The Start-Up J Curve Book summary
Summary in a paragraph
startup j curve is a book about building startup with help of j curve map this is one of the best book on startup and Howard gives practical advice also
1 The Value of a Map
- Phase 1 is Create phase, the three key elements are the idea, the team, and the money.
- Phase 2 Release Once the team, idea, and money are in place, it’s time to get the initial product out there.
- Phase 3 Morph This is where entrepreneurs take the feedback they’ve received after launching their initial product and make improvements, iterate, and/or pivot.
- Phase 4 Model this phase is all about building business model how are you going to make money
- Phase 5 Scale this phase is all about scaling the company and making it big
- Phase 6 Harvest At this point in the life cycle, you are transitioning from start-up to a fully established business and reward everyone
2 Create: Temper Dreams with Ideas, Money, Structure, and Teams
- execution is more important than idea
- ideas only account for 5 % of a startup success
- The vast majority of initial ideas don’t work out as originally envisioned
- no start-up succeeds without a massive amount of nuts-and-bolts, grind-it-out execution. With mediocre or poor execution, even the best ideas are bound to fail.
- there are many types of ideas and opportunity you can pursue: problem solving, visionary or breakthrough, opportunistic
- whenever you raise money have an extra cushion because expenses never goes as planed
- measure the pros and cons of every types of funding you raise
3 Release: Get the Damn Thing Out There
- most important idea here is about developing mvp
- once you money , team and idea you are in release phase than you should launch your mvp to start getting feedback from users
- in this phase focus on small group of users
- do not get your product feature creepy
- manage your expenses well in this phase
- generate feed back from users
4 Morph: Embrace Radical Change
- now you are done with a mvp and started getting feed back from customers now in this phase you should be prepared for radical change
- now you have to listen to customers feedback and morph product according to it you have to constantly test and learn
5 Business Model: Nail It before You Scale It
- now in this phase you should focus on how you are going to make money
- The components of a business model involve three basic ingredients: (1) Produce the product (or provide the service). (2) Acquire a customer. (3) Generate revenue from that customer.
- focus on building strong margins
- focus on building brands
- does your model can create network effect
- try to make your model either repeatable or scalable
6 Scale: Go Big with People, Process, and Money
- in this phase you should avoid low ball offer
- now you have all thing set its time to scale
- but you have to avoid premature scaling
- in this phase you will need new people to scale be prepared
- in this phase your company culture will change dramatically
7 Harvest: The Joy of Puffball Decisions
- if you came this far this time is going to be most easy and enjoyable
- now you have to decide what you want to do on basis of your life plan
8 Raising Dollars for Start-Ups: A Phase-by-Phase Guide
- in your entire startup journey you have to save money
- approach multiple parties and option for raising money
- you go bootstrap also
9 Failure: Make It Your Friend
- you are going to fail so don't worry its part of the journey
- fail fast and learn fast
10 The Personal Side of the Start-Up Life
- Of the five key traits for start-up founders resourcefulness, resilience, comfort with the unknown, perseverance, sales ability
11 Leveraging the J Curve in Large Organizations
- you should try to do things as per the j curve
12 Moving Forward
- booms and burst are part of startup cycle and entrepreneur focus on goals
- Be flexible and open-minded about where your start-up takes you.
- in life of an entrepreneur there is lot of uncertainty
- you should develop financial discipline in your life