Kendall's "Internet startup checklist":

1. Idea:

  1. Would YOU write a check for your idea?
  2. Don't spill your candy in the lobby.
  3. Is your idea refining or revolutionizing?

2. Funding:

  1. Are your financials realistic if nothing goes right?
  2. Could you see your investors with a 10X, 20X return in 3 years?
  3. Do you have back-up plans b,c,d before quitting your day job?
  4. Do you have a great answer for the most cynical of investors?

3. team:

  1. Can you build your idea or will it take a team of pros?
  2. Is a specific person on your team essential or can he/she be replaced?
  3. Dont give up the farm to recruit talent.
  4. Hire brave & passionate smart people.

4. Product:

  1. Does your product SOLVE a problem?
  2. Beware of feature creep! Customers & prospects add features, not developers.
  3. Stay focused on money earning features, not cool ones.

5. Marketing:

  1. Is it costly (time/resources) to get branded in your target market?
  2. Make a goal of closing a core group of customers the first year. (traction)
  3. Adjust marketing resources to get traction (don't need much).
  4. Be sure to test your "seo / ad-words / ad-sense" properly before banking on them
  5. Nothing is better than "boots on the street." Start knocking on doors.

6. Customer:

  1. How many "loss leaders" do you have?
  2. Does your idea help your customer or is it just a "nice to have"?
  3. Make each customer feel like they are the only customer you have.
  4. Can your customers be up-sold? Do they have peers they could refer?


January 19, 2009 Ideas that stick.

You ever have a good idea and wonder if people would buy it? That is your entrepreneur blood friend! A good rule is to keep your idea simple, problem solving, and be sure it sticks. Be excited to look for these opportunities, like Apple, and always deliver a good result. Its like the Elvis’ Cornel, sell the sizzle but deliver on the steak. Or even better, They see things and say, “Why?” But YOU dream things that never were; And say, “Why not?” – George Bernard Shaw
Photo: [FLICKR]

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What do you see in this picture? This picture clearly proves the power of ideas. Go Steve Jobs!

One of the best practical business book I have listened to multiple times (via ipod) is Made To Stick by Dan & Chip Heath. They talk about communicating your ideas better and cleaner. Worth every penny. I have a list of ideas or applications that are on my disk (brain or Mac Tower) that I believe solve problems. From helping restaurants fill tables on slow days to enabling rich people to consistently give, some of these prototypes with the right people and resources could benefit existing businesses or become independent companies. Do they stick? We’ll see :)

Want to comment? Comments: 1

Posted by Kendall in Tangible Business Models

1 comment so far

  1. Although he’s my little brother, he’s like superman in my eyes. I remember sitting at “In N Out” with him years ago and between bites he said, ” I have this idea…” hence, Blue Hornet was born.

    Growing up we would play together for hours and hours, dreaming, laughing, creating. Once, we absconded with our father’s truck (at 12) and, making our dog sit in the front seat with paws on the steering wheel- Kendall on the footboard riding the pedals- I recorded on video the truck being driven by the smartest dog in the world.

    What makes him Superman to me though is twofold. First, he has taught me not just about dreaming big, but HOW to dream big. His ability to forge a new territory with essentially little to no resources is something to behold. He creates his own resources. I never knew that could be done.
    Second, in dreaming big, one must include comedy. Not just “ha ha” comedy, (his is second to none by the way…does superman have a sense of humor?)but that he inserts his past failures into a timeline of prosperity where he can look back and say in jest “Ok…next!”

    I love my little brother.

    January 19th, 2009

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