What came first, the hacker or the hustler? In Jen Bonnett's case it was the hacker. In this slide share she tells her story and describes the hatching of a new idea – Startup Chicks.
6. Overnight Success
Founded: August 1997
FF $400k: Jan 1998
Beta Launch “ProLaunch”: April 1, 1998
Out of Beta: June 1998
20 employees, new office, new name: June 1999
“Stickiest Site”: June 1999
$10m investment: July 1999
“Launch” Party: Oct 1999
500,000 Subscribers: Nov 1999
1m Subscribers: Feb 2000
2.5m Subscribers, new office: July 2000
3.7m Subscribers, 160 employees: Aug 2000
Acquisition by AskJeeves (Ask.com) June 2001
9. Transition to Hustler
1350 Members
5 Countries
25 States
27 female founders have graduated from SCAP
2000+ Users
2nd Place StartupRiot
Women 2.0 Pitch Finalist
Self-funded to exit
Licensing deal w/ MAJOR software company in the works
Acquired by TRX last summer
10. Hacker vs. Hustler
• Someone else’s idea.
• Wrote the 1st version of the code
• Wired the office, fixed the
printer.
• “Closer”
• Grew tech team from me to 60+
people
• Architect / Problem Solver
• 24x7x365 job
• Lots of quiet time for
planning/strategizing
• Pessimist
• Lonely job
• Usually committed to stay w/
company at exit.
• My idea
• Wired the office, fixed the
printer.
• “Cold Caller” for both Sales &
Investors
• Focus on “Growing company”
• Cash is King
• Face of the Company
• 24x7x365 job
• No quiet time
• Optimist
• Lonely job
• Usually has quick earn-out at
exit.
11. Which role are you?
• Pick one idea, validate it and then, fully commit.
• Have clearly defined roles for your founding team.
• Whichever role you are in, fully commit to it.
• Have a “startup pre-nup” – have the tough
conversations.
• Enjoy the ride!
#StartupAcademy
@Hypepotamus
Notes de l'éditeur
7 startups, 1 was woman owned.
People Magazine November 2000
Mr. Bredder and the beginning of my career.Let to a BS in Math & CS from Dickinson College.Key Lesson: When you LOVE what your are doing, time disappears.
Key LessonsDo things differently.Fake it till you make it.If you want something, you need to ask for it. And be willing to walk away if you don’t get it.It Takes a TeamCommunicate, Communicate, Communicate
Key LessonsThere is a formula that ties marketing & tech together. Without the right mix of either, a company will fail.There are different types of entrepreneurs (Lifestyle vs Startup)I have a history of teaming w/ dysfunctional CEOs.
Key LessonsIts all about connections.CEOvs CTOStill working on it….