For some startups traction with users comes first, and a solid business model follows. But entrepreneur Joe Stump says the biggest mistake made by investors is telling entrepreneurs that they can wait to “turn on” revenue.
“Revenue isn’t a light switch. You have to practice making money,” Stump says. “I encourage every startup I advise and invest in to start experimenting with revenue on day one. I don’t care what they charge for, but charge for something on day one.”
Stump is the former lead architect at Digg, and the founder of SimpleGeo. He also advises and invests in startup including Kiip and StyleSeat. Though he grew up around entrepreneurs, he didn’t always know that he wanted to start his own business. “My mom and dad both owned their own businesses growing up so it never really occurred to me, but rather was ingrained from an early age I suppose,” he says. “I was always working on ideas as a kid: mowing neighbors lawns, writing and selling programs for the TI-85 in math class, etc.” After college Stump went into consulting. But although he’d already been to Silicon Valley for the first dotcom boom and was always interested in startup culture, it wasn’t until he moved to Seattle that he started thinking he should give it a try one day.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Former Digg Lead Architect Joe Stump: Entrepreneurs Have To Practice Making Money
