Edmonton Lean Startup Circle

I prepared a short talk. I called it ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People.’ I say ‘short.’ It was short in the beginning, but it soon expanded to a lecture that consumed one hour and thirty minutes.

Here’s how the now famous book became a reality: we started with a set of rules printed on a card no larger than a postcard. The next season we printed a larger card, then a leaflet, then a series of booklets, each one expanding in size and scope. After fifteen years of experimentation and research came this book.

What I’m starting to notice more and more, is that great things almost always start small.

Among tech entrepreneurs, there is a strong bias toward the single lifestyle for the sake of focus and an obsession pride in working 80 hours a week. But the data suggests this bias makes companies worse, not better.

The pundits proposed the mid-20s as the optimal age to start a company: At 25, entrepreneurs can give “everything to their company,” one pundit opined, suggesting that founders should not be “hamstrung” by families and non-business related commitments.

The Kauffman Foundation surveyed 550 successful entrepreneurs across multiple sectors, determined by profitability and being named a “high-valued” business by their peers. Their data suggests that most successful founders are in their mid-30s and married with children:

Mistake 3: Failing to quickly fire disrespectful and destructive employees. Nothing is more poisonous to a young company than an employee who doesn’t fit, especially jerks.

Later opens and clicks are likely to be higher quality. There are fewer of them, but many retailers find they lead to higher conversion rates. In other words, the distribution of revenue through time won’t be as skewed to the first 24-48 hours as you’d expect from opens and clicks alone.

There’s also a need to keep campaigns “active” for longer. If people return to an email some time later, do the links, images and landing pages still work? If coupons or offers have expired, is that communicated and are alternatives presented?

I think Howard Aiken got it right: Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.

One thing I’ve learned from developing software is that it’s very difficult to transfer ideas. A lot of software projects never completely transition from the original author because no one else really understands what’s going on.

And when other people do have your idea, they still have to implement it. That’s the hard part. We all have more ideas than we can carry out. The chance that someone else will have your idea and have the determination to execute it is tiny.

The best will be in contact all the time (or at least well before they have a news story to pitch) in an attempt to figure out how to maximize the chances of something being picked up. It’s a wonder there aren’t more of them.

Sadly there aren’t and 80 - 90 percent of pitches I received followed the tired format of "Hi X, Company Y is launching a product next week and we thought it would be of interest to publication Z."

So here's an idea to try when getting media coverage for your startup - don't start by pitching the product. Start by pitching nothing.Clearly showing that you understand that a journalist doesn't just exist to publicize you is one of the fastest routes to his or her heart.

To ensure that you get results, you might want to give your clients that nudge at specific times, such as when:you’ve solved their problemthey’ve achieved success through your offeringthey express that they’re happy with your workthey thank you profuselyyou successfully deliver a product on time

Of course, most of your clients will be busy people who don’t have much time set aside for tasks like this. That’s why it’s your job to make it easier for them. One way to do this is to provide them with a few sample questions in your testimonial request email. Here are a few that you might want to put to use:What prompted you to seek [your/your company’s] services? What situation or problem did you need to solve?Why did you specifically select [you/your company] for this project?What made you believe that [you/your company] was the best for achieving your desired result?How did you benefit from working with [you/your company]?What are the two most significant improvements that have resulted from your work with [you/your company]?What exactly did [you/your company] do to contribute to the outcome you wanted?What were the results of working with [you/your company]?Describe why you feel that working with [you/your company] was successful.In the future, what type of businesses would most benefit from working with [you/your company]?If a potential client was on the fence about whether to work with [you/your company] or not, what would you say to them?

Letter to a client whom you’ve asked to write a testimonial:Dear [Client],Working with clients like you makes my business a great joy. Thank you for agreeing to provide a testimonial. Your story will help inform our potential clients why it’s good to work with us and how they can benefit.To help you get started, I’ve included a few questions, but please feel free to write whatever you like.[Include two to four questions, using the above list as a guide.]Thank you for your time and kind support. We value your business and look forward to working with you again in the future. Please let me know if there is anything further I can do for you.[Your preferred closing],[Your name]