Thoughts in Time

Image via Wikipedia
I haven’t seen the new clone wars animated feature yet, but the ads reminded me of how much I enjoyed the original star wars features. Star Wars provides several great lessons for startup founders.

Do or Do Not - There is no Try
Action is the lifeblood of a startup. There are many ideas, it’s the doing and execution that counts. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how hard you try - did you do? If so, your chances of being succesful will be much greater.

Use Jedi Mind Tricks
Often with a startup, it’s important to remember that perception is reality. This doesn’t mean be untruthful (a jedi would never do that), rather it means that it’s important to understand perception, and work to change it. When you’re selling first customers, talking to the press, etc if you can convince them that “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for” even when they’re staring at them, you’ll have a good chance of being able to shape perception and help your startup get the advantage it needs to get ahead.

A few dedicated individuals can bring down the empire
The death star was the most powerful weapon ever built - able to destroy a planet with a single shot. A couple rebels with spaceships they hacked together were able to destroy it. They found the weak point. No matter what industry your company is in, the dominant “empire” has a weak point. Find it, and you can win. Just look at the history of tech and you’ll see this time and time again (DEC -> Microsoft -> Google).

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?
Like Yoda, you aren’t big (YET), but you’re nimble as all hell. Strike fast, hard, and often and remember that like Yoda, people will underestimate your ability due to your size.

I’m sure there are other great lessons for startups that can be gleaned from Star Wars. Look forward to hearing your ideas in the comments.

Lightyear Capital Makes Significant Investment in Higher One Holdings, Inc. - MarketWatch

Exciting…. When this deal funds, it’ll be my 1st liquidity event (partial - but hey, it’s still a liquidity event) . Really excited that we were able to build Higher One to the point where an investor such as Lightyear wanted to become involved. Early investors were able to realize more than 20X on their investment and better yet, this deal provided everyone involved with the opportunity for some diversification, while also being able to choose to maintain ownership and participate in the upside as the company continues to grow and increase operating leverage. Congrats to everyone at Higher One. I look forward to seeing the continued growth in the coming years!