Page 134 - 6 Secrets to Startup Success

Your Math Story 113

lower risk, because it better aligned with his personal goals and al-
lowed him to tap into a wider base of management talent. The larger
team would have the capacity to create a much larger company, which
also aligned with his longer-term definition of success.

CONCEIVING YOUR STRATEGY AND BUSINESS MODEL – Your strategy
defines what business you are in: what you provide, for whom, and
why. Your business model dictates how you will configure the pieces
of your business system together as a profitable whole. Hundreds of
books have been written on the topic of business models and strategy,
and experts will forever quibble and wordsmith around the edges of
these concepts. But the core of your business blueprint will most
often be driven by the following questions:

9 What products or services will you offer? To what customers or
markets?

9 What is your value premise and how will you deliver it?

9 How will you acquire customers and distribute your product or
service to them?

9 What price will the market bear? Will this generate a healthy profit
for you?

9 What will set your business apart from the rest? How will you
overtake and defend against competitive forces?

9 What factors will make or break your model? In what areas must
you excel in order for your model to succeed?

9 How will you experiment, learn, and continually reformulate your
model as you go forward?

Many of the answers to these questions will reveal themselves
over time as you execute on your game plan, but it’s vital to think
about them early and deeply. One of the refreshing advantages of
being a startup, relative to established competitors, is that you possess
the power of a blank sheet of paper, the ability to shape your path
forward without being shackled by existing commitments, partner-
ships, infrastructure, or inventory. Big companies are battleships; you

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