Katy L
Real Estate Associate and Loan Consultant at Century 21 West Coast Brokers
I have an internet start up idea. Anyone with experience that can advise me how to gather a team?
I've talked the idea over with a few people and we think there is potential. I'm writing up a business plan. I want to know how to gather a team to work on it and any other advice you can give me - your experiences, good books you've read, places to network.
Clarification added June 5, 2008:
Thank you so much for all the helpful answers. This is a new area for me, but I want to learn more and see hope far I can get with my idea.
Answers (8)
For most internet startups, some of the things you will need besides a business plan are: a serious market/competition analysis, legal disclaimers (user agreements, privacy policy, copyright and DMCA-related disclaimers), software and/or website to actually implement your idea, website promotion (SEO), non-Internet based advertising. You can consider outsourcing as a means to lower your startup costs.
I came across this interesting article on entrepreneur.com : "Outsourcing to Grow your Home Business" by By Lesley Spencer Pyle http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedbizcolumnistlesleyspencerpyle/article193888.html
Feel free to contact me for more info. Good luck.
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Colin W
Product Marketing Manager at Agilent Technologies
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The DVD Startup.com was filmed with perfect timing. Perfec, that is, to capture the dot com bomb. Before the internet bubble was Jerry Kaplan's book "Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure" about the pen-based computing debacle which I had personal experience of.
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Hi Katy,
I have an internet startup (http://prezentit.com), and hope my experience helps.
About your question, it's a little difficult to answer because "internet startup" can be anything.
I'm supposing your idea is about a web service, in that case you can do two things:
1) Talk with your friends (programmers, designers, etc) and ask them if they're interested in joining your team.
This a little tricky because a startup requires a lot of time and hard work.
2) Pay someone to do the code / design for your startup. it won't be cheap but it's a great way to start if you can't gather a programming team.
One last thing: Share your ideas, It's hard to give advice if you're not telling what is your startup going to build.
There is a lot more on this topic, so feel free to contact me.
Good luck!
Katy, you're already an entrepreneur as evidenced by your long success in real estate. I'd start by hiring a programmer. If you don't know one try the local colleges or look online at Elance.com. You should be able to financially bootstrap a project like this yourself at least up to having a prototype. Once you have that you can start to show it to people and generate interest that way. Try networking events like industry meetings in your area. Try former clients and business associates/employers. This will not only provide you good feedback on your idea but also help you sift through the people who are only somewhat interested until you find the folks that are really excited by your idea. Those are your new team mates.
Matthew A
Vice President at JMC Title of Texas, LLC
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Quite possibly the most important part of your team in planning the startup is an Accountant. Attorneys, programmers, and marketing professionals are all very important; but an accountant can help you to calculate your break even points and set your cash flow expectations.
Most of the small businesses I see that do not make it fail because of lack of cash flow. A great concept and high profit margin is not always enough.
Greg H suggests this expert on this topic:
Hi Katy,
Read this http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/how_to_hire_the.html
It will guide you in the right direction.
Guido
Links:
Jeff S
Hardware and Software Development Services jeffreylstevenson@msn.com
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One thing you can always do is use the Groups function of LinkedIn to find more people to help with your question here. Just link over to my profile, and scroll down to the groups. I am selective with my groups, so the ones you find there will be more helpful than just a big list of every group out there. Join any of my groups that fit your needs by clicking on their icons. If you like what you see on my profile, you can request to join my network, You can try that with any profile.
Once you join, you can search within the group when looking for people who might be able to help you. There are many experts out there who are in groups, but not in your network. To build your network, always get everyone you know to join and use Linked In. You will be amazed at who your friends are linked with!
