There is an interesting collection of blogs on the Andreessen Horowitz website, and this Scott Weiss post on how startups can benefit from Looking Bigger than they actually are particularly caught my eye.
I admire what he managed to achieve this way, but I there are a few cautions that I would add from my own experience…
- Looking big to achieve a clearly defined commercial objective is a valid tactic. Looking good to satisfy the vanity of the founder(s) is a waste of cash.
- For those who have a natural aversion to sales, “the user guide isn’t finished” and “the packaging isn’t glitzy enough” can be a great excuse not to start selling…
- Sometimes looking and behaving like a startup can be an advantage – I find friends and contacts will often do a lot of work to “help a startup get a meeting to find out about the market” where they wouldn’t make as much effort to help a more established company “sell”
Comments
Of course, as is so often the case there are contrarian views…
http://thestartupdaily.com/2011/10/dont-hide-your-size/