I was told by a serial entrepreneur that startups dont need product organization that the founders are who drive the vision of the product. Hearing this as a product manager trying to get into the startup scene, I was crushed. Do you agree?

It’s a good sign that a startup is failing, or will fail, when the founder of the company hands product vision over to someone else. Can someone else run the day-to-day of gathering requirements, talking to customers, etc.? Sure, but nobody else should be driving vision.

Personally, I wouldn’t hire a product manager until the product suite had grown to a point where I couldn’t handle most of those duties myself. Usually after a Series A and usually 2-3 years into a company’s lifespan.

you type:	you see:
italics	italics
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
1. item 1 2. item 2 3. item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
Paragraphs are separated by one or more blank lines: The first paragraph. Another paragraph.	The first paragraph. Another paragraph

Any tips on how to get into the startup industry as a designer?

Answered by Daniel Burka – Co-founder of Pownce and Milk.

Go talk to startups. If you're a great designer it's never been a better time to get into a startup. Everyone, and I mean just about everyone, is hiring. (more)

Ever since I was a toddler, I loved cars. My "beep beeps". I am trying to break into the re-sale market of German car "aftermarket" parts. I am trying to keep it fun and fr...

Answered by Saul Colt – WOM Expert Posted in Marketing Sales

Worry less about making the deals sizzle and focus on the customer and the rabid fan. This is a product I would have no use for but there are people out there who would se... (more)

I am trying to get a business idea going, have talked to customers and partners, and am able to get into the space I need to do a proper market test. I do have a job but I...

Answered by Raymond Luk – Partner, Year One Labs

Never accept money from friends/family unless you can look them in the eye and tell them they're most likely going to lose that money forever. I've done it (both the lookin... (more)

Hi there, Mark! I wanted to know if you could offer some advice on how 'best' to aquire capital for an, interior design/architectural/decluttering business I'm trying to...

Answered by Mark MacLeod – Partner, Real Ventures

Hey Dave, Unfortunately it is very hard to get capital for a services business. There are no assets that can be sold. The business is you. So you need to ask for money for... (more)

What are some ways to generate outside interest in your startup? I'm trying to drive traffic pre-launch but can't seem to get more than 50-60 visits a day.

Answered by Benjamin Yoskovitz – Partner, Year One Labs Posted in Marketing

You can pay for traffic (Google Adwords, Facebook, etc.) You can have a landing page that goes viral (see http://localmind.com and how they try to encourage people to push... (more)

Sign up for Sprouter