I am planning to start a company of my own later this year. Do you have some tips for me? I have no experience of starting a company of my own, even though I work in a start-up.
Are you ready to not sleep for god knows how long? Have you thought about how you'll make money until your start up actually makes money? Do you have hundreds of connections? Because in reality that is how you grow - it's all about who you know and how you leverage those relationships.
Best of luck to you - been there and it's a long, but exhilarating ride.
Tips? Not as such, since I don't know anything about you or your business. But I can share some reading suggestions - things that helped me and that I consider valuable:<p><i>The Four Steps to the Epiphany</i> - Steve Blank<p><i>The Art of the Start</i> - Guy Kawasaki<p><i>The Lean Startup</i> - Eric Ries<p><i>Blue Ocean Strategy</i> - W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne<p><i>Crossing the Chasm</i> - Geoffrey Moore<p><i>The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing</i> - Al Ries & Jack Trout<p><i>Positioning</i> - Al Ries & Jack Trout<p><i>Repositioning</i> - Jack Trout (with Steve Rivkin)<p><i>Differentiate or Die</i> - Jack Trout (with Steve Rivkin)<p><i>The Ultimate Marketing Plan</i> - Dan S. Kennedy<p><i>The Ultimate Sales Machine</i> - Chet Holmes<p><i>All Marketers Are Liars</i> - Seth Godin<p><i>The Purple Cow</i> - Seth Godin<p>And add in one generic "Marketing 101" textbook. Find something at a used bookstore or order used on Amazon. Something like this, or similar:<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0132177153/ref=sr_1_4_up_1_main_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376497821&sr=1-4&condition=used" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0132177153/ref=sr_1_4...</a><p>I guess there actually is a tip embedded in all that... "learn as much as you can about marketing". I'm still learning myself, and I've only learned enough to have a vague notion of how much I don't know, but I've gained a real appreciation for the importance of this stuff.