David Cummings on Startups

Author: David Cummings

  • Every Spreadsheet Shared is Another SaaS App

    For software and SaaS entrepreneurs out there, Patrick McKenzie is a must-follow on Twitter. Recently, he tweeted out something that really stuck with me:

    Every spreadsheet shared in a business is an angel announcing another SaaS app still needs to be built.

    Frequently, potential entrepreneurs tell me they want to start a business but can’t come up with a good idea. Well, just look at all the spreadsheets shared in a business and start there when looking for ideas. Now, the inherent scale might not be there with some of them but that’s part of the evaluation process.

    Here are a few more thoughts on every spreadsheet shared is another SaaS app:

    • Spreadsheets have some structure but lack business rules, validation (usually), processes, etc.
    • Spreadsheets are easy to create and well understood whereas most SaaS apps require training and effort to understand
    • Think of the common apps you use on a regular basis and ask which functions you used to do in a spreadsheet (e.g. accounting, project management, customer relationship management, etc.)
    • Most SaaS entrepreneurs flop due to failing at customer acquisition, not due to failing to build a workable product

    The next time a spreadsheet’s shared with you, ask if there’s a SaaS app opportunity.

    What else? What are some more thoughts on the idea that every spreadsheet shared is another SaaS app?

  • Inherent Scale to a Business

    Last week I was talking to an entrepreneur and the idea of empire builders vs. lifestyle builders came up. After some discussion, she brought up a key question most entrepreneurs don’t think through: what’s the inherent scale to the business? Too often, entrepreneurs come up with a good idea, build a viable business, and only then realize that even if they build a great beachhead in their respective market, it’ll still be small business.

    Here are a few thoughts on scale in a business:

    • Consider if it’s a small, fast-growing market that will be large or a large, slow-growing market, or neither (most markets)
    • Evaluate the geographic element of the business as many are local in nature and difficult to scale outside of the city or region
    • Think through “share of wallet” and the opportunities to start small with customers and grow the account over time by expanding the existing product or introducing new products

    Remember that market size is more important than most people realize and there’s an inherent scale to a business.

    What else? What are some more thoughts on inherent scale to a business?

  • Video of the Week: Zappos’ Hsieh on Building a Formidable Brand

    When thinking of startups and culture, the first company that comes to mind is always Zappos. In this week’s video, CEO Tony Hsieh talks about building a formidable brand and shares a number of interesting stories along the way. Enjoy!

    From YouTube: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh offers a compelling account of his transformation from callow Harvard student entrepreneur through his years as a dot-com wunderkind to the creator of a formidable brand.

  • One Downside of Regional Office Recruitment

    As a community, we take great pride in recruiting regional offices for tech companies — startups and large firms alike. Benefits include high paying jobs, cachet from having name-brand employers in town, and general civic pride. Only, from an innovation perspective, there’s one real downside: regional offices don’t do the most important work.

    If you want to attract the absolute best people, you need the absolute most important work. And, in the tech world, the most important work almost always takes places at the headquarters (and for companies that were acquired, headquarters here means where ever the core product is developed). The best way to grow the base of the most important work is to develop the homegrown entrepreneurial success stories. In fact, this is also the best way possible to help startup communities.

    What else? What are your thoughts on the idea that the most important work is typically done at the corporate headquarters?

  • Notes from the Square S-1 IPO Filing

    Earlier today Square, a payment processing and financial technology company, released their S-1 IPO filing to the public. Square is especially unique in that it’s CEO is Jack Dorsey, who’s also the CEO of Twitter (imagine founding and running two billion dollar tech companies at the same time!).

    Here are a few notes from the Square S-1:

    • In the 12 months ended June 2015, over two million sellers accepted five or more payments using Square (pg. 2)
    • We define a quarterly cohort of sellers as the group of sellers that are approved to accept card payments with Square in a given quarter. On average, our payback period has been four to five quarters. (pg. 2)
    • Net revenue (pg. 3):
      1H 2015 $560.6 million
      2014 $850.2 million
    • Net revenue without transaction costs and the Starbucks account, which is going away in late 2016 (pg. 3):
      1H 2015 $198.8 million
      2014 $276.3 million
    • Losses (pg. 4)
      1H 2015 $77.6 million
      2014 $154.1 million
      2013 $104.5 million
    • Combining payments, point-of-sale systems, financial services, and marketing services (pg. 7) – Note: Square is really building a small business operating system to run all aspects of the business from payroll to email marketing — that’s a big idea.
    • From Jack: I believe so much in the potential of this company to drive positive impact in my lifetime that over the past two years I have given over 15 million shares, or 20% of my own equity, back to both Square and the Start Small Foundation, a new organization I created to meaningfully invest in the folks who inspire us: artists, musicians, and local businesses, with a special focus on underserved communities around the world. The shares being made available for the directed share program in this offering are being sold by the Start Small Foundation, giving Square customers the ability to buy equity to support the Foundation. I have also committed to give 40 million more of my shares, an additional 10% of the company, to invest in this cause. I’d rather have a smaller part of something big than a bigger part of something small. (pg. 24)
    • Accumulated deficit of $473.2 million (pg. 26)
    • For example, in the three months ended March 31, 2015, we recorded a loss of approximately $5.7 million related to fraud by a single seller using our payments services. (pg. 27)
    • Mr. Morley contends that he was an equal partner with Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey in the business enterprise that ultimately evolved into Square, and that Mr. Dorsey and Mr. McKelvey breached their alleged oral joint venture agreement with Mr. Morley by excluding him from ownership in Square. (pg. 39)
    • Founders equity ownership (pg. 176):
      • Jack Dorsey – 24.4%
      • James McKelvey – 9.4%
    • VCs equity ownership (pg. 176):
      • Khosla Ventures – 17.3%
      • Sequoia Capital – 5.4%
      • Kleiner Perkins – 3.0%

    Square is an impressive company that’s using payment processing — handling good old fashion credit cards — as the gateway to run many aspects of a regular small business. Look for Square to become more like Intuit (owner of QuickBooks) with a variety of services and less like a credit card processing company over time.

