This week I did a presentation to two sections of a prominant business school with an hour of Q&A in between. I fashioned it off a line I read in an article I discovered on XYDO.

Would it be crazy if (you fill in the blank).

Imagine just doing lunch with a few smart buddies in a total brainstorm session all keyed on that very line. The point is to observe those industries around you or where you share a passion, ones where the status quo is often dictating policies that exist because:

A) That’s the way we just do it.
B) Regulations force it that way
C) It just works, why change it.
D) Fill in the blank ______

So let’s have a little fun: Join in at your peril — you just might have killer idea for an amazing startup.

Would it be crazy if I could group a bunch a friends and dictate amazing savings at local businesses?

Groupon

Would it be crazy if we could eliminate the fees for late video rental returns?

Netflix – Remember before streaming, it was only about having a disk sent out that you could keep forever.

Would it be crazy if I could just buy every shoe out there in a single place?

Zappos

Would it be crazy if I could buy just the song I want, and do it at a known flat rate?

Itunes

Would it be crazy if I actually take contol of my personal finances?

Lombard, my company that started online stock trading. In todays world — Mint.

So this is where it gets really fun. Grab a few buddies and just do lunch. Start with the “would it be crazy if” mantra and let it flow. I’d love to see in comments a few of your ideas and how you see exciting ways to change the world. Remember, ideas are worth almost nothing, it’s all in the execution. So don’t be shy.

Still, without an idea, all the other formative parts of getting a startup going cannot begin. Take a look at all the hot startups you admire, and almost without exception, the people doing them were exactly like you when they started. Strap it up, and get in the game. Nothing in life is more gratifying.  After all, it’s just lunch.

Team XYDO has been hard at work on XYDO, our drive toward reinventing News on a truly social level. After crawling out of our bat cave of over 9 months of development, we are pleased to introduce you to XYDO.

We all know there is a place on the web to buy books, shoes, do searches — but what about news? What if there was a place to get the best news content, all 100% curated by real users? And even better, what if there was a way to get that news via the web, twitter, or the many reader apps, including Flipboard?

Introducing XYDO. If you have not yet signed up for the beta invite, you should. Xydo needs you, and I think you will find very quickly — you need XYDO.

XYDO takes news feeds from all over the world, combines them with your social graph, and then links that to all the hottest content flowing from twitter and other sources. It’s totally free, fast and amazing in it’s discovery abilities. XYDO is so much more than just reading the news, XYDO is all about “you” shaping the news.  XYDO cuts through the noise and delivers a highly tuned signal.

XYDO keeps you up to date and totally informed with a powerful notification engine, and a complete mail/inbox system. So… Give it a go. We would love your feedback.

As a reader of the Roachpost, signup and we will make sure to get you in quickly. Also, please do share your invite via both Twitter and Facebook.

We have some really exciting news to share later today.. But hey, that’s for a later post. The media is discovering our little secret…

Come on in.

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

This morning I wanted to take a quick stab at the emotional Roller Coaster that creating, launching, and managing a startup can be. Put simply, jumping into the startup void is not for the feint of heart. By no means am I advising against seeing your dreams to fruition, I am however, attempting to ground that enthusiasm, in what “really” happens in the startup world.

My first startup was called Lombard Brokerage. Lombard was eventually to be the company that pioneered online stock trading. I started the company with a grand total of 13,000 dollars, a big fat dream, and not a clue of what I was getting myself into. I had so little cash when I started, that I had to borrow the 13,000 just to begin.

I remember well, walking into a single office, with a single sheet of paper on my desk and thinking — “what have I got myself into.” I am a firm believer that much of startup success lies in convincing ourselves that we are in fact — worthy, capable, and every bit as smart as those competing against us. That being the case, the one who wins, is often the one who is willing to give the most. It’s a little like doing average work in school. Average gets you a “C,” and what does that get you in life?

Thus begins the emotional roller coaster of which I was referring above. Confronting our fear, anxiety, and lack of confidence, have stopped many an entrepreneur in their tracks. I am by no means immune to this process, and even to this day with the launch of Xydo imminent, I still have sleepless nights. Here are some of the ways I deal with the risk, fear and anxiety.

