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Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

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Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#121

Post by skeeter2020 »

tootie wrote: post #117
armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

The sales thing is super important but the channels and investment really depend on the type of business. B2C won't scale with phone calls you need marketing organization.

Scaling sales is a very different thing from getting sales, and I'd argue you won't know how to scale until you find a channel that works but is not cost effective. Otherwise you're essentially shooting blind, but at scale, which doesn't hit much but uses a lot of ammo.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#122

Post by mandeepj »

cj wrote: post #50
TamDenholm wrote: post #36

Apply your technical skills to a non-technical business. Dont start a tech startup in a tech hub. Run a business completely unrelated to tech and use your skills to improve that business, theres SO much low hanging fruit out there. The venn diagram of tech skills and a non-tech business is where the opportunities are. This applies to many other unrelated skills.

Best advice in the thread so far. You’re chances of success are 10x higher trying to build technology for tanning salons than it is building the next new docker kubernetes react native infrastructure as a service. Unsexy sells.

> Unsexy sells.

Not for me; it has to be sexy, world and life style changing. I’d rather build something like one of the top used apps or just be an employee at a tech co.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#124

Post by mandeepj »

cosmodisk wrote: post #62
TamDenholm wrote: post #36

Apply your technical skills to a non-technical business. Dont start a tech startup in a tech hub. Run a business completely unrelated to tech and use your skills to improve that business, theres SO much low hanging fruit out there. The venn diagram of tech skills and a non-tech business is where the opportunities are. This applies to many other unrelated skills.

This is amazing advise. People working in tech, especially in high tech orgs live in bubbles and often imagine that the whole world is like this. I know a multimillion £ business that probably gained hundreds of thousands in productivity by simply introducing shared mailbox. Some of those low hanging fruits are litterly on the ground ready to be picked up.

> I know a multimillion £ business that probably gained hundreds of thousands in productivity by simply introducing shared mailbox.

Good if someone can pull it off. But, I believe that company might have sold that feature as an add-on to their existing customers. Otherwise, you know “Sales” are the hard part

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#125

Post by samrolken »

Sometimes, you'll be faced with a situation where it seems like you have to decide if you should trust someone. A situation where you have to evaluate someone's honesty and whether they will follow through with their commitments they make to you.

Either you're dealing with someone honest, or not. Seems simple, right?

But, there is a third option. Sometimes someone will earnestly and honestly make a commitment, but then later on they will not see themselves as being obligated to follow through, or they will rationalize some reason they don't need to meet their commitments they've previously made.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#126

Post by skeeter2020 »

polote wrote: post #53
armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

> 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. This obviously completely wrong. The only problem that can be solved by mores sales is when your are not selling enough. And even in this case just having more sales not always work. I'm the first to say that what matter most for a company is its ability to have more customers. But having more sales when you sales org is badly structured will make you loose a…

>> But having more sales when you sales org is badly structured will make you loose a lot of money

Read the original point. The OP is not saying sales globally optimizes all things, like how your sales department is organized, rather it mitigates (i.e "fixes") the problem. All your other points are secondary, and definitely don't hurt as much if you've got lots of sales.

Larry Ellison of Oracle definitely fails rule #6 but he gets at least one big thing right. There are only two roles: You're either building the thing or selling the thing.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#127

Post by JohnWhigham »

armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

11. Get a prenup. No, really, do get one.

While true, unfortunately in many (blue-leaning) states, they're starting to become at the judge's discretion. Absolutely sickening to be honest.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#128

Post by aliswe »

polote wrote: post #53
armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

> 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. This obviously completely wrong. The only problem that can be solved by mores sales is when your are not selling enough. And even in this case just having more sales not always work. I'm the first to say that what matter most for a company is its ability to have more customers. But having more sales when you sales org is badly structured will make you loose a…

I think you're missing the point. I know that you are right, but the rule still stands.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#129

Post by altdataseller »

armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

I'd modify 10 to:

10. You're only as happy as your wife. If she's unhappy, you're unhappy.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#130

Post by polote »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #126
polote wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. This obviously completely wrong. The only problem that can be solved by mores sales is when your are not selling enough. And even in this case just having more sales not always work. I'm the first to say that what matter most for a company is its ability to have more customers. But having more sales when you sales org is badly structured will make you loose a…

>> But having more sales when you sales org is badly structured will make you loose a lot of money Read the original point. The OP is not saying sales globally optimizes all things, like how your sales department is organized, rather it mitigates (i.e "fixes") the problem. All your other points are secondary, and definitely don't hurt as much if you've got lots of sales. Larry Ellison of Oracle definitely fails rule…

But this is not true, it is not more sales that fix the problem it is more sales that are -successfully selling- that fix it.

I've seen companies where more sales has amplified the problem

EDIT: I use Sales as a shorthand for "Salespeople" but OP use Sales for "revenue" maybe ?

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