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Do Stealth Startups Suck?
glinden writes "In 'Stealth Startups Suck,' Bloglines CEO Mark Fletcher argues that 'stealth mode for a web start-up is the kiss of death.' He says that moving quickly and getting feedback from early users is much more important than protecting the core idea or trying to launch a perfect product. Is there any good reason for a web startup to not be open about what it is doing? What about other kinds of software startups? What about hardware startups?"
A stealth startup is a risk. When it is done smartly, the cash is bigger, when it is done badly, the failure is bigger. If you get more feedback early on, you can be more sure in the product, but on the other hand you face risk from the competition.
Nothing new here, it's been like this for hundreds of years.
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
Dear Mr. Gates,
I have just released a new product to surf the "World Wide Web". I call it "Netscape".
I think something as important as this should not be kept under wraps. I would appreciate any feedback you may have!
Yours,
Marc Andressen
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
>Be open and perhaps a larger company will buy you.
Good for the investors and execs, bad for everyone else who would rather have a job than a severence package.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
How does one connect with a VC or angel investment firm?
Contacts. The Real Money (tm) comes from knowing people who know people, who can get your pitch into the right hands. I have relatives who do this (both as angels and as VC firms), and it's all from who you know. There're very few, if any, 'cold call' plays that end up with money from their VC firm.
Also, it helps to be doing something in China.
-EvilMagnus
Could you please post the name of your company, so I can never, ever use your services?
Does it bother you that you're a parasite?
I think his point was that good consulting advise can not make up for bad management.
The reasons startups fail, BAD MANAGEMENT
You're kidding right. From the parent post it sounds like it went something like this:
Consultant: Your business idea is stupid.
Customer: We are brighter than you, take our money and do what we say.
Repeat.
At what point does the consultant not become a parasite? He indicated they told the customer it was a dumb idea, multiple times.
Eventually you just have to except the fact that your customer is stupid and you might as well take the money as compared to someone else taking it.
This guy has coded one little program that he runs on internet ("web service" as he calls it) and then he considers himself expert of everything and generalizes the work it took him to code that application to every program that has html interface. I would really like him to code for example a multilanguage e-commerce platform for real world use that handles tens of thousand simultaneous customers in 3 months and without "lot of money" and then write another article about the subject.
Our company has been programming a business "web service" for a global customer for about 1,5 years now and it definitely was not even in a prototype stage in 3 months, few real world projects that have real customer are. AND we are profitable, still in slight stealth mode and have no VC money.
My quality social news site.com.
First, there is such a thing as a unique idea and it can be important to keep it quiet. You certainly need to get your patents filed first. The fact that the author suggests otherwise simply means he has never worked in a truly inovative environment.
The first mover is important argument is not a truism. In fact, the first mover usually looses. Netscape is a poster child for that.
I'd suggest trying a couple more startups. The author can then look back at this article and smile at his naïveté.
Alright, many of the preceding posts have hinted at it, but I'll lay it on the line:
If you're a startup, you have limited resources across the board. Okay, okay, If you have tons of VC money, feel free to follow his advice, then explain to the VC dudes why you didn't get them the massive ROI they expected two years down the road.
The worst thing you can do in any business is advertise a product too soon. Whether you're selling the Osbourne 2 or Team Fortress 2, early hype is "the kiss of death".
A previous poster commented something to the effect of the mantra I've followed for a while: Ideas are cheap; it's execution that matters. TFA seems to think that Ideas are what matters, and that stealth is all about protecting those. While I agree that stealth is a dumb way to protect ideas, it is a great way to shield your staff from "outside distractions" while they execute that idea. And it's also a great way to control the media -- and there's no business in the world that doesn't benefit from positive media control.
Having been involved in several startups with budgets ranging from hundreds of millions of dollars down to one that's self-funded, I've found that the key is in knowing when to listen to your customers versus when to tell them what to do. Most people don't believe this, but there are times when you need to tell people what they should be thinking. After all, you're hired not only for your ability to service a customer's needs but also for your expertise, and if you keep asking people all the time what they want then they start wondering whether you know what you're really doing. The message that you want to convey to any new customer is "Hey, I know what I'm doing, and I want to use that knowledge to help you with your needs."
If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.