Develop a reliable core group of co-founders early on and build a company that creates products you love and want to use, without an exit strategy, as it should be your life's work for startup success.

• 💡
  00:00

  Develop a reliable core group of co-founders early on for startup success.

  • The speaker talks about the mistakes and lessons learned during the early years of Evernote, which was their third startup.
  • Cultivate a group of brilliant, high-energy, and willing-to-work-for-free best friends for life as early as possible, and only make friends with people you see starting your company with.
  • Developing a reliable core group of people as co-founders is crucial for success in starting multiple companies.
  • Three computer programmers started a consulting company without knowing about investors, but were able to get funding during the dot-com bubble and mostly did e-commerce programming consulting.
  • Being a consultant may provide immediate rewards, but it does not allow for building long-term value or control over one's work.
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  05:08

  Sold their company to Vignette, started Core Street but realized it wasn't their passion, reflected on lessons learned for next venture.

  • They sold their company to a big company called Vignette in Austin, Texas, and were happy to do so because they didn't love the work they were doing.
  • Started a company called Core Street to build cryptography and security products for banks and governments, but realized after seven years that it wasn't a product they were passionate about.
  • The speaker and their team had two successful company exits and decided to reflect on their lessons learned and plan for their next venture.
• 🚀
  07:58

  Build a company that creates products you love and want to use, without an exit strategy, as it should be your life's work.

  • Build a product that you love and are the target audience for, instead of trying to cater to the market or investors.
  • Build a company that creates products you love and want to use, without an exit strategy, as it should be your life's work.
  • The motivation for Evernote was to build something that they could devote their lives to, but they decided against starting a video game company because there were already enough great games available.
  • They considered social media but decided not to pursue it, instead focusing on their experiences with entertainment, communication, and social networking.
  • Productivity software often feels old and cultish, but with the rise of smartphones and app stores, there is an opportunity to create a modern and effective tool for knowledge workers.
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  12:01

  Evernote, a company founded by a Russian-American inventor, merged with another team to create a second memory for everyone, but struggled to raise funds due to a complicated legal structure.

  • The speaker researched a company called Ribbon but stumbled upon Evernote, a team led by a Russian-American inventor, who were working on the idea of building a second memory for everyone.
  • Two teams merged to create Evernote, with a new investment structure and unconventional start in 2008.
  • Being too clever with the legal entity structure and stock division made the company unfundable for a couple of years, costing them 18 months of not being able to raise money.
  • Stick to the basics and follow the advice of experts, but be innovative with your idea as a startup founder to minimize the chances of failing for a stupid reason.
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  15:14

  Startup invested in falls through due to financial crisis, Evernote faces competition but changes lives, company shuts down with only two weeks of cash left, random guy from Sweden expresses love for Evernote.

  • The speaker invested in a startup, received a 10 million dollar term sheet from a European investor, but the deal fell through due to the 2008 financial crisis, leaving the company with only three weeks of cash and struggling to find new investors.
  • Evernote was created to allow users to write and remember things using computers and was given away for free, but faced competition from every device with a free note-taking solution.
  • The speaker was out of cash and decided to shut down the company due to having only two weeks of cash left.
  • A random guy from Sweden emailed Phil expressing his love for Evernote, stating that it has changed his life and made him happier and more organized.
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  19:36

  Received unexpected investment after emailing a guy in Sweden; Stopped management salaries during crisis, gained traction and successful VC presentations; Evernote's first investors were Russians, Canadians, and Japanese, and their first professional investor was Docomo Capital who reached out on Twitter; Accidentally speaking Korean during a meeting with Japanese executives led to embarrassment but also several million dollars in investment.

  • Received investment from a random guy in Sweden after emailing him and explaining the situation.
  • Stopping salaries for management staff during a crisis helped the company clean up its structure and gain traction, leading to successful VC presentations and a better understanding of the business model.
  • Evernote's first investors were Russians, Canadians, and Japanese, and their first professional investor was Docomo Capital, who reached out on Twitter because they liked the product.
  • During a meeting with Japanese executives, one of the co-founders accidentally spoke in Korean, causing embarrassment, but the executives gave them several million dollars to prove there were no hard feelings.
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  23:27

  Starting a company is stressful, but in the early days, raising money and meeting payroll was the only priority, making it the most carefree and least stressed time.

  • The speaker reminisces about the early days of their company when the only priority was to raise money and meet payroll, and how it was the most carefree and least stressed they ever were.
  • Founding a company may get harder over time, but it also becomes more important, rewarding, and fun.
• 💼
  25:30

  Build a business you love and believe in, because the tech world rewards great products.

  • The speaker finds his job difficult day to day, but is still gratified by the achievements of his team.
  • Build a business for yourself by finding something sufficiently epic to do, instead of thinking about what piece of crap can be sold to make money and flip the company.
  • Build something you love because there are probably millions of people who love it too, and the tech world is a meritocracy that rewards great products.