 Hello everybody. Thank you for joining today. My name is Ajay Spami and this seminar or this webinar I should say is going to be the last one for the year for me. I've been working very closely with the product school. I also finished teaching the senior product manager course around four weeks ago and I'm excited to share with you this webinar because with all the turmoil happening today in the markets with all of the tech layouts, people are going to be looking for jobs, people are going to be looking for new ventures to join or maybe even new ventures to start. So what I thought would be useful is just walk you through a bunch of different slides that will talk through how to vet a new idea, how to vet a new venture and the things that you need to do in order to make sure that you have a bit of confidence before embarking on a new journey. So hope it will be helpful for all of you and let's get started. So this is the agenda for today. So we'll talk about number one, the framework to consider before joining a new venture. Number two, we'll talk about how to find and vet a co-founder. Look, if you're trying to find create a new venture, if you have an idea, it's always good to have a good co-founder to share that journey with and we can talk through how to actually find that co-founder and some of the best practices around there in terms of relationship building. Number three, we'll also talk about how you sort of keep that momentum going and then solving problems with the co-founder as you embark on your startup journey. Number four, we'll end finally with funding related questions, right? Like what do investors look for in ideas when you have to pitch, when you're trying to put together your pitch deck and then finally we'll wrap it up and then you can contact me through various channels either through LinkedIn or through Twitter. So a couple of quick points here. So this webinar today, this is not about how to build your product or how to run your agile process or manage an engineering team. The assumptions are here that look, you're interested in joining an early-stage startup, you kind of feel unsure, you don't have that full level of confidence, but you need some sort of a framework that'll help you make about the qualitative and quantitative decision whether you want to embark on this new journey. Number two, you want to validate the product idea more effectively and you want to arrive at a very soundly thought-out conclusion. That sort of makes you happy that you're embarking on the right path. And then lastly, look, we all want to be entrepreneurs, but the key aspect is you really have to make sure that the idea that you're pursuing is actually, it's essentially interesting enough for investors, right? You want to make sure that they feel good about investing in an idea that might lead to outsize returns for them. That's all that matters at the end of the day. So with that said, let's get started. So let's talk about the first agenda topic. This is about the framework that you should probably go through before joining or even starting a new venture, right? So starting a new business encompasses entering a new market, right? Or you might already be operating in an existing market and you might be starting a new product line. Whatever the case might be, you have to make sure that this startup makes good business sense. So think about the following questions, right? The first bucket really is sort of the industry and the macro environment. Think about where the startup operates in. Does it focus on healthcare? Does it focus on capital markets? Think about what industries the startup operates in. Think about whether they're horizontally or vertically focused. What I mean by horizontal focus is that, look, you could be building a technology platform that scales across industries or functions versus vertically focused. You might have a very, very specific niche product that's focused on, for example, the payment space within specifically the lending area or the lending vertical. So you have to be really sort of clear in your mind about where the startup operates and where there might be adjacent opportunities for the startup to expand. Think about who the customers are because this is always key. They are the ones who are going to make the startup successful. Think about how the startup currently reaches them. What do you know about them? And then also broadly, think about what trend is the startup part of. So I'll give you an example. One of the bigger trends that are happening today in the market today is, by now, PayLayer, BNPL. So you see a lot of startups operating in that space. However, you also need to think about, look, is that space getting too saturated? And I also sort of think about the ethical implications of that, right? Because you are pushing more people into debt. So is that really the kind of industry you want to be part of? So think about all of those things in terms of industry, the trends and the target customers, and even your own value and your ethical identity. And think about whether the startup actually makes sense for you. Second, it goes with that saying, think about the problem statement and the opportunity size. There's plenty of startups out there that are too niche. And look, there's nothing wrong with that, right? There could be a startup that's never going to 10x or there's never going to 50x. It'll never be a unicorn. And that's okay. If you want to join that kind of business that has consistent and has steady revenues and there's probably only ever going