A presentation on common startup mistakes that I gave at Sproutup in Toronto

1. Sprout Up TO
Sept. 22, 2010
Common Startup Mistakes
A finance guy’s perspective
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2. Introduction
mark macleod
CFO
Advisor
Investor
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3. Common Finance Mistakes
and how to avoid them…
Making Money
Spending Money
Financing
Everything else
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4. Making Money
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5. Making Money: Services
Unclear offering / positioning
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6. Making Money: Services
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7. Making Money: Services
Poor acquisition & mining
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8. Making Money: Services
Leaving money on the table
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9. Making Money: Services
Not asking for the order
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10. Making Money: Products & Tech
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11. Making Money: Products & Tech
Waiting too long to charge
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12. Making Money: Products & Tech
Complexity & user friction
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13. Making Money: Products & Tech
Forgetting this…
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14. Making Money: Products & Tech
No options
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15. Making Money: Products & Tech
Not loving users enough
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16. Spending Money
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17. Spending Money: Services
Not obeying the R/S ratio:
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18. Spending Money: Services
Poor project management
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19. Spending Money: Services
Not enough variable costs
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20. Spending Money: Products & Tech
Hiring too much too soon
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21. Spending Money: Products & Tech
Staff vs. subcontractors
Staff:
Core areas
- product, development,
support, acquisition,
key management
Subcontractors:
Everything else
* Key: SR&ED eligibility *
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22. Spending Money: Products & Tech
Lack of focus
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23. Financing Your Business
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24. Financing
Customers: giving away too much credit
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25. Financing
Customers: not knowing how to get paid
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26. Financing
Government: using it as a bank
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27. Financing
Investors: not understanding the game
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28. Financing
Investors: not finding money that fits your needs
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29. Financing
Not negotiating *everything*
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30. Everything Else…
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31. Everything else…
Co-founders: vesting & marriage
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32. Everything else…
Not defining culture & values
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33. Everything else…
Forgetting the vision
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34. Thank you
mark macleod
@startupcfo
blog: startupcfo.ca
web: realventures.com
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