Otto and Michelle at Columbia's Startup Lab in Soho, NY
First day at Columbia University's startup lab.
I was out of my element, but I had a blast. I'm a philosophy major, and everyone else was an engineer or in Columbia's Business School.
Here's everything I took away from our private coaching sessions:
1. Position your company around the promise you're making to customers
Patagonia promises high quality clothing. That's why you can return their clothes whenever, no questions asked. Ludus promises good grades. We're going to be the best study tool for language students.
2. Position your company against your competition
If we describe Ludus as a flashcard app, it doesn't sound exciting. If we say we're going to replace Quizlet for language students, Quizlet has a $1 billion valuation, and Quizlet has a 1.4 star rating on Trust Pilot, our positioning is clear.
3. Discomfort can be a sign you're not playing to your strengths
We were unsure whether to pursue B2B sales. B2B sales offer bigger contracts, but it felt out of reach. We're students building for students, so we're going to focus on what we know best.
4. Incorporate to a C corp immediately--it's super easy
One of the best pieces of advice we got was to incorporate as a C corp right away using Stripe Atlas. The whole process takes about five minutes. Stripe Atlas handles all the legal paperwork, sets up your Delaware C corp, provides you with a bank account, and even gives you access to startup perks and credits. It removes all the friction from getting your company legally established, so you can focus on building your product instead of drowning in legal paperwork.