Fisher is highly
renowned as one of the earliest investors in companies including
Pinterest, ShopHers, Makerbot, Vine, and Refinery29.
Fisher mentioned that she has often been told she gives founders surprising advice, which she outlined in her talk.
Here are some of the unconventional lessons she offers entrepreneurs:
Take as much time as you need.
A few years ago, Fisher would have advised startup founders to launch
their product as soon as possible. Now, she realizes it's not smart to
rush products. She says, "If it takes a year to get it right, take a
year."
In today's
competitive environment, with so many companies striving for attention,
it's much more important to have a quality product that customers truly
love. Fisher points out that it takes Pixar five years to make a movie,
and that's why they are the best.
Make mistakes early. Of course, everyone
makes mistakes, and they will be part of the story of how they grow.
However, it's better to experiment and make mistakes during the first
few stages of a startup, so people can easily correct their failures and
learn from them. The worst source of stress is when mistakes occur during a critical time.
Nobody can predict success. Fisher notes
that most people initially weren't interested in the companies she
funded, even though they ended up becoming wildly successful. Even
investors can't always predict what's going to do well, because they tend
to be personal and subjective in what they like. When an idea is so new
or revolutionary that nobody can evaluate it, those are the times when
great things happen.
Don't focus on raising money for the short term. When
people think about their "startup runway," which is the amount of money
they need to get their company off the ground, they tend to think about
raising money that will last for several months. However, Fisher
advises people to figure out how to get as far as they can with the
money they have. Fisher says, "I don't like people raising money for
runway. I want people raising money to make sure this thing happens by
any means."
You control your destiny when you control your money. The two ways to control money is through raising it and making it. Most early-stage startups raise
money from external funding. However, Fisher uses the metaphor of the
equinox, which is the tipping point for when you have to start making money.
There is no greater value in what you do than when people are willing to pay for it. As
a founder, you can't get stuck in your phase of simply having potential
— at some point, you need to cross the equinox and start bringing real
money in.
Target the investors who haven't made deals in a while. You
should look at the last couple of deals an investor makes. If they
haven't invested in a while, they will probably have a more open mind
and will be in a better headspace for your idea. Be strategic about who
you talk to.
It's not always a good idea to have cofounders. Fisher
likes to see people who can go the distance with their company, and
sometimes that means being a single founder is the better choice. You
don't always have to follow convention.
Don't overlap skills with other people in your company. If
you have a similar skillset as your cofounder or other high-position
people, it will end up being redundant. In startups, you have to
critically think about how many people you truly need.
You're not creating a product, you're creating a team. Fisher
warns, "If you don't take care of managing your team, it's going to
come over you like a tidal wave." Most people who lead startups don't
know how to manage people. In Fisher's words, it's really important to
perfect how you manage them — one by one.
Hire one person
first, and then perfect the way you will work with that person before
hiring another. If you really learn how to hire and retain people,
nobody will ever want to kick you out of your position as
CEO. Fisher recommends the SCARF method for learning how to be a better leader.
Watch out for the dreaded question, "Can I talk to you for a minute?" When
employees are trying to take you aside to ask about their role in the
company or suggest new ideas, it is a major warning sign that you're not
giving your employees enough attention. The only reason they would need
to go out of their way to talk to you would be if you aren't managing
people well. If you see yourself hearing this phrase over and over, you
need to step back and figure out what's happening.
Diversity of thought is crucial. If you
look around and the people in your company all look the same, you
probably don't have enough viewpoints in your company. Find the best
person for each job, but also think about bringing different people into
the company, even if you have to train them. Working with people who
don't think like you is one of the best decisions you can make.
Use the great cosmos as inspiration. We
don't understand the edge of the observable universe yet. In the same
way, there is no limit to what you can create. Fisher loves to see
breakthrough ideas and believes that people truly are going to achieve
as big as they dream.
She
doesn't want entrepreneurs wasting time making "just another app."
Rather, she wants you to do something meaningful. Don't always look for
patterns, because they'll simply lead you to things you've seen before.
Stop striving for "great design."
These days, everyone seems to be using the same CSS template for their
websites. Of course it makes them clean and beautiful, but Fisher
reminds people that they don't always have to look like everyone else.
She also believes that working on design should always come last.
Fisher
warns that startup founders often get trapped in the skin-deep
appearance of a product and that they don't worry enough about the
breakthrough they're trying to achieve underneath. In the past, she has
funded a lot of companies that didn't look good, because she knew that
the iceberg of the product was more important than the surface. In her
words, "We're all ready for a new look."
Lose perspective.
A lot of startup founders lose perspective in other areas of their
life, like their family time or health, as they become more and more
consumed with their company. However, this isn't entirely a negative
thing, as long as it isn't for a long period of time. When you lose
perspective, she says, you enter a stage where you can do superhuman
things.
Realize that finding a job is the easier path to take.
If you wanted to make money and have an easy life, you could simply
work for another company. However, if you are inspired and want to dream
big, you need to recognize that startups are really hard. Fisher says,
"If you're gonna do it, you gotta go for it, and that's what I want to
see."
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