🚦 3-2-1 Traction — you can’t steer a stationary ship

Also in this issue: the 7 T’s of startups, the ideal founding team, government-run venture capital funds, and the timeless wisdom of “no mud, no lotus”.

Hey friend 👋

It’s another Monday, and another 3-2-1 Traction — 3 ideas from me, 2 quotes from others, and 1 question to help you focus in your journey to find traction for your startup.

It’s nearing the end of the year; we have no time to waste.

Let’s go. 👇

3 ideas from me

one: the seven T’s.

The current state of any startup can be described by the 7 T’s:

• TAM — what is the size of the opportunity?

• Timing — why now?

• Traction — what are customers saying?

• Trajectory — where are you going, and why will that work?

• Team — why you?

• Technology — can you build it, and is it defensible?

• Terms — what is your ask to investors (if applicable)?

Where you are in the startup lifecycle determines how important each T is.

two: you can’t steer a stationary ship.

So goes the old aphorism.

But what's true on personal development is also true in startups — knowing the right direction to travel is secondary to getting started traveling. The first step needn’t be perfect. It only needs to be directionally accurate.

Just. Get. Moving. 🚀

three: the inter-being of failure and learning.

To try to succeed without failing is like trying to remove the left side of a stick.

It can’t be done. You can break the left side off, but that just creates two sticks — with double the number of left sides.

(read: double the number of failures)

To veer toward the cliché, startups have no destination — they’re about the journey. The failure you encounter along the way creates the conditions of learning — which creates the conditions of success.

To “fail fast” doesn’t mean to try to fail. It’s to accept that some level of failure is inevitable, and that we need it in order to succeed. Get to it fast, make it as small as possible, and move forward.

Or, as the late Thich Nhat Hanh said: no mud, no lotus.

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2 ideas from others

Stanford professor Ilya Strebulaev on a study of 1,123 US-based unicorns:

Startups with only one founder are 38% less likely to become a unicorn.

Startups with 3 and 4 founders are 74% more likely to become a unicorn.

🤔

The Salt Lake Tribute on Utah’s new state-run $15m early-stage VC fund:

The [Innovation Fund] is set up to do more than just invest. It is also creating a data base of Utah startups, so other founders and investors can track progress. It also offers support services, such as accountants and patent attorneys, and it has a cadre of industry experts who can gauge the market climate for new products and advise the entrepreneurs.

What do you think about government-run equity-based funds?

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1 question for you

In thinking about the startups and entrepreneurship, whom do you admire most and why?

Reply (or leave a comment) and let me know.

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That’s it for this issue. I’ll see you on Thursday for a deep dive on the best metric for for early startups: time-to-customer.

Thanks for reading!

—jdm

PS: Enjoying this issue? I’d be flattered if you took a few seconds to share it with a friend. I’m working hard to grow this newsletter and help more founders, and it’s a lot of work. 😅