Ask Jason, Episodes 11 – 13

Episode 11

1. Lisa Kant
   1. How do you get good effective press around your launch, when you don’t have a PR firm or access to bloggers? Jason is not a fan of PR companies, to get press be amazing and be everywhere.  Try engaging bloggers before you need the press, create a relationship by posting (in comments section) something insightful with a link to your company blog.  The product is everything and creating real relationships, Peter is a big believer in Dale Carnegie and How to Win Friends and Influence People.  Obsess about your market and whatever space you are in when you pitch them they are going to understand what you do.  INSIGHTS FROM TYLER!!! – Shorter is better, when people reach out to bloggers they write something big and professional, he feels the shorter and more casual the better.
2. Michael Rubin
   1. Called in on TWiST Episode #7 for advice about a slacker partner, after taking Jason’s advice things worked out in the end and equity of the project was readjusted.

Episode 12

1. Peter from Chicago, GeekStack, 99Designs contest.
   1. How does someone with 2 kids, a mortgage and a job create a startup? A year ago Jason would’ve said it will be very hard. Now that his wife is pregnant he believes it is possible.  When you are young you are also naive and believe you can do these grand things.  However, Evan Williams of Twitter is creating something and is a little older.  You will need help, try finding someone like you that has done this before and may have some money to help you invest, define the scope of the project and your spouse must be onboard.  Focus on planning, don’t react to the environment.
2. Sean
   1. How important is it to finish school or get an advance degree?  When hiring how important is education vs. experience? The greatest entrepreneurs didn’t go to school.  However, there are skills you can learn in education, marketing, finance, etc.  The fact is you will learn more on the job than anything in school go get an internship at a startup and be great, be humble and do what they ask no matter what.  When hiring Jason likes humble and kick ass a degree is not the most important.  John looks for character traits, relevancy and fit.  For engineering, if you are good you are good; it isn’t about where you went to school.

Episode 13

• Stewart Moore from Maryland

• How likely is it for someone to start a consumer hardware company? Very expensive, you are competing with the big guys.  However, things are changing and a few smaller companies have succeeded Flip and Slingbox.  Flip was very simple, no features and went against the norm.  Their have been failures OQO, make sure your idea is different.  He wants to create a device that can download and create podcasts.  Make sure you do a 100 to 1,000 unit run and have people order in advance and start the work when you get 500 orders then you do it.  Consider using Kickstarter to help fund your idea or ChallengePost to help you get the design work done (one of Jason’s Angel investments).

• Tim Holladay, Splat Technologies, mobile app. development.

• How does a small fish know if a big company is really interested, what is the next step after initial interest? Great question, you may have to go through 5, 10 meeting to get anything done.  They are big companies and it takes a long time to get anything done.  Protect yourself assume it will not happen and run your business is so.  Ask them during a meeting is this something that you may be able to execute on in 30 days, 60 days or 90 days and based on what they say let them know you have 3 other clients interested and you will make sure to get back in touch with them in said period.  Jason prefers the slow approach to salesmanship when people seek him out.  Consider a free, opensourse version to let them see something and if interested you can make a full version.  Jason prefers a visualization approach give them something to see.