1. Dont start small when you can start BIG
Building a profitable small-market company is difficult and carries a high risk of failure.
Building a profitable large-market company is also difficult and carries a high risk of failure.
But the marginal risk in building a company decreases as the addressable market increases.
While a larger company may require more total work, the relative effort is less. Make no mistake: small-market companies still come with 18 hour days, flaky vendors, upset customers, and exasperated spouses.
Thinking small increases our risk. So let’s think big.
[Notes: “Large vs. small” is a different debate than “bootstrapped vs venture-backed”, though the two are often conflated. It’s also worth noting that serving a small segment and progressively expanding outwards to serve the larger market is a totally legitimate large-market strategy.]
2. Cut out the middleman
Interesting things happen when we cut out the middleman. In addition to reducing cost, we often end up creating an internal byproduct that can be productized and sold to a completely new customer. (Amazon Web Services is an example of this.) Sometimes the middleman’s market is so huge, that a freaking enormous business can be built simply by providing their customers a lower cost and more efficient option. Two-sided marketplace businesses are a textbook example of this type of disruption.
3. Don’t shit where you eat
“When someone’s doing something for the money, people can sense it, like a desperate lover. It’s a turnoff.” – Derek Sivers, Anything You Want
Simple meaning: Don’t screw with your users. They are your golden-egg-laying goose. Protect them from rapacious cofounders and investors. Don’t spam them. Don’t abuse them. Don’t be a douchebag. They can sense the level of service from you and whether you are just abusing them to make your money.
4. If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense
“A business without a path to profit isn’t a business, it’s a hobby.” – Jason Fried, Rework
We can build an awesome product and then give it away for free. We can bolt advertising to it. We can turn it into a lead-gen property. We can even sell some virtual goods but if it's not making money it's not a business.
Always find viable business model before spending money on development resources. Stay close to where the money is, close to a transaction.
5.Closed mouths don’t get fed
If you want something, you have to either ask for it or walk up and take it.”
We can’t expect good fortune to fall into our lap. It’s our responsibility to create the circumstances for it and then capture that good fortune.
6. Be a badass
“There’s only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that’s being so good at what you do that they can’t ignore you.” – Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game
Chris DeVore makes a comparison : pirate ships as organizational models. Pirate ships combine an “us against the world” mentality with a hunt for treasure. This crucible of chaos and ambition somehow allows unstructured groups of mercenaries to complete complex tasks without killing one another (very often). A pirate ship is a meritocracy where he/she who is most badass, leads.
The one thing these badasses shared was the source of their power: influence rather than authority. This lesson is the most important and also the most difficult to implement. There’s no pill, book, or retreat that will turn us into badasses. But if we want to captain a pirate ship, we must become the most badass version of ourselves.
And oh, all these things here? They are learnt from a crime boss. Curated by me. If you're interested to see please click the source link below
Source: http://gigaom.com/2012/01/07/desantis-startups-crime-boss/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29&utm_content=FeedBurner
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