5. Founder
^
• Investment fund
• Co-Invest with local investors in emerging
markets.
• Global network of investors
• Pushing teams to focus on users & revenue
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6. How I started
Seattle Startup Weekend - 2007
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7. How I got Started
• Graduated college 2006
• Finance Degree
• ZERO Coding or Design Skills
• Attended Seattle Startup Weekend in 2007
• Bought Startup Weekend early 2008 (with no money)
• Bootstrapped the company
• Today 30+ employees offices in Seattle, Mexico city,
London
• Raised $12M to date via 3 companies I co-founded.
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8. My Perspective
• Traveled to 100+ countries just for startups
• There are few original ideas
• Most Startup Weekends have nearly identical
pitches
• Speed and execution is all that matters!
• I recently moved to San Francisco
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9. Mexico Via Gringo
Goggles
• I’ve been here for a month
• No plane ticket home yet :)
• Invested in 8 startups.
• There is SO MUCH POTENTIAL HERE!
• Many concepts in other parts of the world do not
exist here.
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10. How To Start
• Get your monthly burn as low as possible
• Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs /
mentors
• Go to Startup Weekend!
• Pick an idea you’re passionate about
• YOU NEED TO BE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT
• Work non-stop. NON-STOP.
• Forget your personal life (for a while) to succeed
you need to treat this like bootcamp.
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11. Which Idea?
• Start with something you feel comfortable doing or
is a few degrees from what you do well.
• Keep it Simple! The fewer moving parts the better
especially in the beginning.
• Do something you can execute on QUICKLY.
• There are few original ideas, most are a clone or a
variation of an existing concept.
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12. Silicon Valley SUCKS
• Extremely expensive
• Hard to attract and retain talent
• Rent is expensive
• Office space is expensive
• Developers are INSANELY EXPENSIVE
• This is anti-startup.
• Silicon Valley does have the influencers, I’m not
sure it’s the best place to start your journey.
• EVERY IDEA has been done!
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13. Why Mexico Rocks!
• Startup ingredients are cheap (rent, talent, space,
taxis, food Everything!)
• The market has few players. THATS AWESOME
• Facebook ads are .07 per click vs $1.70 in the US.
• $1M Marketing budget becomes a $25M budget!
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25. You Need
• Low burn rate
• Problem to solve
• Team to solve it
• MVP & Market Validation
• A Big Market (little competition helps)
• Growth
• Plan to scale
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26. Finding Product
Market Fit
• Hack, cut corners, be fast. Tape it together before you
pour concrete.
• Get users / paying customers as soon as possible.
• Run tests to do this.
• This is darts blindfolded. But each time you throw you
get to look to see where your dart landed.
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29. Be Self Sufficient
• Nobody can stop you, and you need few external
inputs.
• Plan for zero support
• Execute well
• You’ll get TONS of support when you no longer
need it.
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30. What Kind of Startup
Are you?
• E-Commerce? Stay in your local market!
• New technology? Move to Silicon Valley
• Try to maximize self sufficiency in either case
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31. Mexico Is About to
Explode
• Especially if talking about an e-commerce startup,
I’d rather launch in Mexico.
• 10% have smartphone, 90% in 4-5 years.
• Mexico is a HUGE market, with relatively few
players, serves as a launch pad to South America.
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32. Start Now!
• Launching a company isn’t hard
• Starting is the hardest part
• Seek out help
• Feel free to email me, happy to help!
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33. @ClintNelsen
Clint@StartupLabs.org
Friday, November 2, 12
