Build one feature and Build 2 ways to grow that feature.

We have a lot of ideas at JustUnfollow but we implement those first that are more likely to help us spread.

No offence but if you have an idea, want to startup or have already started up, need money, want to meet hundreds of like minded teams, want to be forced to learn a new language, want to know how good cheap wine can taste and you haven’t applied for Startup Chile then you better do it now!

Startup Chile in simple words:

1. US$ 40,000 equity free seed funding

2. Spend 6 months in Chile

3. 100 teams from all over the world

No kidding. This is the best incubator for an early stage startup especially if you are in the “product building” phase. I spent 6 months as part of the first batch of this program and if I could do it all over again, hell yeah, I’ll do it!

The money helps you focus on building your product. Even before that, it gives you an opportunity to leave that job you do not want to be in and take a plunge into entrepreneurship.

When your users ask for a refund just give it to them. There is no use reasoning or fighting with your customer over the refund. Just give it to them!

Only a small percentage of your users ask for a refund. I know you would have this whole “how can they get away with this. This is cheating!” thoughts in your head when someone asks for a refund. However, it’s a trivial thing. When you start arguing over the refund, you do not win, you just make their desire for a refund stronger.

Refund and move on. Chances are, they’ll come back. If not, then they’ll tell others about their good experience doing business with you. Either ways, YOU WIN!

Do yourself a favor and use self hosted Wordpress for your company blog. I’ve tried a lot of blogging platforms but the best blogging platform from a business point of view is wordpress. 

Of course, you don’t need to do this when you are just starting out as you can get started quickly using wordpess.com or tumblr . But once you have a bit of traction for your product, move over to a self hosted wordpress blog. 

When things don’t go right, when you have a problem, tackle it right away. The more you prolong hoping it would solve itself, the murkier it gets.

I’ve been greedy. Not for money per se, for success. While it’s good to be greedy for success, you shouldn’t lose focus.

New ideas are your biggest curse. When you get a new idea, lock it up somewhere. Stay focused, don’t think too much, don’t dream too much.

If you are building a product, build it and work on it till you can call it a success or a failure. Once that’s done, you can pick the next big idea. Until then, STAY FOCUSED.

Build one product and build it right.

Attended Barcamp Mumbai 9 today. On seeing so many people enthusiastically wanting to share their experiences with everyone I decided to hold an impromptu session about Startup Chile.

It was fun! I guess I’ll be doing this “Spread Startup Chile ” thing more aften now!

We decided it was time to incorporate a private limited company as we’re growing, are a team of 3 full time employees, 1 full-time consultant and another part-time consultant. I had no clue incorporating would be this easy. I did not have to go anywhere, everything was done by the guys at NovoJuris. All I had to do was scan a few documents. The entire process took around 30 to 45 days (there was some delay in getting the company name approved but it’s expected when you’re dealing with the government).

From what I remember, these are the things you need to do while registering a company in India:

Documents needed for incorporation:

1. You need a PAN card
2. Proof of address (rented apartment works!)
3. Company address (rented apartment works!)
4. Passport size photos

You would then need to decide what the paid up capital and authorized capital would be (the guys at NovoJuris explained it to me and helped me choose what fit right for us).

Once you have the documents in place, it’s all about filling up a few forms, scanning and sending them across. It does not matter in which part of the country you are, or even if you aren’t in the country. If you have the necessary documents, everything can be done online.

Need to decide when is the right time to incorporate? Check my answer on Quora.

Next steps after incorporating:

1. Get a PAN for your company (you would need this for opening your company’s bank account)
2. Get a TAN for your company (needed for deducting and collecting tax)

While in the middle of incorporating our company I ended up discovering VakilSearch.com  They offer legal services to startups. I got our Privacy Policy and TOS made using their service. The best thing about them is that they take proper care to understand your requirements before proceeding. The website also clearly displays the costs involved upfront so there are no surprises later. 

Update 18/02/2012: Once you are done incorporating the company, get rubber stamps with your company name and letter head and I would also recommend getting business cards printed. I hate business cards but when people ask for it, it’s a little odd to tell them I don’t have one. Looking around for some minimal business card designs now.

So, you have incorporated your company, printed business cards, got the swags made, decided what your title at your company would be, read articles that teach you how to name your company, read everything about how investors can con you, bought domain names, bought the “.org” “.net” and everything else, thought how you would venture into new verticals once this product is a success. 

Now go and do some real work, build a product.