Category: Entrepreneurship

Revenue vs. Growth

There are two paths that entrepreneurs go down when they are starting a company.  They can try to grow as quickly as possible without regard to revenue so that they can sell out or they can focus on cash flow and revenue, while still trying to grow the business.

I’ll call the first one the Facebook Method.  For companies that subscribe to this thinking, their goal is to add users, traffic, page views or some other metric as quickly as possible.  After reaching a certain critical mass, the goal is to try to be acquired by a larger company that will figure out how to make money from their success.  If no other company will acquire the startup for fair value, the startup will look for a good revenue model.  In order to reach this goal, theses startups usually have to take on large amounts of angel or VC funding.  This method was most popular during the tech bubble years of the 90s, but still is popular with many startup founders, as its the easiest way to start a company.

The second method is to start with a well defined revenue model and try to become “ramen profitable” as quickly as possible.  Companies that start with well defined revenue models expect to become profitable much more quickly than the companies that subscribe to the first model.  Many times, they will be profitable within 6-9 months, rather than a few years.  These types of companies do not necessarily have to bootstrap or eschew VC funding, but they generally have stronger footing when they do go to raise money.  They can get better terms because they do not need the money to stay in business.

Both Paul Graham and Mark Cuban have written about these two competing strategies in the recent months and it seems that both fall into option two rather than option one.  Graham’s recent article titled “Ramen Profitable” is about the necessity to have a revenue model that actually generates revenue from the start, rather than hope to grow big enough and then find a revenue model.  Graham explains Ramen Profitable this way:

Ramen profitable means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders’ living expenses. This is a different form of profitability than startups have traditionally aimed for. Traditional profitability means a big bet is finally paying off, whereas the main importance of ramen profitability is that it buys you time. [1]

In the past, a startup would usually become profitable only after raising and spending quite a lot of money. A company making computer hardware might not become profitable for 5 years, during which they spent $50 million. But when they did they might have revenues of $50 million a year. This kind of profitability means the startup has succeeded.

Ramen profitability is the other extreme: a startup that becomes profitable after 2 months, even though its revenues are only $3000 a month, because the only employees are a couple 25 year old founders who can live on practically nothing. Revenues of $3000 a month do not mean the company has succeeded. But it does share something with the one that’s profitable in the traditional way: they don’t need to raise money to survive.

Graham believes that companies that can become ramen profitable quickly have a better chance of success in the end.  So does Mark Cuban.  Cuban puts a huge emphasis on cash flow and profitability and getting there quickly.  Cuban says:

Business is a very simple concept.  You have to pay your bills.  If you have anything left over, you get to smile and spend it as the principals of your business see fit. If you don’t have enough to pay your bills, you either have to raise money to cover the deficit, file bankruptcy and try it again, or go out of business.Simple.

…[I]f you talk to any company I have ever invested in, the only thing I care about are profitable sales. What are you selling?  How hard are you working at selling? What are your revenues ? Why are you paying yourselves a salary rather than a commission ? What unique initiatives are you working on to generate sales TODAY.

When I invest in companies, I expect 100pct of them to be successful and grow and QUICKLY be profitable.  I may  not hit many homeruns, but I sure hit a lot of singles and doubles and rarely strike out.

Both Graham and Cuban put an emphasis on having a clear revenue model from the start that is designed for quick profitability.  This attitude puts them at odds with many VCs who are happy to invest large sums of cash in companies that are not going to be profitable for many years or do not have a revenue model other than “ads.”  This is not to say that a VC will not fund a company because it has a well defined plan to become profitable and has a revenue model from the start. VCs are mostly interested in upside, ie how big will it grow at exit, rather than can it be profitable from start to finish.

Ramen profitability is a great goal for startups to have at their inception.  It forces them to think long and hard about their revenue model and how they will actually get customers to pay for their service.  It’s a delicate balance between profitability now or growth now.  I see it as a continuum.  On one end is the Facebook Method of extreme growth without much time spent on the revenue model.  On the other end is trying to be profitable from day 1 and believing that growth will come with a good product.  Founders should balance quick growth with a revenue model that generates profit as quickly as possible.  I know this sounds like having your cake and eating it too, but it is possible.

If you are thinking about starting a company or have started a company, take a step back and think about how you will actually get someone to pay for your service and how you plan to get that money into your bank account.  I know it seems simple, but many startups raise round after round without thinking about how they will become profitable, until the funding dries up and you are done.

The Entrepreneurial Push

Why do people start startups? To solve a problem or fill a need?  To be their own boss?  To escape the 9-5?   To make gobs of money? The answer is different for everyone, but its probably a combination of a few of these factors.  Lots of people I talk to have great ideas, but don’t end up taking the next step even though they would like to make money, be their own boss and escape their 9-5 job.  How come?

I’ve been talking with other entrepreneurs and doing a bunch of thinking about this question for the past few months, but had not completely put it into words until I read  Paul Graham‘s latest post about why he started Y Combinator, an innovative investment fund that gives techies mentoring, an office and small amounts of funding in exchange for small pieces of equity.

The most common reasons for people not starting their own companies are that they think it will be harder than it actually is, they are risk averse or are worried about capital.  For some people, these are real reasons not to start a business, but for many people who have good ideas, they are more excuses and rationalizations than reasons.  They simply do not know where to start or how to move forward with their plans.

This is not a personal failing on the part of people with good ideas who have not moved forward yet.  It is a failing of high schools and colleges for not teaching them the necessary skills and punishing creativity.  It is the failing of entrepreneurs who have been successful for not showing others the entrepreneurial process and its the failing of a society that makes entrepreneurship seem much more dangerous, risky and hard to do than it really is.  Potential entrepreneurs have to get past objections from family and friends who ask things like “why don’t you work for a real company ” or my personal favorite  “when are you going to get a real job.”

