Comments on: Startup School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups

By: Success for Startups that look to the future | thebluedoor

Success for Startups that look to the future | thebluedoor — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:49:44 +0000

[...] a talk at Y combinator’s startup school in Berkeley, you can see the summary of Jason’s talk on TechCrunch. Among the many insights into the pitfalls of starting you own company, Jason gave the advice that [...]

By: Merely Thinking» Blogarchiv » Dig!

Merely Thinking» Blogarchiv » Dig! — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:53:13 +0000

[...] 37 Signal’s Empfehlungen für Startups [...]

By: Startup School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups QV China

Startup School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups QV China — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:32:09 +0000

[...] post: Startup School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups By admin | category: ciara | tags: audio, ciara, facebook, janeiro, mariah, newer, [...]

By: adriatalk

adriatalk — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:37:21 +0000

I agree with this one. If “The best are everywhere” why YCombinator requires you move to the valley to work on your startup? It’s all about getting the best, and not the nearest. Isn’t it?

By: deciara

deciara — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:51:14 +0000

I think this is because they believe that this kind of investment is a face to face business. Many VCs believe the same thing and won’t invest outside their geographical area.

By: deciara

deciara — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:48:55 +0000

I mailed Jason about this to clarify. Here is his reply “You can definitely learn something from your
mistakes, but I believe learning from your successes generally yields better lessons. When you learn from your mistakes you only learn what not to do again. When you learn from your successes you learn what
worked so you can do it again.”

By: 37 Signals’ Lessons for Startups « The BuzzPal Blog

37 Signals’ Lessons for Startups « The BuzzPal Blog — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:14:48 +0000

[...] School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups By Ciara Byrne 2009-10-29 TechCrunch (comments thread [...]

By: Cloudster

Cloudster — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:17:06 +0000

“The best are everywhere, not just in the golden California Valley. So live somewhere you love. Don’t feel you have to move just to make your company work.”

And yet YCombinator requires that you move to the valley to work on your startup.

By: Fred Jabre

Fred Jabre — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:23:08 +0000

A little clarification would be nice.

Didn’t mean to get snarky, it’s just that I think making mistakes and failure are a natural part of the process..

Maybe I could learn a thing or two? =) Or maybe JF is one of the rare few who doesn’t make mistakes?

By: deciara

deciara — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:07:57 +0000

Probably he was not saying “don’t learn from your mistakes” but more you can get further from replicating things that worked well. But fair point – I should check this with him.

By: Fred Jabre

Fred Jabre — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:56:42 +0000

Some great advise except for the following:

“Jason advises replicating what succeeded as opposed to learning from your mistakes – the results are much more predictable.”

Please tell me you’re paraphrasing incorrectly.. That just comes off the wrong way… Don’t learn from your mistakes..? Copy success..? Sounds like something I’d expect to read from Donald Trump, not someone I respect like JF..

By: Startup tippek at ‹Webakadémia /›

Startup tippek at ‹Webakadémia /› — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:53:00 +0000

[...] jelent meg a TechCrunchon egy blogbejegyzés arról, hogy az Y combinator “befektetőcég” milyen tippeket osztott meg egy [...]

By: Ads & Informations Globe » Blog Archive » Great Features and … | Management Business Wisdom

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:18:26 +0000

[...] Startup School 2009: 37 Signals has some lessons for European startups [...]

By: Jon Rowe

Jon Rowe — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:07:06 +0000

Good article, but why can’t you hash our passwords!

By: Tim Molendijk

Tim Molendijk — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:55:12 +0000

“In some European countries it may be more frowned upon to succeed spectaularly rather than fail. In countries like Denmark or the Netherlands, standing out is often not considered to be a good thing.”

@Stefano: I’m Dutch and live in Amsterdam and yes, there is some truth to this statement. Yet, it does not mean you are not allowed to be successful. You can, and being successful is encouraged. It’s all about attitude though. As soon as you start behaving as ‘a class apart’, it will not be tolerated and society will decapitate you.

By: Sameer Baroova

Sameer Baroova — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:07:41 +0000

This is a complete list key notes of all the speakers at startup school 09 http://journal.markbao.com/2009/10/startup-school-2009-summary/

By: Jan Horna

Jan Horna — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:04:08 +0000

Europe is about making us (I am Czech) equal (Germans call it “gleichschaltung”). The Americans dream about becoming a shining star. A bit oversimplified but still true I believe.

By: johan Rhodin

johan Rhodin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:22:43 +0000

“In countries like Denmark or the Netherlands, standing out is often not considered to be a good thing.” This is (unfortunately) sooo true for Sweden as well

By: Kim Fransman

Kim Fransman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:21:51 +0000

@Stefano – I live in sweden and I have to agree with that doing great and making money is generally considered as something ugly. Even the tax-system is built to be harder on those who make it to be able to support those those that doesn’t.

Sure there is less risk with the social security system, but it also cripples the companies in such a way that many companies chooses to move to countries with more “companyfriendly” tax-systems when they are starting to make money.

By: TidyApps » On making your business work

TidyApps » On making your business work — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:03:00 +0000

[...] just read a TechCrunch post with some useful tips worth reiterating. The main lesson to be learnt is that web startups, unless [...]

By: Steven Finch - Crenk

Steven Finch - Crenk — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:12:10 +0000

This is some great advice. Im really looking forward to seeing more startups grow here in Europe!

By: Simon Starr

Simon Starr — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:10:10 +0000

As a freelance developer who’s using income from client work to support my own modest business ideas in my spare time, the points about bootstrapping and charging money sound like common sense to me.

I don’t understand why the likes of Jason Calacanis are so convinced that the definition of success is to start a business by getting VC funding, hiring a load of people and working them like slaves and then selling the whole thing off a couple of years later. That’s never been the way the majority of independent businesses work in the real world so why should it be different on the internet?

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:02:07 +0000

A really great list! Thanks!

Maybe one thing missing is: build with passion on your passion.

By: Stefano

Stefano — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:49:07 +0000

“In countries like Denmark or the Netherlands, standing out is often not considered to be a good thing”…. seriously? But the first 4 points are great milestones! Thank you 37Signals to keep startup’s feet on the ground.