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Startup School 2013 Notes

docs.google.com

111 pointspain_perdu19 comments

Quote from the Google Doc:

"You shouldn't be friends with people who you wouldn't start a company with."

(Made by Phil Libin / Founder, Evernote, CoreStreet) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xo99mjzc4nyK3J4_GBiba_Kz...

Am I the only one who thinks this is a terrible advice? I have friends, long-term friends from kindergarden. I enjoy being with them but I would not start a company with them for several reasons. What does this say about the friendship?

Edit: Does anyone know this reasons for giving that advice?

There's more context at https://github.com/charlesfeng/startup-school-2013/blob/mast... - "You shouldn't even make friends with people you don't see starting a company with — why bother? You only have so many best friends, so use those resources wisely."

Doesn't sound like a fun way to live.

Thanks for the context. The additional context does not really make the statement any better IMHO.

Starting a company with one of your friends has a lot of "drawbacks". If your friend is underperforming by a huge margin you often don't want to risk the friendship by telling the truth.

Some of my friends have nothing to do with tech or business - most of them enjoy a very low risk way to live (employed with the state or county for example) and don't want to do it any other way. I enjoy a little bit of risk in my live. :) This different way of living does not make my friends any worse or better...

Before Dropbox, there were 100 cloud storage companies, half of which were VC funded. But Dropbox knew the problem better than anyone else, focused on making the actual use of space easier, and disrupted the existing solutions who were merely trying to compete on economy (offer more space and/or charge less)

This is a very true piece of advice in many ways.

(1) If there are "no" competitors, there is likely no market;

(2) There can be many competitors, but no "competition" if you execute well

(3) You need true insight to pull off #2

(4) A good screen is (3), and in the presence of (2) a huge market opportunity for an investor.

(5) Talent drives (3) more than age; but experience matters

(6) Corralary to (5) is rare experience has value in the context of (3)

Are the videos mirrored anywhere? I was working so I couldn't watch the talks.

They usually upload them to YouTube a few days after startup school.

> A very handy memory device. Make do / dont’s lists. Note all the things you never want to do again

Does anyone know what does Jack Dorsey use exactly? Evernote would make sense although he didn't say so specifically.

He said he used the Notes app built into his iPhone.

Thanks! Definitely makes sense with his emphasis on simplicity.

Tip - I also use Notes and I change the default account to gmail so I can recover accidental deletions.

> You shouldn't be friends with people who you wouldn't start a company with.

Ouch. Not everyone is an MBA. I'm guessing that note is exaggerated or out of context.

The idea, as I understood it, was that you have a very limited amount of time on this earth, so you should (in general) avoid spending time or other resources on building deep relationships with people that you can't rely on.

I have amazing friends that I can rely on - friends of over 2 decades that would literally give their lives for mine. But they'd make horrible business partners. They aren't self motivated in the way they'd need to be. They require the structure of a 9 to 5.

I get the sentiment of the quote - that you need trustworthy cofounders - but it's a really odd and incorrect way to phrase it.

That's absurd. What about the friend who always makes you laugh but happens to be a bit of a slacker? Dispose of him? Let's all be miserable and uptight then.

He said that with tongue firmly in cheek. Phil Libin has a very dry sense of humor.

I don't remember the exact lines around it, but it was not about experience or knowledge, but strength of relationship and character.

I guess your guess is out of context.

It would be awesome if someone could take these notes and pair them with the videos when they post the videos.

I'll post mine when I get a chance.. I thought the speaker line up was pretty good. Lots of diversity.

download as pdf link for the paranoid

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xo99mjzc4nyK3J4_GBiba_Kz...

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