10 trendy statements in tech start-ups

When you work with the shakers and doers, with the entrepreneurs and with the tech community, it is always fun and exciting. You also periodically run into a series of stereotypes that make you smile.

1. Our app is part of the "ecosystem"

I hear that a lot stated in the context of mobile applications seen like some sort of "living system" as opposed to a network of digital assets- which is really what they are. While I have nothing against the marketing verbiage and it really sounds cool, I can't stop thinking like the science guy that I am.

And when it comes to science an ecosystem means only one thing and I quote from Wikipedia "a community of living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil) interacting as a system."

I think that, whoever chose to abuse this term, really only looked at the end of this sentence ... "interacting as a system".

2. I "uber"

It is new fancy way of traveling by car in busy cities. It is supposed to be cheaper and better than a cab and faster than a bike. Plus it's cool: it has a mobile app as well and everybody talks about it.

I don't know: I don't use that service. I drive my own car and it works pretty good for me.

3. We've been selected for an "accelerator" in San Francisco

Going back to Wikipedia: "Seed accelerators are fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. While traditional business incubators are often government-funded, generally take no equity, and focus on biotech, medical technology, clean tech or product-centric companies, accelerators can be either privately or publicly funded and focus on a wide range of industries."

Everything is nice and dandy with these accelerators however what we find in the real world is that many of them are neither seed-funded nor mentored for success. 

4. Our idea / concept is unique: nobody has that right now

If your idea is really unique you should worry. It usually means one of these two things: you either did not do enough research to see what other ideas are out there or there is no market for your idea. Yes, I know, I know. Henry Ford invented the automobile at the beginning of the century.

5. I like "affinity" social media

There is a trend that shapes up towards niche or affinities based social media as a opposed to more generic social media. I happen to like the trend however I think that people like Facebook had a strong marketing and technical concept and, more important, they were industry pioneers. That is actually the reason they were so successful: they kind of played very well all the aspects of the business from concept to execution.

So my humble advice for social media entrepreneurs is for them to focus on execution of their concept: you need a great reliable and super sexy site, you need users involvement, you need to give people reasons to stick around and, very important, you need to be able to reach to a lot of people. Just the fact that their concept is niche will not make their business successful.

6. He/she is a bad-a** coder

This one I can't even spell out. Apparently it's a big plus to be that kind of a coder these days.

7. We are seed-funded

That in Miami usually means they have somewhere around $25,000 and $50,000. Sometimes less than that. Not really that much money if you think in terms of developing a product, getting an office space and starting some initial form of marketing. On the other hand what we see is a lot of great concepts / prototypes and sometimes even MVPs with a lot of potential. And quite a few experienced teams. Should those businesses be well funded, they would have a way better shot at becoming successful.

Lack of appropriate funding is currently one of Miami's biggest issues. It steps a lot on the break.

8. We are in an "incubator" in Miami

And here we are back to Wikipedia. "Business incubators differ from research and technology parks in their dedication to start-up and early-stage companies." Some of the things listed here are "help with business basics", "networking activities", "marketing assistance", "help with accounting/financial management", "access to bank loans, loan funds and guarantee programs", "help with presentation skills", "access to angel investors or venture capital".

And again all these things would be great if they were seriously implemented. But we run into businesses that do not have their act together with their marketing, they do not have a business structure (let aside they don't have an accountant), they don't even know how to make a presentation. And angel investors are rare and very conservative ... Many times they want to see finished products and signed up paying customers to invest ...

We network and market more than most of these start-ups: and based on their cash flow they should do double than what we do.

9. Our company's "valuation" is astonishing

How can you even dream to have a realistic company valuation when you are a start-up with a team of three, some seed funding and no product or market study? I suggest we get back to the basics of economics and do real studies / valuations. Then we will be looked at more seriously by seasoned investors.

10. I am a "serial entrepreneur"

You are a serial entrepreneur if your name is Elon Musk. Or Steve Jobs. Or Mark Cuban. Everybody else does what we are all doing: trying & re-trying things hard until we find something that works. So let's see things in prospective and remain objective: pivots are fun but they don't make you a serial entrepreneur.

Make it a great day!

Adrian Corbuleanu
Miami Beach, FL
http://wittywebnow.com