KP Unpacked

If you don’t want to be one of the people who falls victim to AI, it’s time to start preparing. With the right attitude and aptitude, you can come out ahead. I’d suggest starting here:

My recommendation to entrepreneurs embarking on customer discovery is to watch a few hours of Law and Order. The original, not the derivative work.

The planet is on fire. Literally. Australia is in the middle of a particularly devastating bushfire season. I’m not here to debate climate change or how bad it is or isn’t; what I want to focus on is waste.

Many entrepreneurs view an IPO as the height of success. My version of ultimate success would be the Department of Justice showing up and saying they need to break up my company because we’re a monopoly. #goals.

All startups should have a vision of becoming a monopoly. How do you create a monopoly when you’re bootstrapping? Well, I’ve never done it, so take this with a grain of salt. But I think we can use the example of a lemonade stand to see how it’s done.

I launched my first tech startup when I was 22. I was working in civil engineering by day, and coding on nights and weekends. I was both sales and development. I went full time at 25. I owned sales while my partner owned development. All of my initial sales — a bunch of $500-$5,000 web sites — were through friends and family connections.

Going it alone as an entrepreneur is often a recipe for disaster.

I’m not saying you don’t have what it takes; I’ve just seen far too many solo entrepreneurs fail. Startup success is not just about the entrepreneur and their idea. It has a lot to do with the environment an entrepreneur must operate within and how that environment shapes their psyche.

Building an effective team is one of the hardest tasks for any entrepreneur.