jamesbeshara.txt

Ignite@CU James Beshara talk
Tilt, YCombinator

Bricks? No, brick and mortar!
Presentation is the most important, mortar-like cliches

It's all about the People, not the person(CEO/etc.)
If you have any doubts there are no doubts. Everyone you onboard should be smarter than you and the last person
Should think every week for 90 seconds "Jeez, it's so great X is onboard, otherwise this wouldn't work"

Strategy vs Culture
Microstrategy: how you treat others
It's mortar
If you have a great culture, strategy will correct itself

Results vs Process
Manage process well, results will come forth
Start measuring something, it'll start happening. Set milestones and measure them obsessively

Complexity vs Simplicity
When he was 19, thought world was complex
those complex companies in sv with patents and such, actually work by being simple
Simplify, simplify, simplify

Destination vs Journey
cliche. Destination is the journey
learn to love the journey

Decisions vs Decisiveness
Children's Stories and Startup stories made up of decisions
e.g. microsoft not selling to IBM being genius
truth is, 100 decisions every week
Important thing isn't being right or wrong but to make a decision
The only bad decision is no decision
good judgement comes from experience
experience comes from bad judgement
maybe your first, second startups won't work out
but wisdom from them will help you with future ones

Number vs The Trend
Active Users on Facebook isn't what's important
It's that it isn't going down
Hold onto the users. Don't lose those early adopters. Steadiness better than decline?
It's not how you start, it's how you finish

A picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Doesn't fit into numbers
Two users brought tilt flag to top of mountain
Someone made a Tilt logo out of wood
Someone who got the logo tattooed on their ass

Wisdom from Q and A
Obsess over growth
Think a lot about brand
Project silliness. Gluten free James = gluten free app description. Blue balls for ping pong on everyone's desk.