

Why Slogging and Schlepping Are Key Startup Values - sk2code
http://www.fastcompany.com/3006142/paul-graham-and-buster-benson-why-slogging-and-schlepping-are-key-startup-values

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jeremyjh
One pattern that has held-back my personal side-projects from ever achieving
any real value (other than my own education) is that I'm always finding ways
to drop back of schlepping and back into experimentation and analysis. Knowing
this tendency in myself has held me back from any serious contemplation of
actually quitting my job to start a business; I can schlep with the best when
the goal is in sight and preferably there is a gun to my head (like an insane
deadline I've signed up for). But I don't know how to do it when the value of
the work is questionable, or so far down the road that I can't really see it
from where I am now. I'm constantly plagued with "what if no one ever wants to
use this?"

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RyanZAG
Great point. From what I've read and experienced, you're right on the money:
there is a very good chance no one ever wants to use it.

Don't let this paralyze you though - it's why the idea of an MVP and
Kickstarter are so popular right now. The best advice I've heard on this
topic: just give it the best shot you can, fail fast if it doesn't get
traction, and try to learn as much as possible from failing so that your next
project is less likely to fail.

This gives you a really great deadline too: MPV in 2 months, fail if no
traction in 6 months (or even faster?).

Alternatively, if you really don't like the above idea or you can't build your
idea into an MPV in a couple months, stick with your current job and work on
your product on the side. This let's you take as long as you need to make the
product, removes the pressure of starving, and can turn into an enjoyable
hobby even if you don't get much traction.

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aegiso
This is a shameless regurgitation of an article. Do yourself a favor and read
the source material, which is worlds more insightful.

<http://www.paulgraham.com/schlep.html>

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mashmac2
A direct copy from the Buster Benson source as well, which is more insightful
than the article, too!

<http://wayoftheduck.com/long-slog>

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shawnreilly
Paul's original article (linked by aegiso) is awesome, and I couldn’t agree
more. When I did my first Startup (that failed) I was trying to do something
that was Fun. After experiencing failure and learning my lesson(s), I realized
that Fun is not necessarily the best focus to build a business. My second
attempt (which is where I am now) has a focus on Value, which has been much
more successful. I believe that Value is directly determined by what pain
points you solve, and how many people they affect. In many ways I've had to
train myself to identify the biggest pain points that fall within my
experience/knowledge, and just go for it!! I'm a designer, but as a technical
co-founder, I put a strong emphasis on Product Vision, Business Models, and
solving Big Problems. The bottom line, anything is possible. We just have to
identify what needs to be built, and build it! I'm learning how to code, but
I've realized that team work makes the dream work. So right now my goal is to
build a few strong founding teams for a few of my highly ambitious ideas. I am
experimenting with a new concept (a team building exercise) that shares
similarities with some of the new ‘Studio Startup’ models people are using. I
will be essentially 'CrowdFounding' the Projects, open to anyone that can
execute. Hopefully I can succeed and solve some of these huge problems I've
identified (mostly related to Infrastructure and Security)

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arbuge
Quite so. I'm thinking that the whole lean startup movement in some ways
exacerbates the schlep blindness problem PG refers to. If you expect instant
rewards/feedback/traction before discarding an idea, you might sometimes be
overlooking something.

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thebear
Good point. I've always felt uncomfortable with the lean startup mantra "If
it's not working out, pivot." If something's not working out, it could be for
one of two reasons: either you're doing the wrong thing, or what you're doing
needs more time and hard work, that is, you just met the schlep. Deciding
which one of the two you're looking at is incredibly hard. I don't think that
there are any rules. The pivoting mantra just kinda glosses over that whole
problem. The best advice I could distil from it would be, "If it's not working
out, don't cling to it at all cost, consider pivoting." Ok.

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mdda
IMHO, this isn't really what the Lean Startup mantra is all about. Lean-wise,
one is really trying to see where there is customer/product fit. When there
is, it's like finding a filter's resonance point : Suddenly you've found
people's hot buttons.

[ no, no, meh, hmm, YESYESYES, hmm, meh, no, no]

The key to the Lean part is only doing a schlep when you've identified that
it'll pay off once done. Don't schlep until you've got evidence that the
destination will be worth the trip.

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thebear
_Don't schlep until you've got evidence that the destination will be worth the
trip._

I see what you're saying. I just think that this leaves unresolved the one
crucial question: what constitutes "evidence that the destination will be
worth the trip?"

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onlyup
Also known as "hard work". If this blog provided any insight or new ideas to
you then ... god help you.

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nachteilig
Sometimes people need to be reminded of this. A lot of the representation the
press gives seems to imply that people simply walk into money. As usual, pg
gives some perspective.

