The Many Hats of Building and Launching a Web Startup¶
by Tracy Osborn
- @limedaring
- Founder of http://weddinginvitelove.com
Designer not a programmer
piloshophy: “An entrpeneur tends to bire off a lottle than he can chew hoping he’ll quick;y learn how to chew it”
project is ‘ramen profitable’
1. Start off on the Right Foot¶
- Have a good amount of money in hand to lesson stress
- Be in good health
- Relationships in good shape
- Quit your job cause you can’t do this as a side project
Redefine success¶
- Don’t try to beat google
- Make your goals modest
- Small goals to begin with
I know HTML! I can program!¶
- Started in Computer Science but graduated Graphic Design
- Joined a startup as the Designer that grew into a medium sized company
- Got bored
- Wanted to do something that could impact the world
Tried to find a co-founder¶
- Why weddings?
- Work on something you love to work on
- Cofounders are awesome, but no cofounder is better than the wrong cofounder
- Things didn’t go well with the cofounder didn’t go well
Did it herself¶
- Learn Python The Hard Way (Zed Shaw) Great programming starter book
- Got recommended to use Django because of so many apps available
- Launched weddinglovely.com in 6 weeks!
2. Launch as fast as possible¶
- Don’t try to build giant from the start
- Easy to get discourage
- Everything is going to change once you launch - you can’t predict the direction of things
- Take out as many features as possible - add them later if you need them
Work on the hard stuff first¶
- Programming before HTML layout/design
- Then make it pretty
Active Learning¶
- Don’t go through a whole book chapter by chapter. Learn the things that work
- http://gigantuan.net
- http://gettingstartedwithdjango.com got mentioned!
Launch with bad code¶
- Don’t worry about optimization (speed, caching, code smell, etc)
- get it done!
3. Have a plan for monetization¶
- Have at least a vague plan to making money
- Raising money is a pain in the butt
4. Don’t be forever alone¶
Network and meet people!
- Surround yourself with experts (in her case - programming)
- Marketers
- Designers
- find the people who can help you do the work you want to do
NDAs suck
- Most people won’t sign em, so they won’t be able to help you with advice
- Most people aren’t going to try and implement your idea
- Competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing
Ask when you get stuck
Don’t waste time banging your head against an impossible problem
Go ask for help
- Stack Overflow
- local meetups
Surround yourself with good influences
5. Take Shortcuts¶
Skip the hard things if you can, eventually you’ll undertand them
Django is plug & play!
- http://djangopackages.com
- South for migrations
- hosted on https://www.dotcloud.com (special pricing for startups)
- launchrock.com
Summary¶
- Start off on the Right Foot
- Launch as fast as possible
- Have a plan for monetization
- Don’t be forever alone
- Take Shortcuts