Let's start this thing up

So last week we competed in the HackTheMidwest hackathon. It was a lot of fun, and we accomplished a lot. I can't wait for the next event.

After doing the event it got me thinking about how much fun it could be creating my own startup. Coming up with an idea, creating a demo, fleshing it out, testing, polishing, and repeating. This change of pace was very welcomed. As working day in and day out on the same project in two week chunks, while it pays the bills, gets boring from time to time. Hence why you do these things in the first place. Hackathons allow creativity to flow as well dust off parts of your brain that haven't been activated in a while.

Now what does it take to create a startup? I have no idea, but I don't think anybody really does. I figure it is much like running a race; you can prepare and have done them in the past, but they are all different. So let's just assume that I was going to have a startup tomorrow, I think this is how I would begin.

First off before you begin, you need an idea. Something that will either make money, or get a lot of people to invest in you. Look at things like instagram, vine, and facebook. These things were built before they had a way to generate revenue. But somebody saw potential and bankrolls or just buys your idea.

Secondly, you need a team. I would start with your developers first. You want to get something out the door as quickly as possible. The longer it takes to get your idea into something that investors can see, the longer you might go without a paycheck. Which you might be ok with, but your team certainly might not be. As your idea gets backers, you might start looking into some sort of management role, unless you feel that someone is already stepping up into that role.

Your last step, you need someone with a sales/marketing background. This will be key when you idea is up and running. You need people to buy into your product and drink your kool-aide. That is the idea right? I mean, some ideas sell themselves. Others need a little push. I mean if you told me years ago that an app that allowed you to put sepia filters over pictures would get $1 Billion, that is with a B, for their idea I would have called you nuts. But these things happen. You need somebody who can explain to people with a lot of money why some their money should become yours.

Well that would be enough to get started. I hope that sometime in the future I can do a follow up of how close I was to being right.