Comments on: Reality Check: Surviving Is Always Hard for Startups

By: The Big Winner » Venrock’s Bryan Roberts: Startups and Survival

The Big Winner » Venrock’s Bryan Roberts: Startups and Survival — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:13:15 +0000

[...] Source: http://gigaom.com/2008/10/14/reality-check-survival-is-always-a-war-for-startups/ [...]

By: Reality Check | The Q Company

Reality Check | The Q Company — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:46:31 +0000

[...] That quote is from Bryan Roberts’ article Reality Check: Surviving Is Always Hard for Startups. [...]

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:12:12 +0000

Totally agree with your perspective Bryan, great post. We should all be thinking long-term, rather than living in the moment.

By: Steve Coleman

Steve Coleman — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:56:57 +0000

Sound advice.All a bit after the horse though!

Any sound business should have been doing all this as standard practice.

Watching expenses, focusing on quality and ensuring that one always has positive cash flow are basic to good business.

It seems that more has been forgotten about business in the last 25 years than has ever been learned!

By: Bryan Roberts’ Tips On Survival | KillerBlog

Bryan Roberts’ Tips On Survival | KillerBlog — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:26:06 +0000

[...] Reality Check: Surviving Is Always Hard for Startups [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:41:02 +0000

Good advice. I would add these five principles I found in http://disruptionmatters.com/2008/10/09/judo-and-oreilly-on-the-financial-crisis/

- Carefully observe oneself and one’s situation, carefully observe others, and carefully observe one’s environment.
- Seize the initiative in whatever you undertake.
- Consider fully, act decisively.
- Know when to stop.
- Keep to the middle.

These are Jigoro Kano’s Five Principles of Judo. Valid for good and specially rough times.

By: Courtney Benson

Courtney Benson — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:35:35 +0000

I’d just like to add that now is not the time to loose faith, especially if you really have a viable product/service that is needed. Stand firm and confident and lead the charge. Keep your sales team focused and if things don’t seem to be going your way, don’t be tempted to play the revolving sales door game. This is where you’re being pushed to make the numbers and you think the only way to do that is to fire the existing team and start hiring based on a rolodex. This usually winds up bad for all as the newbies typically last 3 -6 months. The only looser is the company. Prospects/clients, employees and vendors will perceive a lack of stability.