All you can do — Many years ago I heard someone say — “all you can do is all you can do, and all you can do is enough.” The trick is to make sure that you are in fact doing, all you can do.

What can I change? — Like all problems or challenges, there are things you can affect, and most that you cannot. It’s important to get hyper focused on only the areas where you can affect change. Make sure as well that your focus is in areas of change that actually move the ball.

Do the hard stuff — Also easy to do is to convince ourselves that we are doing all we can do, when in fact, we are doing that which is easiest to do, thus avoiding the “real” work to be done.

Break your tasks down — Looking at a major problem or challenge can overwhelm the best of us. Learn to break each task down into actionable and measurable steps. When you can gain comfort that the tasks lying in front of you are in fact doable, then you know that you have taken the effort far enough. If not, keep minimizing the task until you gain that confidence

Learn to trust — Nothing in the startup world beats a good co-founder. Whether it’s a co-founder, mentor, advisor or trusted friend, learn to know how and when to lean on them. In my experience, they welcome the participation, so long as your motives are good. If your reason for using a mentor is to say… get financing from them, then you are violating their trust, and you do not deserve their help.

On the other hand, being willing to trust the advice and counsel of another is hard for most to do. My advice — just listen. Stop arguing — listen. I have many times had to stop myself in my tracks to just stop, clear my mind, and listen. Every single time, I have been rewarded for doing so.

Be tenatious — No matter what the odds, problems, or challenges that confront you, keep your head up and keep pushing. Doubt will come, do not let it stop you.

When I was negotiating the sale of Lombard Brokerage with an army of attorneys from Morgan Stanley, each with a unique and special task of breaking me down, I recalled a song that I would go home at night and play over and over…  From Tom Petty, “I won’t back down.”

In the end, I got what I wanted, and they got Lombard.  You too can achieve a big win.  Follow a few of the adages from above and keep on keeping on…

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

The other day I had the opportunity to watch a full hour long presentation by Mark Suster on how to communicate and present to a VC. His presentation was excellent, packed with lots of good info regarding everything from, “how to dress” all the way down to “how to answer questions.” BTW — How did I find this presentation? Xydo of course.

Here is a teaser sample of the Deck he recommends you come with to the meeting.

1) Bio of top 3 people in the company. Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.
2) Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)
3) How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level
4) Details on the solution
[Demo could go here]
5) Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day
6) Competition
7) Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)
Market sizing (TAM)
9) Potential future exit possibilities
10) How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

In particular he speaks to the presentation having a narrative. That you present it in a non-lecture type fashion. He advises that you engage the VC’s with legit questions on how they are seeing the market and on how they view the competition. (Remember, they are likely seeing more than one company with “your” idea.)

He also gives advice that you have a Financial slide with 18 months of forecast. Important in the financials is that you make the “unit economics” very clear.

Okay… Here is the link. Enjoy and let me know what you think…

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

Not so long ago, back in New York, when I worked for Morgan Stanley, I was asked to speak to the incoming class of brokers. As preparation for the presentation, I brought in a few of the marketing professionals from the firm and spent a few hours going through their perceptions of what was, and what was not working for the new recruits.

Quickly the conversation turned to the fact that for all the equally trained newbies, only about a quarter would still be employed by the firm after their first six months.

Why?

Well the obvious failure surrounds the fact that some were good salespeople, and most were not. Clearly, all had been pre-screened by their managers, and yet a full 3 quarters of them washed out.

Here are a few of my observations that I hope you can take and apply across your business as I work to do it with mine.  (In writing these articles, please don’t assume that what plagues you is not attacking me just the same.)

1) Distraction — Getting on the phone and talking to people, who by in large, do not want to be speaking to you, is very hard.  So — it’s just much easier to play with your quote machine, or call the wife, or study investment materials, or on and on.  The winners I saw, understood that it was hard, and they made a concerted effort to call and call again.  They embraced the challenge and pushed through.

2) False beliefs — It is very easy to delude ourselves into believing facts about our outreach efforts that are just plain false.  Here is my favorite from a study conducted at Morgan.

Brokers were asked, “why do you not make more frequent contact with your clients?” — their answer — they did not want to disturb, harass or bug them.

Clients were then asked, “why did you leave the firm?” — because my broker never called.

