Finding my Tribe (to put a valuation on my business)

You hear it all the time when starting any kind of business. Find your tribe. Who will want what you have to sell? Who believes in your vision? Surround yourself with like-minded people. You mustn't try to be all things to all people.

The same must apply when seeking out potential advisors and investors.

I am feeling this incredible wave of inspiration, creativity and hopefulness at the moment. The past few hours have seen me glimpse behind that heavy curtain of uncertainty. I am feeling clearer about my preparations for my Silicon Valley trip.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, describes in her TED talk how Ruth Stone, a 90 year old poet experiences creativity - something you feel coming towards you. You are not the source. You are the conduit. And you have to be receptive to it. It will pass through you and leave the creative result 'in you'; a book, a poem, a painting, a fully-formed idea or business strategy. You have to seize it or it disappears.

Writing this blog post before it vanishes is really important, so I have something to reflect on later.

Until today, I was feeling very confused and inadequate about my trip to Silicon Valley. But today was a great day.

Today I took matters into my own hands.

I feel as though I know the answers already, that they are about to barrel through me and I must seize the moment; who I need to speak to, the people in SV who see my vision, who think in the same commercial space as I do. The potential investors and advisors who have already invested in creative, disruptive start-ups. These people will be my tribe.

And action brings clarity.

All day I have been trawling Crunch Base to identify the home and interiors companies who have had $$$millions invested in recent years. Companies like One Kings Lane, Houzz and Custom Made. I will use these 3 as my bench marks. Their founders, investors and the people who orbit around these companies are the people I really ache to meet when I'm in SV. I have hand written every name, every investor, the size of their rounds (paying particular attention to the seed rounds because that is where I am at), HQ locations and snippets of info that may be of use.

From tracking the curve of their initial seed funds to the more recent C or D Rounds, I can begin to glimpse at the value and potential of My Bespoke Chair and my mass-customisation, co-designing dreams.

It is my conundrum of HAVING to put a valuation on my business before I get to SV that has seen me do this research. In the absence of any solid historical financial data for My Bespoke Chair, I need to see how comparable companies have grown. And where they started. How they were valued at the beginning, and their initial seed round investment. I am trying to find the balance between where I am, the potential size of my market and the precedence set by similar companies who have gone before me.

It is through this research that I can paint my valuation story and back it up with solid evidence.

So, my next step is finding ways to meet the founders, investors and advisors to these success stories. And warm introductions are the only way to do this. You cannot call them up and ask for a meeting. We all respond better when a trusted and valued colleague or friend recommend we meet someone. And these high-flyers simply do not have the time or inclination to meet everyone, so their inner circles become reliable filters.

So I am trawling my contacts, the people I know from coffee-meetings, online masterminds, friends of friends and people who I know would happily recommend me. LinkedIn is a platform I've been slow to grasp. About 3 months ago I employed a VA to help me set up my profile. It's not hard but it was one of those jobs I kept putting off. Paying $60 was good use of my time and money. The '6 degrees of separation' are openly highlighted in LinkedIn, so that is my focus.

I will hustle and call and make the best case I can in order to meet with my tribe for breakfast, lunch, coffee, a cocktail or even a bus ride. And I need to have something, even one little 5 minute meeting, arranged before I leave in October.


P.S If anyone knows Alison Gelb Pincus, I'd love an intro!

Resistance Training

The dust has settled. The excitement of winning the pitch contest is over. Time to get to work.

And I am facing new feelings of resistance; resistance to the whole idea of going to Silicon Valley to pitch my business to the US market.

From afar, the hurdle of preparing myself and My Bespoke Chair for the visit appeared totally manageable. Enticing even. But now that it is closer, it towers above me, and I have no idea how to jump it without falling flat on my face.

I feel totally inadequate. I have no team. I have no technical skills to develop my website and user experience. I have no budget for marketing strategies, Google Adwords or any kind of growth hack. I have no financial knowledge. I can't even 'speak' business. I have no-one to grow this business with. No-one else who wakes up every day excited about My Bespoke Chair like I do. I feel utterly alone and weak.

And I'm terrified that in Silicon Valley, my weakness will be magnified and I'll be torn up and spat out.

But I also know that action brings clarity. Feeling sorry for myself is useless and idleness just breeds more self-pity.

I believe in my business. I honestly feel it in my heart and soul that mass customisation will be mainstream for ever product and service online. And I love my beautiful chairs. But I mustn't let fear and resistance paralyse me. I simply need to make a start with one thing, a tiny step. Just one action that will lead to another and another and another.

I need to set achievable goals. And I need to work out the small actions that will incrementally get me there.

So what are my ultimate goals to reach before I step on that plane?

Goals to reach before 11th October:

1. To have a grasp on my financials; revenue, expenses, break-even point, 5 year projections and understanding of pricing both my product to the customer and the business to the investor. Including the language of finance.
2. A go-to-market strategy for the US; who are my customers? how will I find them? how will I get my product to them? what exactly is my proposition? how will I present it?  where will I sell it? 
3. Framework for acquiring a team and board of advisors. In lieu of actually having a firm team in place by October, which may be tricky and probably unadvisable to rush, I want to demonstrate the calibre of people I associate with, who my mentors are and how I will attract the right people to join My Bespoke Chair.

Clearly there are many more issues that need addressing in my business, but these are the most urgent.

Accountability is an awesome tool. Tell someone what you intend to do. Put it out there.

So this blog post is my way of 'putting it out there.'

Tomorrow my first small step is calling a particular financial advisor, a start-up business expert who comes highly recommended by a fellow Sydney-Silicon Valley entrepreneur I admire and respect.

This tiny step, light-footed but sure, will lead to a bigger step that will lead to a confident stride, then to a jog, to a run and then ultimately a mighty leap over that damn hurdle.