Loic Le Meur, founder of Seesmic, has his own version of 10 startup rules:
- Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
- Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
- Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
- Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
- Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
- Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
- Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
- Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
- Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
- Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.
#1 is a perfect example of the speed dating and virtual dating sites that are launching in great numbers. Of the 10+ speed dating sites, one will become the speed dating destination site of choice for singles. Others will be integrated into dating and social networks and earn revenue through advertising.
Several companies will be lucky to be found by a solid niche market, and will serve those markets, changing the functionality to address the needs of their members.
The rest will trudge along in obscurity. Good technology, nice sites, smart people at the helm, but the market for speed dating is only so big, same as the dating market. We could take down sites ranked 500-1000 and nobody would be the wiser.
#2 is a great point. I can’t tell you how many times I get emails from potential clients concerned about sharing their business plans with me. Take it from me, you want me talking to the right people about your business. There are always times when certain aspects of businesses should be kept out of public knowledge, but when it comes to dating sites, there have not been many times when I’ve felt that a dating site business model is such a game-changer that a mutual non-disclosure document is in order.
#7 is good, Loic definitely comes from the “get it out there early and often” camp. I’m surprised at how many dating sites want to launch 100% fully-baked. It’s software and your feature set is perfect, but only in your own head (delusions of grandeur are common in the dating world). Get the site out there in beta, learn what features users are looking for, and build them.
Gone are the days of build it and forget it. Your dating site/application will evolve over time. Unless you’re Match or eHarmony, small and nimble is the way to go. Let them spend $100+ million a year on marketing. You can get millions of users for free on Facebook, if you know what you’re doing and are willing to listen to you customers.
#8 Couldn’t agree more. Put down the spreadsheet and get back to work. Of course, it’s important to know what you’re spending and where it’s going, but in the day and age of social networks, viral marketing and other unknowns, your numbers should be solid enough so that your angel investor knows your head is on straight. Don’t ever say you will be in the black in the second year or other such assumptions(delusions of grandeur again). That kind of ignorance is a big red flag to investors.
#9 That’s a tough one, as people don’t normally run out and tell their friends that they found a great new dating site. Prudence when it comes to blowing your initial marketing budget is in order. Where others zig, zag. Good dating sites will go viral one way or another.
#10 What a great quote. This is online dating, almost, and I say almost, everyone wants to get rich. It’s rare that people who start dating sites out of a desire to help others make any money. More power to them I say, this industry needs a few people with a clear conscience.
