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Thank you to Gordon Daugherty, Christopher Calicott, Harold Ingersoll, Kirk Cesari, Jill Murphy, Jake Phillips, and Chris Valentine for sharing their expertise on technology startups.
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Starting Up
Starting a business is an exciting endeavor that may offer flexibility, professional growth, and the potential to impact and improve one's community-- and even the world. From the first spark of the idea, one needs to carefully consider funding options, proper contracts and organizational documents, protection of IP and company principals, and hiring an accounting firm to set up the books.
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Gordon Daugherty of Shockwave Innovations set the stage with an overview of the "startup operating system" saying, in most cases, it costs almost nothing to start a startup-- except time and personal passion. The most successful entrepreneurs have personal passion for the problem being solved and nothing to lose, but  everything to win. Most of them don't start with a grand plan, but instead, products and technologies begin to take shape from pieces of ideas cobbled together in an ugly and messy fashion. Through flexibility and experimentation, they build and adapt and rebuild technologies until they are viable and market ready.
Startups often have an unfair advantage over larger, established corporations. There is no branding or reputation established, no shareholders to report to, no stock prices to monitor or manage, no legacy customers, and they get to make their own rules as they go.
In Austin, we have a thriving startup ecosystem, but it didn't come easy. Gordon says it took years to develop and grow, partly due to the culture of technology, the community of peers in co-working spaces like Galvanize and Capital Factory (among others), a growing source of investors and multiple stage funding sources, and support for diversity in our community.
Austin is a technology startup mecca with a ton of talent, but still, these businesses require the help of many specialized professionals and experts to get going and to succeed.
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So, you've got your great idea and want to turn it into a technology company.
Now what?
You need funding to get this thing off the ground.
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Christopher Calicott
Managing Director, Trammell Venture Partners
Getting started is all about the networking! Austin has a friendly, collaborative nature and a vibrant angel investor community, including Southwest Angels Network focused on social good businesses. There are many mentoring and accelerator opportunities through Galvanize, Capital Factory, TechRanch, and others. Christopher advised to "give more than you get" to foster goodwill and a positive feedback loop—which is great for Austin's startup ecosystem.
He also offered several tips for startups looking to fund their projects:
1. Meet investors well before you need money;
2. Do the market research, determine market sizing & category leader opportunity;
3. Build the right team;
4. Talk about goals, take detailed meeting notes, update on previous talking points, note new learnings & pivots; and
5. Bootstrap as long as you can. Take as much money as you need to achieve the next financing milestone but no more.
More resources
Christopher's article on when to meet investors
The Atlantic article
MoneyTree Report
Central Texas Angels Network (CTAN)
Southwest Angels Network
Capital Factory
Galvanize
Seed Accelerator Rankings Project
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You have to account for paying the bills and taxes.
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Harold Ingersoll
CPA & Partner, Atchley & Associates
A good accountant is vital to the success of a startup in order to avoid pitfalls and IRS violations. Harold shared the 8 biggest mistakes that startups make:
1. Choosing the wrong legal entity for efficient tax treatment;
2. Not understanding tax obligations;
3. Not asking for professional help before and after startup;
4. Blending personal and business finances;
5. Not deducting business expenses;
6. Not using the right tools;
7. Not paying taxes timely; and
8. Not recognizing phantom income transactions.
Getting expert advice and hiring the right accounting firm can save startups headaches, time, and money!
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You need top notch legal advice, agreements, and contracts.
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Kirk Cesari
IP Attorney & Partner, Cesari & Reed, LP
From setting up your legal entity to protecting your intellectual property (IP), a quality attorney quickly becomes invaluable to your business by ensuring your formation, employee, and non-disclosure agreements are properly and lawfully executed. Kirk advised to interview multiple firms with specific experience related to the technology/product and with operating styles that match the startup needs. Treat an attorney like any contractor:
1. Check for conflicts of interest. Do they represent your investor or competitor?
2. Negotiate the budget, and get exact specifics of how they do their billing. Don’t give them a blank check!
3. Check referrals and references
4. Ask about handling common issues such as trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets.
Getting expert advice and hiring the right accounting firm can save startups headaches, time, and money!
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You must keep your ideas and products secure.
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Jill Murphy
Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
Protecting your great idea is a vital part of starting up. The potential risks of IP theft come from competitors, business insiders, and foreign governments, just to name a few. Jill explained that businesses can lose billions of dollars in revenue and suffer damaged reputations when their IP is stolen. In addition, the US economy is robbed of jobs and tax revenue causing consumer price increases, and counterfeit products can reduce product safety sometimes putting lives at risk. But, there are ways to protect your IP in the internet and data age by ensuring you are using appropriate digital security with your sensitive data including legal contracts, accounting, customer payment processing, online advertising, etc.
–Industry Partners: Videos
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Now, take that great idea and pitch it!
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Chris Valentine
Pitch Event Manager, SXSW Accelerator
Chris summed up the event with information on how and why to participate in SXSW Accelerator's Live Pitch Event.
Learn more about networking, the future of technology, getting access to capital, and market trends in smart data, entertainment, payment & financial tech, health & wearables, AI, sports, transportation and more.
Hilton Austin Downtown, 500 East 4th Street
Live Pitch Event | March 11-12 | 9am to 6pm
Award Winner Ceremony | March 12 | 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Demo Day | March 13 | 11am to 1:30pm
Austin Convention Center
Super Accelerator | March 13 | 5pm to 6:30pm
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What's your Austin Forum story?
Whether you've been a long time friend or a new fan, let us know your story!
What is your favorite moment, speaker, or topic over the past 10 years? How has the Forum influenced your interests, business, or community relationships?
We're interested. Tell us your story!
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SXSW Badge Winners
Congratulations to our lucky winners of 2017 SXSW Interactive badge!
Join us next month for a chance to win a badge given away by Hugh Forrest of SXSW Interactive.
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Special thanks to Newk's for the great snacks!
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Newk's catering specialists will assist you with all your needs and help you build the perfect spread. They’ll deliver, setup and everything in between. All you have to do is relax and enjoy the food! So for your next catering event, just remember… we cater, you party!
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Join us in March for
What is “Deep Learning”? What will be the next big development or research area in AI? How can AI computing models change our daily lives?
AI is broadly regarded as the next major technology change in IT. Come learn about Deep Learning, and how GPU-powered AI techniques are changing how we live, work, shop, and more.
WEDNESDAY, March 1, 2017
Galvanize
118 Nueces St.
Downtown Austin
Marc Hamilton
NVIDIA
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Register for Social Media Week in Austin, TX on February 27 to March 1.
Learn from our own Austin experts: Hugh Forrest, Sam Decker, Ruben Cantu,
plus many, many other national leaders.
http://smwiaustin.com
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