to reach 20 million revenues, that's okay. Look, a majority of the businesses in the world are run by small and medium businesses. There's nothing wrong with that. But think about if that's what you want for your life and for your growth aspects, right? So think about the opportunity, think about what existing problem it solves, and also think about the mode around it, right? Does the startup have enough mode around it? Does it have an unfair advantage in terms of solving this problem very uniquely? If you're starting something on your own, think about why you would be capable of solving it. It might be that you worked at PayPal and you see inefficiencies in the payment space today and you want to build something new. So that's completely fine, right? That's your unfair advantage because you understand that the ecosystem is moving really well. And then it comes down to really sort of partnering with the right technical co-founder and bringing that to market. Number three, think about the team, right? This, I cannot emphasize how important this is. You have to think about what the management team is like, right? What are their core competencies? Have they worked together before? Who is their advisory board? What is their track record, right? What have they executed before that lends them credibility that this startup is going to be successful? On the flip side, if you're the co-founder, ask yourself the same questions or maybe you're looking for a co-founder, ask similar questions, right? Like, what is this co-founder bring to the table? Do you need to match the gap and skill sets? For example, you can be a technical co-founder and you need somebody on the business development side and the operations side. Will that person bridge those gaps and help you succeed? Can they execute? Where has this co-founder worked before? Be very thoughtful and be very thorough here and we'll get into a little bit more about how to uniquely find good co-founders. There is no set methodology that's going to help you really reduce that risk, but at least you know that you've done your due diligence before signing up with somebody to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. And then lastly, this goes without saying, does the startup have money? Have they been funded? Look, they could be pre-seed, they could be seeded and they might have an angel around, but think about what their game plan is. Six months down the line, 12 months down the line. If the CEO of the startup, assuming an early state startup, if their priority, number one priority, is not raising more funding after an angel raise, then you need to reconsider because otherwise you're going to run out of money and how are they going to pay you. But also think about like, look, if there is a set amount of money, is there a product or a service that's so unique within the startup that customers are going to buy it and use it? And you can start to generate revenues quickly. Think about what the core technology at the core of this venture is. Is there any IP protection behind it? Are there patents? Are there any trade secrets? All of those things act to the mode and then also impact funding, right? Because the more unique, the more specific benefits you have that others cannot replicate easily. The easier it is to raise funding. So think through all of those factors and before we actually join you start out. So this is a super important topic. You might be thinking to yourself, hey, look, I just got laid off from a tech company or maybe I've been working so long for my tech company and I feel like I'm grueling away. Why don't I just go out and start my own thing? Sure, absolutely. You certainly should. But if you want to, if you don't want to go it alone and you're looking for a co-founder to sort of de-risk all of the burden on yourself, this framework will sort of really help you figure out how to actually get your co-founder because look, at the end of the day, an idea is an idea. An idea might not work out, but with strong people at your side, you can pivot and you can make decisions and you can still sort of grow the business, right? So let's go through some of these points. So find a good founder. So how do you choose your partner or your co-founder for the long term? It's hard. So what I would suggest is, and some of the inspiration for these points is from my commentator, Michael Siebel, who's one of the partners there. He's done a bunch of talks around this, so I urge you to sort of go onto YouTube and look them up. But when you're looking for a co-founder, sort of think about what's missing, right? Like what is the gap that you're trying to fill and then look to your closest network and look at your friends, ask them to introduce you to people, look at your acquaintances, ask them to introduce you to some people. And then, look, make the real ask when you finally sort of sit down with that person. If you think that person is going to be one of the candidates or one of the people that you think might be good going to partnership with, make a real ask, right? Ask them that, look, do they want to be on this journey with you? Don't sugarcoat it. This is going to be tough for both of you. So think about the person, find out about the person, find out what their ethics are, morals, see if they have, see if they agree with your end state or your vision, which might change obviously, but at least in the beginning, see if they approach things the same way. Think about whether you can really trust this person. And this is why sort of emphasize looking