understand it on an entirely new level.

What I'm getting at is that you're looking for written resources - "Knowledge separated from experience" - while asking for "The best way to learn", which IMO is to "just do it". You can't learn programming just by reading books, I would be surprised if business skills are any different.

I realize this might not be very helpful, and if there are any good resources I'd love to see them too, but... step 2) really is "keep trying until you succeed and figure it out along the way".

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#9

Post by mankuthimma » Sun, May 31, 2009, 2:58 AM UTC

mediaman wrote: post #2

Find advisers and mentors who have run and scaled small businesses. Talk to them casually and ask if they'd be willing to offer advice on occasion. That's how I did it, and I built to 15 employees while avoiding many (but not all!) of the common business basics blunders due to their assistance. If you find their advice valuable, you can even formalize a relationship with these advisers and provide a token number of w…

+1. /me running a business. Have discovered the tough way, there's no alternative to mentors/advisors. Running a business involves too many variables. No book/blog can ever cover the entire gamut of probabilities. The only way is to have ready access to a person already doing/done that and ask. Cheers and all the best :-)

Re: Ask HN: How do you learn about the business aspects of running a startup?

#10

Post by stanleydrew » Sun, May 31, 2009, 3:03 AM UTC

matt1 wrote: post #5

aristus wrote: post #3

The best training regime for X is actually doing X. If you want to work in TV you get a job as an assistant. If you want to be a ski instructor, go work at a resort. Etc. Go work for a successful, multi-person small business, the kind you want to build yourself someday. Study it from the inside. Be useful & dedicated, ask questions, and make it clear you want to learn as much as you can.

Great advice, but alas, I am not in a position to do that at the moment due to prior commitments. I'm interested in learning as much as I can right now so that when the time is right I'm as prepared as I can be.

Don't be so sure you can't do something now. It isn't very hard to set up an LLC or an S-corp, and it costs almost nothing, assuming ~$150 isn't much to you. Save the money you would have used buying a few books and use it to actually set up a company for yourself. Then you can get started with the IRS and an EIN so that you can have a bank account. That's pretty much it at first. Then you can build web products under the LLC and take it from there.