First-time Entrepreneur? Here’s How to Figure out What to Do
At least twice a week, I get an email or a LinkedIn message from first-time founders seeking advice. They’re beginning their journey and looking for direction to get their venture going and turn their vision into reality.
In 2016, I was in their shoes. I joined BenchSci as a co-founder and CEO. I was a first-time entrepreneur at this scale. (I had previously co-founded a smaller company in Israel.) I didn’t know what I was doing and had to figure it out.
If you’re in this situation now, I’ll share some practical resources to guide your journey in this post. We leveraged all of them on our journey at BenchSci.
How to Start a Startup (YouTube)
In 2014, Y Combinator (also known as YC) addressed this topic. They created a course at Stanford called “How to Start a Startup.” Lucky for us, they recorded it and released it to the world on YouTube.
I believe this is a masterpiece and a must-watch for anyone that’s starting a company. I still watch it from time to time, as it gives me great perspective on our operations. The course is 20 classes long, and world-class entrepreneurs teach each lesson.
Three essential books
I listen to around 20 books a year. Of everything I’ve read, three books helped most early on. Each addresses a different element of the entrepreneurship journey. I recommend reading them in the following order:
- Zero to One by Peter Thiel. Every new employee at BenchSci gets a copy of this book. I believe it’s the best startup strategy book ever written. The first piece of advice I give most entrepreneurs I meet is to read this book as it provides a detailed go-to-market strategy, which many startups get wrong.
- The Hard Things About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. This is a wonderful book by Horowitz, the founder of Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z, one of the world’s most successful VCs) and LoudCloud (which he sold for $1.6B). In this book, Horowitz shares his journey as an entrepreneur, including all the difficult decisions he had to make along the way. The book taught me many lessons and gave me the courage to make tough decisions early on.
- Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. It takes a lot of courage to start a venture. Founders need to grow personally and develop the mental skills to manage the stressful environments they’re stepping into. Brown’s book gave me the best tools to do so. I can honestly say that this book made me a better person and leader.
VC blogs
Blogs are a fantastic source of information and tactical advice. Most of my team and I still rely on blog posts to gain inspiration and learn what other companies are doing. Some great blogs are those of FirstRound, OpenView, YC, and Paul Graham.
Incubators and accelerators
I think that incubators and accelerators are excellent sources of knowledge for first-time entrepreneurs. At BenchSci, we were a part of a few that changed our direction as a company. If you decide to join one, please choose a good one and don’t give up equity in your company for “office space and advice.” A few great ones are YC, Techstars, CDL, and FounderFuel. At BenchSci, we applied to all four and participated in CDL and FounderFuel. CDL provided us with invaluable connections to other entrepreneurs and investors, and FounderFuel helped us master storytelling, which is crucial to startup success.
Personal network
Asking successful VCs and entrepreneurs for advice is key to your success throughout the startup journey. It’s true when you start and when you scale. I reach out to probably 20 people a year to ask for advice, and I reached out to even more in the early days.
What’s important to understand is how to reach out for advice. Most entrepreneurs (me included) are happy to help. Someone helped them early on, and they’re paying it forward. But you must remember that they’re swamped and want their advice to make an impact. What I unfortunately see is many entrepreneurs do the following:
- Ask for too long of a time commitment. Don’t ask for more than 30 minutes. An hour is an unreasonable amount of time to ask of someone you don’t know.
- Request generic advice. Too many times, entrepreneurs ask the following questions: “How do I fundraise?” “I want to start a company; what do I do?” These are terrible questions to ask. Why? Because nobody can answer them in 30 minutes, and they show that you’re too lazy to do basic research online. Instead, ask specific questions like these: “I wanted to get your perspective on how to part ways with one of my co-founders.” “I wanted to get your advice about this VC I’m thinking about raising from.” “I was wondering what go-to-market strategy you used in your industry in the early days?”
Remember, nobody knows what they’re doing as first-time entrepreneurs. We’re fortunate to live in a time when so much information is available at our fingertips. Take advantage of it!