at your closest networks and friends and look to de-risk that portion, right? Look, at the end of the day, you will be playing in a field that's going to be saturated, it's going to be very, very competitive and need a person right next to you who is unified for your mission and where you want to take the startup. They want to own this as much as you do. The second thing I'll talk about is something called measure thoughtfully, right? Partnerships are partnerships, right? Without, if you don't define the crux of the partnership and how and what each partner does, it's going to be a detriment in the short term to the middle term. So, you know, put your ego aside and think about equity, right? Think about roles and responsibilities. Really figure out your responsibilities because look, as a technical co-founder, for example, you might be taking on customer onboarding, you might be taking on product-related work, you might be taking on operations. As a business thought, as a sales co-founder or a business development co-founder, you might be taking on operations, you might be taking customer support and even you might be doing customer support because that goes very, very closely with products. But at the end of the day, you still need to have a journal idea of what each person is supposed to do and what success really constitutes for these roles. Invest in their relationship early, right? Do not slack, be truthful, communicate often. And this is one of my commentators, I would say suggestions, right? Or guidance. They say that, look, equity should be split equally, especially at a very early stage because all of the work is ahead of you. If you think about it, look, this is a seven to 10 year horizon. If there's a VC from the investment year, they want to exit in seven to 10 years. And within the seven to 10 years, they're going to assume that you and your partner or your co-founder, you guys will work together and give it your all to make sure that you have delivered because they have invested in you and you have a fiduciary responsibility, not just to them but also to any customers that you acquire. So think through all of those things and be thoughtful. The third thing that I really want you to think about is working styles and discipline. Look, I'm a very driven person. I cannot expect my co-founder to be equally as driven, but I want them to be in the same realm, right? If I'm in the field and they're outside of it in terms of effort, I don't want to work with that kind of a person, right? And look, and it's okay for you to get more work pushed on you. But the key question is, if you get, if somebody takes on a piece of work, do you trust that co-worker to do it and do it really, really well, right? That is the key. You have to be able to trust that person with the same level of drive, perfection, or even the ability to get things done. Look, mismatches on hours or efforts can lead to resentments. So be very thoughtful and careful about these things, right? If you're really unsure and if you don't know how this person works, work on a smaller initiative. Maybe put together, I would even say sort of not even an MVP, maybe a small user flow that's somewhat automated and work together for a trial period and see if you guys are operating on the same plane and then assess fit, right? There's nothing wrong with doing that because you want to try and understand very quickly if this is the person that you want to work with. And lastly, I think this is key, right? I call this sort of self sufficiency in hustle. Tenacity is what's going to get you there. This is absolutely important when you're building something new. You just can't take no foreign answer and give up or walk away. You're going to hear 100 no's before you get to your first fund raise. You're probably going to hear 100 no's before you get to your first business, your first B2B customer. But you need to be able. You need to be tenacious. You need to be strong-willed. And I would think that Michael Founders would be fully reliable and self-sufficient. You're all going to be strapped for time, strapped for hours, strapped for energy, but you need somebody who can sort of take the ball and run with it. Somebody who can function on autopilot with virtually no input from you. That's the kind of co-founder you need, who's independent, who's thoughtful. And it's almost, you know, perfection matters, right? It doesn't have to be fully perfect, but you operate with a sense of integrity and high quality. So let's assume you found your co-founder. You found your partner. Things are chugging along. How do you maintain that momentum, right? And how do you solve problems? So here are a few things I need to think about, right? So the first bucket is really what I refer to as rookie mistakes, right? If you haven't figured out equity, if you haven't figured out roles, figure that out now. I cannot stress that enough. That's going to lead you. That's going to stop you from having a lot of headache in the future. Number two, if you're bootstrapping and not fundraising, think about what that means, right? Look, if you're 50-50, you probably should be able to put the same amount of money in. If the other person does not have that money, think about how they're going to compensate for that, right? Maybe through a future note, or maybe through something, maybe through a better effort, there has to be bootstrapping discipline that holds both of you or the three of you or four of you accountable. Number three, you know, invest in relationship early, right? Be