

Startup Tips from the Notorious BIG - robertjmoore
http://themetricsystem.rjmetrics.com/2009/08/10/the-notorious-ceo-ten-startup-commandments-from-biggie-smalls/
The Notorious BIG's classic track "Ten Crack Commandments" is decomposed to reveal ten useful tips for startup founders.
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yan
I was just thinking about BIG recently. He was 24 when he was murdered; what
he achieved in his short life is just staggering.

~~~
mynameishere
What did he achieve?

~~~
iron_ball
Wikipedia exists for a reason.

Or were you being sarcastic? Because if so, please explain why you think he
did not achieve much.

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tezza
Dr Dre has the follow tips:

    
    
      You better get a vest, then invest in something
      To protect your head and neck
    

I don't think he was talking about kit from _ThinkGeek_

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ZitchDog
They forgot the most obvious - "Mo money, mo problems"

"I dumb down for my audience, double my dollars." \-- Jay-Z

~~~
auston
That's a really good one (in reference to UI)

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nuweborder
Not only have hiphop artists been rhyming about business, and making
references to the industry, but they have been conducting legitimate
businesses outside of rapping, for years. From Run DMC's major sponsorship
with Adidas, to Russell Simmon's and Phat Farm, but also 50 Cent's deal with
Vitamen Water and Coca Cola, Jay-Z's minority stake in the New Jersey Nets,
and much more. But now days, rappers are actually getting into the web startup
game as well. LL Cool J has created Boomdizzle.com, TI runs Streetcred.com,
Dame Dash heads up Blocksavvy.com, and Russell Simmons now has
Globalgrind.com. HipHop music lovers are heavy web users, and loyal consumers.
And hiphop artists and record label moguls are capitalizing on that fact, by
bringing their current following, and their buying power, to their other
business ventures, including their web startups.

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rokhayakebe
"It was all a dream. I used to read Techcrunch & Hacker News.

Dropbox and Posterous up on the Frontpage.

Pushing new features on the server.

Every day Ask HN, ..."

Ok let me work on this. Obviously I suck at rapping.

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mburney
I can't believe I never noticed the connection between web startups and
gangsta rap until now.

~~~
onreact-com
Most well known rappers start their own labels.

~~~
mburney
I think a fantastic example of this startup/hip hop analogy is Cash Money
records, which started very low budget and applied the "release early and
often" philosophy.

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run4yourlives
You guys remind me of Michael Bolton from office space. All that hip-hop
knowledge. :-)

~~~
yan
Hip hop has an immense amount of culture in it. As with anything, there is
terrible rap that is empty of anything worthwhile, and there is hip hop that
beautifully embeds the struggles and hopes of a generation and a creative
outlet for those that otherwise would not have one.

~~~
run4yourlives
It's a joke man, laugh a little.

~~~
yan
I wasn't offended :P Sorry, I probably have came off as a bit tight-laced

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jacquesm
There are many ways to interpret those lyrics, here is mine:

#1 -> don't brag. common sense

#2 -> never let them know your next move, is not exactly about innovation,
it's about being unpredictable so it's harder to hit you. For crack dealers
this makes sense. Innovation in the drugs scene would be to come out with a
new way to get high (which crack actually was...).

#3 -> never trust nobody: Paranoia is the hallmark of the true junkie, as well
as of the dealers scene. It serves no place in business, you _have_ to learn
how to trust people. Key employees, business partners and so on. This is
coming from somebody that has been burnt once. I'd rather get burned again
than to live my life in fear of what my partners could be doing to screw me
over. And patents are totally against my principles, time to market is what it
is all about and the internet has made that easier than ever before. You
actually _can_ make a killing on an idea+good execution these days. That
doesn't mean that you shouldn't investigate if there is a fire when you see
smoke. Paranoia spoils the atmosphere like nothing else will though, so use
with caution.

#4 never get high on your own supply: crack dealers parlance to make sure you
understand the difference between the stuff you've got for trade and for
personal use. If you can't make that difference you'll use up your trade stash
and you'll be out of business. For regular business people this is bs, if you
would not use your own product you're basically telling people that it is not
good enough for you. The chairman of a major car brand had better drive his
own product, not a competitors or the press would have a field day with it.