How ironic.  This is a classic case that I’m sure extends across every industry. When we are in the battle, we are so over sensitized to our actions. We eat, sleep, and drink our businesses. We simply fail to realize that those we are prospecting have a life that in most cases has very little to do with what “you” are doing. Your call is just a call, nothing more and nothing less.

If they have engaged with you, they expect you to be contacting them — otherwise — you just don’t care.

3) Confidence — If you are unwilling to stick your neck out, why should your client? If you do not believe, a belief evidenced by your actions in what you are doing, why should they?

In small businesses, we seem to suffer from a bad case of “institutional insecurity.” I”m not worthy, I’m not a Facebook founder, or my company is not funded by Kleiner Perkins. Excuse after excuse.

Stop it already. Believe in who you are and what your company represents. Show some confidence and don’t just walk, but run to every obstacle put in your way.

I’ve met executives and financiers from the largest, most sucessful companies in the world.  Guess what?  They’re just like you.  Difference — THEY BELIEVE!

We’re currently recruiting beta testers for our new startup — XYDO, a new and engaging way to get news and information from people you trust. If that sounds interesting to you, leave your name and email address and we’ll shoot you an invitation!

Eric and I have been doing a lot of presentations lately and meeting a lot of great entrepreneurs, soon-to-be entrepreneurs, developers, investors, and other people looking to get into the world of startups. After pretty much every presentation I’ve been asked the same question by one or more people in attendance: how did you guys meet and what’s it like working with a co-founder.

Eric addressed the former question in his last post, however I’d like to talk about the latter. Having been the sole founder/CEO of two previous startups, I can tell you that I’ll never do it again. Here’s why:

Workload

Founding and running a startup takes a ridiculous amount of effort. You can easily put in 18 hour days, six to seven days a week; there is literally no end to what needs to be done, what can be made better, problems that need resolution, etc., etc. On top of all that, you’re running out of money (at least in the early days), the market’s changing, competition is popping up, etc. Point being, you need to make progress, and fast! On the one hand it’s arguably too much for one person to handle. However, the far more compelling argument is the simple reality is that two good co-founders are capable of far more in terms of workload and speed than a single co-founder. I like to think of it as a 1 + 1 = 3 situation.

Blind spots

You may be super smart, super creative, just a downright born-and-bred entrepreneur, however we’ve all got blind spots. Given the amount of things you need to focus on – big, small, near, and far – it’s very easy to become over committed to your own ideas or just straight up not see something that’s happening in the market, with your competitors, your customers, product, team, etc.. A good co-founder is going to be there to challenge your ideas and expose you to things you never would have thought of on your own. This is a good thing! Startups are painful enough as it is; you don’t want to spend months of effort and a pile of money only to find out that the course you plotted was a bad one.

Relationship

The relationship you build with your co-founder is probably the most important and valuable aspect of having a partner. Why? Most startups don’t end up doing whatever it was they set out to do. You’re likely going to be wrong, a lot: about what your product is, what your customers want, how they’re going to use it, how to make money, etc. You’ve got to be able to pivot and adjust on these learnings, and the basis for doing a great job at that and still making forward progress is a strong relationship focused on building a successful business, not simply a “great idea”.

Motivation

Startups are super stressful. As Reid Hoffman (Founder of Linkedin) said, it’s “like jumping off a cliff and having to assemble a plane on the way down”. There are going to be big ups, big downs, problems with people, technology, and all sorts of other stuff, all of which is going to happen each and every day! You need someone who’s living the same reality, that can provide a different perspective, get you out of your mental rut, and back on course towards changing the world.

Fundraising

I’ve often heard that aside from market (i.e., does one exist), a strong team is usually the number one thing venture investors are looking for. Further, they want to know that what you’re proposing is more than a one-man-show, that it’s a highly functioning machine of diverse, talented folks pursuing the same goal, not one superman with an idea. It’s just a bigger hurdle to get over as a sole founder. Good investors know what startups are like, and they know the benefits of investing in a company that has more than one guy at the top.

Team

Having a good co-founder helps in both the building and management of a team. When you’re building a startup team, you’re simultaneously trying to get the best possible talent while paying the least possible compensation (money and stock). Having a partner who has prior experience in startups not only means you’ve got a rolodex, but it also sends a message that this is more than just one guy’s (potentially crazy) vision, that this thing has a life of it’s own, that this is something a potential hire could get behind.

