Actual lessons from Kiko
Kiko, "yet another" Web 2.0 calendar app, has been put up for auction on eBay. Hmm... Interesting exit strategy. But it was the candid blog post by Kiko co-founder Justin Kan on actual lessons learned from his first startup that I spent some time with.
In fact—and this is no shocker given what I've been doing—as I look at the most-read blogs in my subscription list, a large percentage of them of late are "about this app" or "about us" blogs: chronicles of sausage-making from cow concept to grill that's usually one part sausage-making mechanics and two parts how sausage-makers feel about the whole experience. (And there are times that the sausage is having the better time of it.) It seems the next generation of "howdunnits" the likes of The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company and Revolution in the Valley are being written from the inside out, before and during the fact. How interesting to start with the supposition that this, what we're doing right now, will be great enough to have been chronicled. C.f. Justin's first blog entry and his parting shot: "P.S. We're looking for good hackers."
Of course all young startups read (or should read) the likes of Guy Kawasaki and Paul Graham for inspired startup how-tos, Seth Godin for a dose of gumption, and a couple-three of those howdunnits of yesteryear (hit-and-miss).
But I find it at least as useful—and so much more exciting—to jump right in there with them and make the assumption that these startups are indeed destined for greatness: whether great products, personal accomplishment, or at least a chance to fail interestingly. And I presume that at least some small percentage of them will be contributors to the startup anthology c. 2001-2010 that I would read were it one-click away on Amazon.com.
These folks are interesting people, brilliant programmers, and the first passionate users of their own products. There's a lot there to learn from. And the virtual presence of familiar strangers ain't shabby either.
As an aside, the book that tipped me over to the entrepreneurial side initially back in 1994 was Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure by Jerry Kaplan. Ironically (or perhaps fatefully) one of the early sausage makers at Go turned out to be of great help as I set out on my current adventure.
In fact—and this is no shocker given what I've been doing—as I look at the most-read blogs in my subscription list, a large percentage of them of late are "about this app" or "about us" blogs: chronicles of sausage-making from cow concept to grill that's usually one part sausage-making mechanics and two parts how sausage-makers feel about the whole experience. (And there are times that the sausage is having the better time of it.) It seems the next generation of "howdunnits" the likes of The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company and Revolution in the Valley are being written from the inside out, before and during the fact. How interesting to start with the supposition that this, what we're doing right now, will be great enough to have been chronicled. C.f. Justin's first blog entry and his parting shot: "P.S. We're looking for good hackers."
Of course all young startups read (or should read) the likes of Guy Kawasaki and Paul Graham for inspired startup how-tos, Seth Godin for a dose of gumption, and a couple-three of those howdunnits of yesteryear (hit-and-miss).
But I find it at least as useful—and so much more exciting—to jump right in there with them and make the assumption that these startups are indeed destined for greatness: whether great products, personal accomplishment, or at least a chance to fail interestingly. And I presume that at least some small percentage of them will be contributors to the startup anthology c. 2001-2010 that I would read were it one-click away on Amazon.com.
These folks are interesting people, brilliant programmers, and the first passionate users of their own products. There's a lot there to learn from. And the virtual presence of familiar strangers ain't shabby either.
As an aside, the book that tipped me over to the entrepreneurial side initially back in 1994 was Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure by Jerry Kaplan. Ironically (or perhaps fatefully) one of the early sausage makers at Go turned out to be of great help as I set out on my current adventure.
posted by Rael #
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