thoughtful, be honest with each other. Do not slack to have difficult conversations. I don't mean slack as the medium, but I mean slack as in like, don't be lazy about having conversations. You got to have them quick. You got to have them soon, and you got to have them often. Number two, this goes without saying, a lot of people discount taking down notes. I, for one, do not get it. But fundamentally, people forget, right? Co-founders forget. People just forget, but document everything, right? Meeting notes, decisions made. This is not, you know, don't look at it from a perspective of, oh my God, this is so corporate. No, this is, this is important. You need to be able to remember what was agreed upon. If you set timelines, you have to understand whether those timelines were met or not. Otherwise, how are you going to understand whether you're making progress in the right direction? And at the end of the day, there will be disagreements, and hopefully you'll have healthy debates with your co-founder. But when you have these healthy debates and there are disagreements, you need to have discussions based on facts. And if you don't have anything documented, you're operating on hunches, you're operating on emotions, you're operating on guesswork. So write everything down. Number three, how do you keep maintaining this relationship, right? Think of it as a marriage, right? You need to have transparent conversations. The, you know, really the role should be goal-based. Everybody should really know about their role. So when you have these, you know, conversations, be factual, right? Don't criticize and do not pile on. That doesn't really help anybody. It just hurts people. Don't get defensive. Don't bring up issues that are personal about the working style or whatever it is. Because at the end of the day, you're not going to change that person. That person is not going to change you. The one thing that's going to help you both, or three or four, is that you guys are, you know, walking or chugging along towards a vision or an end state. So contempt is the last thing that you need. Excuses, don't make excuses. Own up to it. It's something did not happen well. Think about, okay, why did not happen well? And what are you going to do next time? That's better, right? Acknowledge it and move on. And then obviously, like, you know, don't stonewall, right? I said this before on the previous slide. Don't just sit back and assume that, hey, you know what? I, you know, I'm kind of pissed off. My co-founder, you know, the person's not doing his job. I'm just going to give him the silent treatment. That does not work anybody. You have to be able to speak to that person. So put the company first, put your venture first, be open, speak up often, set communication guidelines in terms of how you speak to each other, in terms of being respectful, politeness, et cetera, and adhere to it and iterate, right? This is not set in stone. You are learning about one another. You're learning about the relationship. You're learning about the venture. So there's always a way to iterate and improve. And then lastly, right? How do you sort of deal with some of these difficult conversations? This is a pretty good framework called ASAP. We like as soon as possible without emotions. Emotions are really the crux of what leads to failure, right? So if you're really, truly, truly pissed, sleep on it, because you don't want to go into a discussion, you know, sort of volatile and, you know, pump with emotion. There's no such thing as a $100 million company that was operated by a singular person. So you'll always see people around you to help you get there. And the co-founder is really one of those people that's going to help you get there. So do you value that person? Do you value that co-founder? Think through that, right? If something is wrong and you want to save something, go at it without emotion and be fact-based. And this is where, again, writing it down and documenting things really sort of makes sense. Don't shy away from conflict. I know it's super hard. You know, I've shyed away from conflict in the past. I've had knots in my stomach before having conversations. But quite honestly, if you address it sooner, it becomes easier. So things don't balloon up to be something big. So always get that in the back of your mind that, look, you're working with another person, and you have to understand them just as much as they understand you. And the only way to do that is through communication. All right, so let's assume everything is good, right? You and your co-founders are chugging along. You guys are building kick-ass products. You have two to five customers. You have customers in the pipeline. You know, everything is looking great. So what next? Maybe you want to raise funding, right? So one of the things that I like to focus on is, you know, what investors look for in ideas. If you search online about how to build an investor deck, there are so many different types of decks on what people try to do, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But fundamentally, these are the things that you should address in your deck. So this is not how to put a deck together, but these are the topics that you should really, really be clear about and thoughtful about when you have these investor conversations. So vision and the problem domain, right? Where's the vision for your startup? What is your tagline, right? What does it mean? Where do you see yourself going? So think through that. That's critical. For example, if, you know, if Tesla wants to be