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Do More Faster summary

Name: Do More Faster
Rating: 4.1 (60 reviews)
Author: David Cohen and Brad Feld

David Cohen and Brad Feld

Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup

4.1 (60 ratings)

13 mins

Brief summary

'Do More Faster' by David Cohen and Brad Feld is an insightful guidebook for entrepreneurs, aimed at providing practical strategies for accelerating startup success. The book draws on the authors' vast experience in the field, making it an essential read for anyone serious about achieving entrepreneurial success.

Topics

Small Businesses Start-Ups Entrepreneurship

Table of Contents

Do More Faster
Summary of 6 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 6

What’s in it for me? Discover the pillars every entrepreneurial success is built upon.

You have a great business idea? You’re very passionate about something in your life? Well then you might be the right candidate for growing a business and becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Of course, having an idea and being passionate aren’t guarantees of success: you’ll need more than just that.

These blinks will tell you about everything else you need to succeed in business, including how to turn your passion into your vocation, refine your product and reach out to investors. You’ll also find out about who to hire and who to fire, how to address the basic legal questions you’ll face and, finally, how to keep your personal life afloat while getting your business off the ground.

You’ll also learn

how one man turned his passion for comics into a successful business;
why emails should be no more than three sentences long; and
why meetings on bicycles can be extremely productive.

A good business idea is important, but it’s not as important as passion.

Ever felt that all you needed to get your new business off the ground was one great idea? Well, the reality is, a fantastic idea isn’t the main prerequisite for making it in the business world.

There are probably other people out there who have the same or similar ideas, and there’s always someone who could pull it together before you. A good idea doesn’t guarantee an investment, either. Investors don’t necessarily look for good ideas. What they look for is people with passion.

Ideas are powerful, but remember: they can always be improved. Don’t settle on doing things a certain way. That’s why you should be getting feedback about your project’s strengths and weaknesses from other entrepreneurs, potential customers and investors, and using it to make your idea even better. If you don’t listen to feedback, you might create a product no one really wants or needs.

Even the best ideas are still secondary to the most important ingredient in business: passion. The story of Kevin Mann, the founder and CTO of Graphic.ly, is a good example.

Graphic.ly is a digital distributor of comic books. Mann had the idea for the company after he once drove 100 miles to a comic book store just to buy a new release, only to find it had already sold out. He realized how passionate he was about comics and decided to help make them more accessible to fellow fans.

In other words: aim to create a business around something you truly care about, like Mann did. Passion – not just detailed business plans – is what keeps people going when they’re starting out.

Don’t go it alone: hire team members who can help and challenge you.

Humans are social creatures. Don’t forget that when you build your company!

Never try to start a business by yourself. There are a few reasons why it’s not possible, even if you have all the necessary skills.

Start-up success requires three key things: a flexible team, a high-quality product and well-written emails.

What do you prefer: making decisions in small or large groups? If you’ve experienced both, you probably know it’s usually easier in small groups because they’re more flexible.

You might assume that large corporations have an edge on you, but that’s not necessarily true. Large companies have a major drawback in efficiency: bureaucracy. Their bureaucratic procedures make them slower to adapt to any changes in the market. After all, they have multiple departments and management layers, so it harder to keep everyone on the same page. Start-ups are completely different.

Raising money is about convincing investors, but there are other financial sources, too.

You have to present yourself the right way if you want to attract investors. So make sure you’re what they’re looking for!

Investors invest when they’re convinced a start-up team can successfully execute its idea. There’s no hard-and-fast rule here, but investors usually look for people with passion, intelligence, empathy and natural leadership skills. When you meet with an investor, tell anecdotes that demonstrate these qualities in you and your team.

Make sure you get the legal basics right.

Are you familiar with business law? If not, don’t worry. You only need to know a few things for now. In fact, there are only two really important legal issues you have to address in the beginning.

First off, what’s your company’s type? In the United States, there are three general types of corporate forms: S-Corp (small business corporation), C-Corp (regular or “classic” corporations) and LLC (“limited liability corporation”). They’re all taxed differently.

Keep a healthy work-life balance and pursue other activities or regularly disconnect from work.

Work can be a lot of fun if it revolves around your passion. But don’t forget that life isn’t just about work!

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is important for two main reasons. The first one is: if you work too much and don’t give yourself time to recharge, you’ll eventually burn out, which might put you back at square one.

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What is Do More Faster about?

Do More Faster (2011) presents a step-by-step guide to launching your start-up. It’s crucial to stay on track as you move toward success, from honing your ideas to finding the right team and getting investors. The author also stresses the importance of the work-life balance while showing you how to do more faster.

Best quote from Do More Faster

One can steal ideas, but no one can steal execution or passion.

—David Cohen and Brad Feld

Who should read Do More Faster?

Aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners
Anyone interested in start-up culture

About the Author

David Cohen is the founder of Techstars and has successfully started several other companies. Now he invests primarily in internet start-ups. Brad Feld works for the venture capital company Foundry Group and has been active as an investor and entrepreneur for over twenty-five years.

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Entrepreneurship

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