This isn’t to say that starting a company is easy and that everyone should do it.  It’s not easy and some people aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs.  It takes hard work, perseverance and the ability to motivate yourself even when you run into obstacles, but it’s not as hard as people think.  Here is why Paul Graham started Y Combinator:

The real reason we started Y Combinator is one probably only a hacker would understand. We did it because it seems such a great hack. There are thousands of smart people who could start companies and don’t, and with a relatively small amount of force applied at just the right place, we can spring on the world a stream of new startups that might otherwise not have existed.

In a way this is virtuous, because I think startups are a good thing. But really what motivates us is the completely amoral desire that would motivate any hacker who looked at some complex device and realized that with a tiny tweak he could make it run more efficiently. In this case, the device is the world’s economy, which fortunately happens to be open source.

That “relatively small amount of force applied at just the right place” Graham writes about is the Entrepreneurial Push.

I have been trying to give the Entrepreneurial Push to as many people as possible, without having a name for it.  I think it’s important for people who have started companies to share their experiences with others to set an example that it can be done.  I try to use my blog and consultancy to show people that you can be an entrepreneur without a business degree, tons of startup cash and a team in place.  Whenever someone comes to me with an idea for a business, I try to encourage them to start going down the startup path because once they start to write their business plan, they are much more likely to actually start.

While we all don’t have the wealth of resources (time, money and experience) that Paul Graham and Y Combinator have, I think that entrepreneurs should go out of their way to give as many people the Entrepreneurial Push.   I started Capital Entrepreneurs, a network of young, Madison-based Entrepreneurs, partially in hopes that the group would influence more UW students to start companies while  in school or see it as a viable option after graduation.

What should entrepreneurs do to give others the entrepreneurial push that they need to get started?  Here’s a short list of ideas, but please comment with any other ideas or strategies that you have.

  • Advocate for entrepreneurship to make small business and startups more visible in other places besides California and Boston.
  • Give back by helping others who are just starting out to eliminate the “cloud of apprehension” surrounding entrepreneurship.
  • Join local entrepreneur clubs.
  • Speak in high school and college classes.

These small entrepreneurial pushes help smart people who are thinking about start their own companies actually start. They could create amazing companies that could change their lives or even the world.

Note: If you are an entrepreneur in Madison and are interested in joining Capital Entrepreneurs, shoot me an email.

The 40 People Who Can Change Your Life

The 40 people who can change your life are, after your family and friends, the most important people in your life.

I first learned about the 40 important people who can change your life from Roy Elkins, the found of Broadjam.com and member of my MERLIN Mentor Team here in Madison.  The concept is simple, but very powerful.  Make a list of the 40 people who are likely to be able to change your life, either through business connections, investment, job opportunities or simply being there for you to help you get past a road block in your business plan.  Once every 4 months, email your 40 important people who can change your life and let them know what you are up to.  The goal is to keep the 40 people who can change your life up to date on what you are doing so that when you do need to ask for advice, money or other help, they will not only remember you, but know what you are doing.  Its much more likely that someone will be willing to respond to your request when you need it if they are familiar with you.

I just started doing this a few months ago and have already seen the results.  I set up a rotation so that I am always emailing 10 different people each month so that I always have someone different to connect with.  Its been a great way to stay connected with the people who might be able to help me out down the road and its been fun.  Many of these people have responded with articles or suggestions relating to my businesses that have been incredibly helpful.

I like the concept so much that I just started my own list of family and friends who I want to stay in contact with on a more regular basis.  I want to make sure that I stay up to date with friends from college who have moved away and my extended family who I probably only see a few times a year.

Try both of these ideas and see how it works for you.  I think both the 40 people who can change your life and a friends and family list are a great idea for anyone, but especially people who are interested in business.  Do you already do anything similar to this?  Do you think you will try it out?

Giving Anonymously

After a three week hiatus, I’m back to blogging.  I just got back from an amazing three weeks traveling in Europe, followed by one of my best friend’s wedding.  I’ll have a few posts about where I went and some observations about the contrasts between Europe, the UK and the United States, but first, I had to write about this because its so cool.

I was driving back from my friend’s wedding today, listening to NPR and heard about Giving Anonymously, a website dedicated to letting people give money to their family and friends, without their knowledge.  From their website:

Giving Anonymously is a non-profit organization facilitating generosity between people. We are a volunteer organization; each of us donates our time without pay to keep Giving Anonymously running.

Giving Anonymously began in 2005 with our website up and running in early 2007. We began with a few goals in mind: We wanted to relationally connect people through giving, to make it fun, and in the process protect relationships from feelings of obligation. Giving to others in need can be full of mixed motivations and our hope is to facilitate Pure giving.

Anyone who enjoys putting cash under a friends door or in their mailbox will often times not know if their friend actually got the gift and they cannot hear what it meant to them. So, we came up with an idea to have a messaging line where recipients could call after receiving their gift. When a recipient doesn’t know who gave the gift to them they are even more free to express their gratitude and we capture this through voice files that we email to the donor.

I think this is an amazing idea with lots of potential, especially in a down economy.  Although the non-profit changes credit card processing fees of 3% for gifts over $500, its still loads more efficient than many charities that take up to 30% of donations in overhead.  The only hitch is that these gifts are not tax deductible.  Since you are choosing who gets the money, it is not deductible.  I understand why the rule exists, but it would be cool to see some sort of exception in this case.  Its good to see innovation coming out of our current downturn to help people in need.