When to raise money? How do we reach our customers? Will it be hard to hire talent? All valid and important questions when starting a company, but surprisingly not the first ones you should ask. And when you’re building a company in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that much harder to know where to start.
When I founded Upfront, I had the idea and strategy for the company in mind, but my entire game plan had to be adapted in ways that I never anticipated when the pandemic started.
If you’re a first-time founder like I was, spend a little more time thinking about the following areas:
If you are a solo founder like me, look into partnering with a co-founder sooner rather than later. I really regret not starting that process earlier, especially as an extrovert who was used to talking to 100 people a week. With many of us working from home these days, it’s very isolating to be in front of your laptop alone all day. The best ideas don’t come from Founder A or Founder B, but from the conversations between them. I’ve tried most of the founder matching sites/apps, but had the best conversations from introductions people in my network made.
Don’t waste your unpaid time with logistical tasks like incorporation and bank set up. These tasks aren’t worth distracting yourself when you should be focused on the actual work, and they can be easily multitasked while working a full-time job. I also learned that while there are many options for both bank and incorporation, it’s best to start with the simplest and least expensive option. You can always upgrade in the future, but you don’t want to be locked into an expensive enterprise situation.
If financially possible, consider taking a few weeks off between leaving your job and starting work on a new venture. Only when I left my last job did I realize how tired I was from three years of nonstop startup work. Jumping into another company (especially one that I would run!) would have meant starting out already exhausted. Best case, you’ll be running this new company for years, which means a few weeks to refuel will be worth every second. Taking a month off helped me relax and be mentally ready to start Upfront at 100 percent focus.