#5 don't sell to friends and family: I've got mixed feelings about that one.
It's true that you might not get the best feedback possible that way, but look
at it from another angle, if they won't use your product, how on earth are you
going to sell to perfect strangers. And discounts for friends, family and
employees are quite ok, especially if the product is virtual.

#6 no credit -> agreed 100%, but also the other way around, take no credit for
the company unless you absolutely have to. Very few startups need (large)
lines of credit. If you're working on something virtual there are only a few
things that will actually cost money. It's probably better to save for a bit
and then to execute than to load up your fledgeling startup with interest
payments right from day #1.

#7 separate family and business -> It depends. Some people work great as a
team, even though they are family, some people can't even go to a birthday
party together even though they are family. Just as with strangers with family
it is important to have your responsibilities and rights absolutely clear.
It's a lack of clarity and confusion that will lead to trouble, not whether
someone is family or not.

#8 no weight -> this relates to not carrying stuff so that when you get
stopped for a check you don't happen to have a load of stuff on you, so use
dead drops and so on. Good advice in the drugs world. This is good advice, so
keep your passwords where you can get at them but nobody else can, preferably
in your head.

#9 I don't understand the slang, so no comment

#10 is about accepting drugs that you can not pay for, in other words
consignment sales. Bad move for a crack pusher. For a business it's a way to
finance real world stuff that they are sure they can move, it's a lot cheaper
than going to the bank which is why it's done all over the world. But mostly
in the physical goods trade. Hard to 'consign' a bucket of bits. The equity or
loan question is a tough one, each startup sooner or later has to face it and
if and when the time comes you'll have to weigh the price of equity very
carefully against a standard loan.

So, no offense to the late Notorious BIG, but the interpretations were a
little stretched.

If anybody should get any weird ideas about me because of the above, I grew up
in a city with a very lively drugs scene, but I never even smoked a cigarette.

~~~
akikuchi
Regarding number #9, it refers to the very real danger those involved in the
drug trade face if they are perceived to be even in the same vicinity as
officers of the law. If you are seen to be an informant, your competitors (or
even partners in your supply chain or organization) may take preventative
retaliatory action without worrying about getting all the facts.

I think this is actually one of the most fitting of the 10 points. You have to
be very careful about appearances, both with respect to potential dealmaking,
as well as more generally staying out in front of the curve in managing your
brand image. Its easy for people to jump to conclusions, and it's generally
less stressful to keep the message clean from the beginning than to have to
backtrack and explain that you weren't in fact trying to block all traffic to
4chan.

I thought this was really pretty funny; I would have been concerned if there
was NO stretching of the interpretations. These guys do seem to have found
some pretty innovative ways of looking at business intelligence...

~~~
jacquesm
Thank you for the explanation, that makes perfect sense.

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nuweborder
Not only am I a big B.I.G. fan, I agree with the article's interpretation of
the song. Great tips. For years I have though of startups in the same way.
When I created my web startup (<http://www.bidrealm.net>), I worked by these
same rules. And now someone has actually written it down, and related it to a
hiphop legend at that. In short, startups need to protect what they've created
in every way, dont mix business with pleasure, nor business with family, keep
costs low, and debt minimal if not at zero, and dont trust anyone 100%.

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onreact-com
Don't get shot by the competition?

~~~
gdp
Or do. Dying is fabulous for record sales. Perhaps the same applies to
startups.

~~~
onreact-com
Reminds me of that movie where the failed writer sets himself on fire to make
his book sell.

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ckinnan
Top 5 Startup Hip Hop Songs:

1\. I'm a Hustler - JayZ 2\. Piggy Bank - 50 cent 3\. Lose Yourself - Eminem
4\. Life Is ...Too $hort - Too Short 5\. Forgot About Dre - Dr Dre

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dbz
Well, I don't know about the rest of them but number 3, lose yourself, seems
to be about his life- rapping. Not about start ups. "Palms are sweaty, knees
weak- arms are heave, vomit on your sweater already- mom's spaghetti." Ect.
Ect. He seems to be talking about the rap battle he is about to have..you
know, like in the movie 8 mile..

