Who said hardware had to be hard? Shaun Arora is the Managing Director at Make In LA (MiLA) Capital, Southern California’s only hardware accelerator— who joined our own Sean at CoEfficient Labs for an enlightening episode of Demo Day.
We explored some of our favorite takeaways from the episode below, but make sure you tune in for more tips on (hardware) entrepreneurship!
- There are no barriers to prototyping.
20-30 years ago, building hardware was not only more difficult, it required M-O-N-E-Y. It was the age old tale— if you can avoid the hardware biz, do so. However, with the advent of Raspberry Pi and cloud computing, those barriers are now gone.
Today, if you have an idea— you can get a prototype up and running in days. It’s a heck of a lot easier to sell yourself to a VC with a product in-hand.
Especially in LA, there are tons of people and companies who understand hardware, so start building and reach out!
- Don’t underestimate the importance of storytelling.
Many entrepreneurs have designed a product to solve a personal problem. That’s great!— but how can they market it to others?
Often, this difficulty arises from a lack of familiarity with storytelling.
Shaun helps founders tell a story behind their product: why the product is needed, who is going to benefit from it, and why they’re the best solution to the problem.
Storytelling will transform your pitches and multiply your reach tenfold.
- Founders must be curious and coachable.
Most founders want to know what they can do to achieve greatness: what books to read, which podcasts to listen to (this one, obviously), and even where to set up shop.
But for Shaun, the most important traits are curiosity and coachability. Investors need to trust that early-stage founders will find product-market fit yet pivot when needed. For instance, Shaun has seen companies move from B2C to B2B (and vice versa) when the market demands it. Founders need to understand when to be stubborn and when to be flexible:
“When you’re flying the plane and it’s crashing, you need to be able to pull up.”
Listen to your customers, listen to your mentors, and be ready to tweak your product over its lifespan so that it (and you) can be “great.”
- Co-founders help you interpret what investors want.
When you start your own company, you love the idea that it’s yours. You’re not in school listening to teachers, you’re not working for the man— you’re doing exactly as you see fit.
As Shaun points out, however— Y Combinator, Techstars, all the major accelerators like to see more than one founder. Co-founders allow for different interpretations of the same input. You can then collaborate on solving the issues raised.
Don’t let pride or a sense of freedom interfere with the integrity of your company. It’s better to have two co-founders and exit successfully than to go at it alone and shut down shop after a couple years.
Want to Learn More?
Shaun has plenty to share including his own experiences building a startup and how to transform your insecurities. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our Demo Day Website.
As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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