Ever think about starting a startup?

Last night I was attending a meeting about startups. Like a cat’s curiosity needs a ball of string to play, my curiosity got the best of me and I went to see what was all about.

Startups are all about solving problems. And most of the startups fail. Thats it, we could end it here and go home.

If you decided to stick around a bit longer, know that you need a “good” idea that needs to solve a “bad” problem. And to find the problem you want to solve, you will need to talk to a lot of people. All the people you can talk to. But keep in mind that people lie.

After you have an idea, you can start thinking about your team. And this seems to be one of the biggest risks. You need cofounders, preferably with other strengths that you lack. You need good mentors. Later on you might need to hire some additional people. And if there is a rule here, it should be “No asholes”.

To gather you team, the startup needs to have a vision. Like a cleaning lady thinks she is saving lives, you need to inspire your team by delivering a clear vision.

Then there is the finance part. Every startup needs money to stay alive. There are the usual 3Fs – family, friends and fools. But a serious startup tries to get investors, money from clients. You will need a great business pitch to capture the attention of the listener. And then you go and try it out on 300 investors and let the numbers game do its thing.

Lastly, startups are not for everybody. During your lifetime, you should try both the corporate life and entrepreneur life too. Then decide which is better suited for you.