an energy or a zero carbon company ambassador vision, they're certainly driving towards that, right? So think about what the problem is and how does the problem or how is the product or your solution to that problem carry that vision to the market and really sort of make a difference to your customers in the future. So be very thoughtful and clear about that. A lot of focus is also on ESG these days, environmental and other initiatives. So think through how you can also tilt it towards that if your company or your venture does have that kind of intent. Number two, product and technology. Look, if you're a product and tech company, it goes without saying that you should over index on this. So think about what are some of the technological advantages you might possess, talk about the user experience, talk about how elegant your problem is, what are some of the key features. Think about the benefits. How would your product stand out across other competitors? And look, everybody has competitors. So you need to, whether it's adjacent or direct, you have to sort of lay out the competitive matrix and make sure that your product is actually well-defined in terms of what exists in the market today. And then lastly, network effects. This is huge. So whether if you're a B2C company, you've got to think about how every single customer that you gain adds more value to your product. So network effects is key. So think about whether it's B2B or from a B2B perspective, how do you increase network effects? If you have something that's increasing network effects, speak to it, because that is really, really key. Think about the total addressable market and some of its other inner circles as the solution addressable market or solution optimal market. And think through what is really feasible and what is that true market size that you're going to go after? And how are you going to get there? What does a go-to market look like and how are you going to get there? Think through that because that's really key. Look, your tan could be $42 billion and your sand could be $18 million and your sand could be $8 billion. But when you think about the uptail market of $8 billion, that's a lot. What does a go-to market strategy to get there? How is your product going to do that? Is it going to be product-led growth? Is it going to be sales-led? Is it going to be business dev-led? How is that going to happen? Take through that and make sure when we come to the next topic, which is business model and traction, you address that. So here we're going to talk about the business model and traction and think about how are we going to make money? Is it through channels? Is it through alliances? Is it through partnerships? Think through all of the different revenue channels. Think about all of the ways you're going to make money. It could be transactional. So for example, I'll give an example. Let's assume you are running a company to process the transactions. There's plenty of ways you could price out your offering. So let's assume you're a digital payment transaction company. You could charge in terms of per transaction fees. You could also maybe potentially charge for storing that information in a secure environment for seven years as per regulations. You could have onboarding fees or maintenance fees. So think about all of those things and that will actually give you a good insight into what your unit economics are. And also think about what your pipeline looks like growth, how probable it is across your sales pipeline, and then when you're actually going to be able to get that, hit that level of success that you claim within your song. Be very clear next step is about funding. What are you asking for today? If you're asking for $1 million, clarify where it's going. Most hopefully for product development and for hiring key people. But be very, very clear. And then lastly, over index on the team. This is where your team, your co-founder, their qualifications, their business experience, their corporate experience, or not, or their educational experience. This is all becomes very, very key. And this is what investors will look to because at the end of the day, the investment goes to people, not to ideas. Investors expect you to execute an idea, but macro environments change. Micro environments change. Things happen, but they're expecting you as the smart people that you are to safeguard their investment. And if you need to pivot, you can pivot and still sort of show returns. Okay, so that brings us to the end. So look, key takeaways. Do your homework before joining a new startup or joining a new venture for all the framework. If you go through that framework, you will reduce some of the risks. It's not a sure thing, but at least you know that you've done your due diligence. That's your co-founder. I apologize for the mistake here. It should be your co-founder. There will be a partner for the long term. Think of it as somebody that you want to work with, that you love working with. Otherwise, it's going to be a struggle. And then lastly, be patient. Be kind. I cannot stress be kind, because you can be tenacious. You can be driven, but be kind. That's what will get people on your side. Be honest and put work into maintaining that co-founder relationship. And then lastly, look, get building. This is the time to actually really, really start something new and really go at it. If you want to reach out, my information is below. Thank you, everybody. And I hope you all have a great rest of the year, and I'll speak to you all next year. Take care.