Sprouter is where founders get help with their startups. Sprouter allows entrepreneurs to get curated answers to small business questions from people who know what they’re talking about. Unfortunately Sprouter is closing its doors on August 2nd. These are some of the startup lessons shared by some startup experts on the platform.
- Build the best product/service you can that makes your business work regardless whether someone comes along and buys you. Noah Godfrey-Founder, GigPark
- Be enthusiastic and passionate but be honest about the opportunities and risks facing your business. Don’t oversell. That rarely goes well. Roger Chabra-Partner at Rho Ventures.
- If you’re looking to get into communications, find a communications industry association and volunteer your time or expertise. If you’re looking to get into the tech industry, same thing. It’s a fantastic way to network, get experience and skills, and a great way to give back, too. Jen Evans-Founder, Sequentia Environics
- Picking great companies is challenging because there are a lots of great ideas and lots of great teams, but building the next Facebook requires a great team, a great idea, amazing market timing, a ton of luck, etc. David Hornik-Partner, August Capital
- Great teams can make tough markets, poor original product decisions, etc. into good companies. But mediocre teams can’t. David Hornik-Partner, August Capital
- HootSuite came out of an agency I founded called Invoke.We needed a better tool. Very often scratching your own itch leads to some great products.Ryan Holmes- Founder, HootSuite
- We’ve never outsourced PR for Shoeboxed. We’ve always had someone in-house doing PR for us, building relationships with journalists and bloggers, and I think that has been key in helping us generate a lot of great press. Taylor Mingos– Founder/CEO at Shoeboxed.com
- For young people, I think you need to work for someone else before you go at it online. You need to figure out how to lead, and hopefully work with great managers. Amber MacArthur-Founder, MGI Media
- Whenever possible, try to avoid people. They are often barriers to progress and will slow you down. Jack Abraham -Founder of Milo.com
- We’re driven by community feedback, what people really want and need, and the consensus is to focus on matters other than appearance. Craig Newmark -Founder of craigslist
- It’s all about the people you work with. Nothing else matters. Honest, smart, hungry, passionate, creative people will create opportunities. Gregg Spiridellis– Founder of JibJab
- No matter how well you are converting visitors into customers, you can always be doing better. Always be improving!Hiten Shah-Founder, KISSmetrics