Further, no matter how good your team is, there are going to be people problems, big and small. Just like everything else, having someone there to offer a different perspective can mean the difference from a total blow up and keeping things moving in the right direction.

Agility

Finally, agility is a key by-product of a functioning partnership. Again, it’s the 1 + 1 = 3 situation; there’s simply no way you would be as agile, or as effective on your own. You’re both putting in 18 hour days, six to seven days a week, most likely spending more time together in close quarters than you are with your family or significant other. Chances are, neither one of you really tolerates sitting still, or leaving a problem unsolved. Now, if it was just you sitting in that room there’s a good chance you’d get stuck in ye olde “analysis paralysis” mode. However and since you’re both stuck in the same room together, it’s likely you’re going to bug the crap out of each other until the problem is solved. We call that progress.

These are just a few of the observations I’ve made since Eric and I teamed up earlier this year. No question we get on each other’s nerves and have some heated arguments from time to time, however we recover, move forward, and are stronger for it. No doubt we’ve got a long road in front of us, however I can definitely say I’m never again going to go it alone.

Networking is an absolute must for the early stage startup.  Often at the Roach Post I end up writing articles that I think I too need work on, and this is no exception.  I think of all the mistakes I have made in business over my career, the greatest is in that I have failed to adequately maintain my networking relationships.

Just this week Cameron went down to Silicon Valley to set up a meet up for our new company, which is due to enter private beta in the coming weeks.  As he was headed out it got me thinking about what networking an event was all about, and more importantly, how to make it pay.  As we all know, striking up conversations can be hard, especially, when the conversation has an intended purpose.

Here are a few ideas I’ve been mulling over on how to make you next networking opportunity work.

1) Have a clearly defined objective

Please don’t go to the expense of a conference or event without a clear plan.  Find out in advance who you need to meet and why.  Come prepared with your elevator pitch, and or ready to make a statement that will lead directly toward your desired objective.  In the end, knowing the who and why is about 90 percent of the task.  You are not there for fun, you are there to advance to the next step, whether that be a meeting, phone call or visit. If you need a little help, do check out my prior piece on the elevator pitch.

2) Listen — really listen

The most annoying thing I encounter at a conference, is a bunch of people flying around with only the objective of spuing their crap.  They have no interest in getting to know you or even the time to listen to what you are saying.  Many times I have asked a question only to have the other person answer a completely different question.  Clearly “they” had an objective, and it was all about them taking.  Those kind of people I find shallow, and I hold zero interest in connecting with them down the road, much less working or investing with them.

3) Ask questions — qood questions

Often the difference between a good question and a bad one starts with point number 2 above.  Are these guys even listening to what I am saying?  To really make a difference, a little research can go a long way.  First it shows me that you have come prepared, that you had a plan and that you are thoughtful in your approach.  Think about it, who would you rather do business with?

4) Share

In this incredibly self centered world, the simple act of giving goes a very long way.  Do you have a referral to share or an idea that might help?   Be ready to suggest resources or contacts that can help.  Stop and think for a second what a VC does. I can assure you that very high on that list is to connect, share and help.  Working into that ecosystem exposes you to far more opportunities than you will ever find banging your head against the wall in an event with a bunch of empty talking heads.

5) Follow up

Don’t wait a week or two to reaffirm your meeting or contact.  This is not like dating where its cool to wait a few days.  Showing you think and act quickly pays big dividends.  When you do make contact, do it with specifics and reflecting that you have genuinely thought about your prior discussion.  Again, add value and don’t speak in dumb generalities.  If you want a meeting, ask for it with a specific time and date suggestion.  Step up.  Show you mean business and are all about executing your plan and strategy.  Unlike a fine wine, your shelf life has a very short expiration.  Hit while the iron is hot.

These same lessons apply for those you have worked with in your past.  Maintain that contact and find ways to give.  One day, they will be there for you.

Now, I mentioned above that I have not been the best at this in my career.  I hope you do better than I have and learn from my mistakes. Clearly there is much to include here on the social network front as well. For those of you who really excel at networking, please share with the community.  I know for a fact, there is much more that I can learn.