In The Beginning
It’s a classic story, repeated millions of times a day, world over.
It’s a classic story, repeated millions of times a day, world over.
Someone, somewhere, sits up, looks ahead with clear and present determination in their eyes, and thinks to themselves: “This could be so much better.”
In the vast majority of cases that’s where the punctuation drops and the stage goes dark. Maybe a touch of pitter-patter applause.
But for a few, a select few, the thought lingers. It becomes a slow burn in the back of their mind. They try to shake it, they get busy - life happens.
But the idea has a mind of its own.
It grows spindly cerebra-wrapping tentacles, simmering and waiting for the right moment, the right intuition, the right fog of memory. And then it strikes.
Sometimes the person knows this is happening and fosters it. Other times they are simply hosts, caught unaware.
Whatever the situation, when it strikes - it strikes hard.
“I have to try this!”, “I think… it’s going to work.”, “Screw it, let’s give it a shot.”
So it was with Dakota and The Burrito. And thus, our adventure begins.
About Startup Burrito
Startups are complicated but they don’t have to be complex. As founders, or product people, or growth maestro’s, we’re all chasing the same fundamental goal.
To bend the arc of reality.
There’s so much conflicting advice out there that the most useful tends to be the most general. But general advice in a general setting helps almost no one.
They become mere platitudes.
Everyone knows you ought to “talk to customers”.
But what does this mean? How do you put it into practice? And how can I be sure that what worked for Etsy, Airbnb, Casper, etc. is going to work for me?
That’s what this newsletter is all about: exploring complicated ideas through story.
Narrative is powerful. It can shape perception, and thereby shape reality.
It’s easy to argue about whether the situations surrounding Airbnb apply to you but what’s not easy is refuting first principles.
Burritos are simple.
There’s a carb. There’s a filling. There’s a cook. There’s a customer.
Burritos are complex.
There are supply chains. There are business models. There are coordination failures.
All the principles you need to start and succeed can be learnt from a story about a simple person who just wanted to eat a damn good burrito.
It is my hope you will join Dakota and I on this journey.
Last note: Startup Burrito will always be free. Ideas are meant to be shared.
Table Of Contents
New posts will drop once a week and cover the topics in this order. Contents are subject to change.
Early Stage
Define The Idea (Coming 10/20)
Be Flexible
Define The Market
Learn The Vocabulary
Develop Customers
Define Your Value Prop.
Define Your Business Model
Define Competitors
Define Your Why?
Find Your Partners
Find Your Advisors
Understand Why Now?
Build Your MLP
Do It Yourself
Validate With Customers
Define Your Metrics
Charge Early, Charge Often
Define Your Story
Where Will You Go?
Raise Small, Raise Smart
Write Down Everything
Celebrate The Small Wins
Seed Stage
Define Your Culture
Define Your Hiring Plan
Define Your Burn Plan
Define Your Raising Strategy
Scenario Modeling
Raising Capital
Charge More
The Hiring Process
Hire Fast, Fire Fast
The Past != The Future
A Culture Of Experimentation
Clearly Define Success
Don’t Do It Yourself
Give Away Responsibility
Automate The Mundane
Time > Money
Empower Your Team
Make Metrics Clear
Democratize Data
It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Take Time For Yourself
You And Your Partners
Understand Capital Flows
Understand Your Raise Potential
Tools Don’t Matter, Get The Work Done
Principles > Process > Ad-Hoc
The Smallest Amount Of Process Necessary
Series A
TBD (suggestions are welcome) but we will take this thing, all things going well from Early Stage > IPO (SPAC?).
Who Am I?
I’m a firm believer that the person doesn’t matter. The ideas do. The principles do.
The credit? The following? Vanity metrics.
If you share good ideas, good people will be drawn to you.
But just because some won’t listen I’ll toss in a few worthwhile mentions:
Founder, Engineer, Designer, Growth, Product
I’ve raised millions in VC and been a part of teams that have raised millions more in non-profit funding and PE.
I’ve built, grown and scaled engineer, product and design teams/processes from the ground up.
There are no bonus points for pride.
Where I don’t know, it’s my hope that we will bring in a worthy guest or two (or five?) to fill in the gaps, answer your questions and share their insights.
So who am I?
Just someone trying to give a little back to the world that they’ve received so much from.
With warm wishes to you and yours,
The Author