    What else? What are some other thoughts on Square’s S-1 IPO filing?

  • Rigor and Zoompf Unite

    Yesterday Rigor announced their acquisition of Zoompf combining a leading web performance monitoring system with a great performance improvement system (disclosure: I’m an investor in Rigor). Now, Alan Patricof says “never trade your cat for somebody else’s dog” (source), but there are times where combining two complementary startups makes sense, and this is one of those times.

    Here’s the quick explanation of each company:

    • Rigor – Cloud-based software the runs real web browsers from a variety of geographic locations to ensure that critical paths work correctly in SaaS products, verifies buyers can complete the checkout process on ecommerce sites, and continuously tests the speed of media sites.
    • Zoompf – Cloud-based software that analyzes web performance and provides prescriptions and solutions to improve performance bottlenecks (e.g. ways to tune the server, optimized images, etc.)

    So, Rigor is constantly monitoring critical web apps (including mobile app end-points) and Zoompf takes performance issues and provides solutions to fix them — a great combination.

    Read more about the acquisition on the Rigor blog.

  • The Best Thing Possible to Help Startup Communities

    One of the most common questions I get on a weekly basis is “what do we need to do to help our local startup community?” People expect me to talk about more local funding options, more national press, and more local talent. While all of those things are great, the best answer is also the hardest answer: produce more huge success stories. Now, small success stories are fine but they don’t move the needle. What’s needed is huge success stories, the kind that changes the trajectory of the region.

    Here are a few benefits of big success stories:

    • More success stories — whether exits, IPOs, or jobs created — creates more attention and reasons for the media to cover the community.
    • More wealth creation provides capital to fund the next generation of entrepreneurs and enables investors in the region to make riskier bets.
    • More people starting companies because they’ve seen it work and much of the process has been demystified.

    The next time someone asks what’s the biggest thing the startup communities needs to get better, tell them the best thing possible is big success stories.

    What else? What are some more reasons why big success stories are so important for startup communities?

  • Recapitalize or New Entity After a Pivot

    Last week I talked to an entrepreneur that had recently gone through a pivot where they identified a new, better opportunity and had an early product in the market. Next, they mentioned they were raising money for the new product, but that it was under a new company. Interested, I asked what happened to their old company. Did they shut it down? What happened to the paying customers? Nothing. The old company was still in business, but the team was focused on the new business.

    Of course, this poses challenging questions:

    • Do you shut down the original business and tell investors their investment is worthless?
    • Do you recapitalize the original business to work on the new idea and dilute the existing investors (or create a situation where the founders have limited equity in the event of anti-dilution)?
    • Do you give the investors in the original business some equity in the new business or do nothing?
    • What obligations exist in the original business that aren’t being fulfilled if the entire team is working on a different business?

    While every situation is different, a pivot typically requires difficult decisions. Most often, a pivot results in a new direction for the same company, but sometimes a new entity makes more sense.

    What else? What are your thoughts on recapitalizing the original business or creating a new entity as part of a pivot?

  • Notes from the Netflix Culture Deck

    As mentioned in yesterday’s Video of Week: Reed Hastings on Netflix, Netflix published one of the most powerful culture manifestos ever seen in Netflix Culture: Freedom & Responsibility. With 124 slides, it’s comprehensive, but not overwhelming.

    Here are notes from the Netflix culture deck:

    • Seven aspects of the culture
      • Values are what we Value
      • High Performance
      • Freedom & Responsibility
      • Context, not Control
      • Highly Aligned, Loosely Coupled
      • Pay Top of Market
      • Promotions & Development
    • Values the following nine behaviors and skills
      • Judgement
      • Communication
      • Impact
      • Curiosity
      • Innovation
      • Courage
      • Passion
      • Honesty
      • Selflessness
    • Adequate performance gets a generous severance package (meaning, people that are OK get fired)
    • A team, not a family
    • The Rare Responsible Person
      • Self motivating
      • Self aware
      • Self disciplined
      • Self improving
      • Acts like a leader
      • Doesn’t wait to be told what to do
      • Picks up trash lying on the floor
    • Netflix Vacation Policy and Tracking – there is no policy or tracking
    • Netflix Policies for Expensing, Entertainment, Gifts & Travel: Act in Netflix’s best interest
    • Managers: When one of your talented people does something dumb, don’t blame them. Instead, ask yourself what context you failed to set.

    Anyone that cares about culture, or is working on establishing a strong culture in their startup, should study the Netflix culture deck.

    What else? What are some more takeaways from the Netflix culture deck?

  • Video of Week: Reed Hastings on Netflix

    Netflix, while often viewed as a media company, is one of the most iconic tech companies of our time. Ever since Netflix published their incredible Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility deck in 2009, I’ve viewed them as a much more powerful force than people realize. Now, with 65 million subscribers (source), and a market cap of almost $50 billion (NASDAQ:NFLX), it’s one of the most successful companies in the world. The video of the week is Reed Hastings accepting an award for the 2014 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year. Enjoy!

    From YouTube: At the 37th annual ENCORE Award event on September 23, 2014, Stanford Graduate School of Business honored Netflix, and Netflix Founder and CEO Reed Hastings, MS ’88. Reed Hastings speaks on the history of the company, the challenges they faced, and how Netflix became the innovative leader it is today.