As a startup founder, at some point you will meet potential investors. First-time founders usually don't really understand how to choose investor and how to prepare themselves before meeting them. This article summarized some books and articles about investing in tech startups, and hopefully it helps founders to make better decision.
Not all people who have a lot of money to invest are good investors. There are five qualities of good investors:
1. Money. Good investors provide you more than enough money to scale up your business, so you can focus on executing your vision and strategic plan.
2. Time. Good investors will always have time with the founders to discuss very important issues. Moreover, it would be great if the time horizon of their investment suit your growth plan.
3. Network. Good investors provide meaningful customer and more investor introductions.
4. Expertise. Good investors give actionable advice that saves the founders time and money – or keeps them from making mistakes. They should know your business model and industry.
5. Chemistry. Good investors are good partners. Do the "airport test", whether you'd be able to handle being stuck in an airport with the investor for an extended period of time.
Sukasada, sebuah kecamatan di Kabupaten Buleleng, Bali, di mana puluhan relawan Kelas Inspirasi Bali meluangkan waktu dan tenaganya pada hari Sabtu, 4 Mei 2019. Mereka menuju ke enam sekolah dasar untuk berbagi cerita tentang profesinya sambil memotivasi adik-adik di sana untuk berani bercita-cita setinggi langit dan bekerja keras menggapainya. Mereka datang dari berbagai daerah, tidak hanya dari Pulau Bali, dengan tujuan yang sama, berkontribusi pada pendidikan anak Indonesia.
Relawan KI Bali 6 beserta Guru-Guru SDN 2 Pegayaman | 📷 by @riswandedik
Saya dan empat belas relawan lainnya akhirnya bertemu untuk kali pertama secara lengkap sehari sebelumnya. Interaksi yang tadinya hanya sebatas percakapan di dunia maya, bersambung ke percakapan nyata secara langsung. Tidak lama bagi kami untuk menyadari bahwa kami beruntung mendapatkan kelompok yang berisi orang-orang baik, yang terinspirasi untuk menginspirasi, dan rela memberikan usaha yang lebih untuk berbagi kebaikan. Meskipun tidak lama waktu kami untuk bersama berbagi ke adik-adik di SDN 2 Pegayaman, rasa persaudaraan itu terasa erat bagi kami.
Tulisan ini merupakan dokumentasi dari apa yang kami rasakan sebagai relawan Kelas Inspirasi Bali yang bertugas di SDN 2 Pegayaman. Semoga bisa menginspirasi rekan-rekan (calon) relawan lainnya untuk sedikit berkontribusi bagi pendidikan Indonesia.
After "Getting Real" (2006), "Rework" (2010), and "Remote" (2013), last year Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson published new book titled "It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work". Both authors are the co-founders of Basecamp, previously 37signals, and the creator of the infamous web application framework: Ruby on Rails. Like their all previous books, there are a lot of great insights about how to run a company from them, although I don't agree at some points. This post is the summary lesson learned of their last book, which contain practices that are very insightful and also good reminders for me to run Suitmedia as a calm profitable company.
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
A company is like software. It has to be usable, it has to be useful. And it probably also has bugs, places where the company crashes because of bad organizational design or cultural oversights. When you start to think about your company as a product, all sorts of new possibilities for improvement emerge. When you realize the way you work is malleable, you can start molding something new, something better. Whether you own it, run it, or “just” work there, it takes everyone involved to make it better.
Curb Your Ambition
You can absolutely run a great business without a single "goal". You don’t need something fake to do something real. And if you must have a goal, how about just staying in business? Or serving your customers well? Or being a delightful place to work? Just because these goals are harder to quantify does not make them any less important.
"For years, my only metric of success was building a billion dollar company. Now, I realize that was a terrible goal", Gumroad started to thrive once the VCs left, the growth-uber-alles mentality faded, and the founder just focused on doing good work. https://t.co/6dC554sIxk
Your time in the office feels shorter because it’s sliced up into a dozen smaller bits. Most people don’t actually have 8 hours a day to work, they have a couple of hours. The rest of the day is stolen from them by meetings, conference calls, and other distractions. So while you may be at the office for 8 hours, it feels more like just a few.
The myth of the collaborative wonders of the open office debunked in new study. A tyranny of interruption, distraction, and stress for workers that require uninterrupted time for creative work. A way to squander the attention of highly paid workers to save money on real estate. https://t.co/IqywDJewFX
When you cut out what’s unnecessary, you’re left with what you need. And all you need is 8 hours a day for about 5 days a week. You can’t expect people to do great work if they don’t have a full day’s attention to devote to it. Partial attention is barely attention at all.
Effective > Productive. When people focus on productivity, they end up focusing on being busy. Filling every moment with something to do. And there’s always more to do! Being productive is about occupying your time—filling your schedule to the brim and getting as much done as you can. Being effective is about finding more of your time unoccupied and open for other things besides work. Time for leisure, time for family and friends. Or time for doing absolutely nothing.
I really do regret ever using the word “productive” when referring to my efforts or anyone else’s efforts. Being productive is not a noble goal or pursuit. Being effective is. That’s not a function of output or time, it’s a measure of impact.
