An Entrepreneur's Journey

Vikram Chalana

Learning Phase

EE->BioE->BioE company R&D

Entre Phase

A pain to use SAP?
=> Make it easy for non-technical person
=> Connect excel to SAP?

Find the right product for the right market.

Steth IO

• Smartphone-based stethoscope that visualizes heartbeats
• Market?
  • X Doctors: Too used to the traditional one
  • O for patients / insurance companies

How would somebody make money out of it?
What's the motivation for them to (change their habit) and buy it?

Current

1. Hackathon: Prove that your idea is feasible in a short time
2. New business!

=> Summarize the article into an automatically created video!

The most interesting things happen where disciplines intersect

Diff Paths?

Your team is really important.

1, Just do it
2. Join an accelerator
3. Consult to discover idea
4. Work for a company and get experience -> Tiny job
6. Work for a startup and get experience -> Get exposed to diff things

Kinds of Business

1. Small business entre

• Non-investible
• Not designed to expand
• Designed to remain like that: Lifestyle business
• Usually not the goal of the VCs
• Service-oriented

2. Scalable Startups

• Tech product oriented
• Vision based
• Can scale to hundred's of million to … dollars
• Ones that VCs usually invest in!

VCs are looking for something that can scale!
Lookign for huge market size

3. Social entrepreneurship

• Mission oriented
• Solution rather than profit oriented
• Goal: Seof-sustainable!
• No VC funding but it is worth it!

Rewards v/s Risks

Rewards

• Change the world
• Experience
• Financial
• Create jobs

Risks

• Financial
• Opporunity cost: Your original job
• Investments

Everyone tells you the risks. Entrepreneurs see the rewards.

Things are gonna go wrong for multiple times, but eventually you'll succeed.

QA

Social Entre

Q: Investment? Donation?
A: Investers are also looking to do sth good :3

Checkpoints

Avenues in 3 months: (very rare!!!)

• Set a goal (number and time)
• Full time without salary for a while!

He got to pay himeself after 3 years!

Want to be rich or the king?

• Rich -> Hire another CEO to expand the company
• King -> Run it (but operating it may not be your expertise :3)

Suggestions

1. Find the idea or the opportunity:
   • Build a product to solve the problem
2. Commit to the idea:
   • Feasible? Quit what you're doing and do it full time
3. Find a mentor
4. Follow the Lean Startup approach:
   • May spend some more time on the operation

Ideas have no value until there's enough commitment on it.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. They are worthless, but people who put their ideas into action are priceless.

• Don't let experience stand in your way
  • Fall in love with the problems? Take whatever it takes to solve the problem!
• Find your mentors!
  • While you're a student, everybody wants to help you / talk to you => take advantage of that! After you graduate, it gets much harder

PACT

• People:
  • Connections of your value systems
  • Skills you don't have
• Action
• Continuous Learning
• Trust

Lean Startup

• Book recommended: The Learn Startup
• Waterfall model

Buile-Measure-learn feedback loop:

1. Build -> MVP/product
2. Measure: Minimuze TOTAL time through the leap -> Data
3. Learn: Pivot -> Ideas

Key Stages of a Startup:

(Answer these questions before you raise VCs' money!)

1. Do I have a problem worth solving?
   • Not about if it's solvable!
2. Have I built something that people want?
   • Does the product solve the problem?
3. Can I profitably reach the addressable market?
   • Will people pay for it?
   • Large enough (that people will pay to sustain the business) market for it?
   • Is there a way to indentify them and somehow reach them?

Misc

• Business = Customer Factory (See the diagram)

• Lean canvas: One-page business plan!

• Reading list on the slides

Always keep learning!

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S is from UW OAO