To 10x your chances at startup success: Fix a problem that you yourself have.<ul><li>Make a list of 15-20 problems in your life </li><li>Rank them by the most painful </li><li>Build a product that solves one of them</li></ul> This is crucial because: <ul><li>You’ll have a familiarity with the problem which will help you design a solution</li><li>You’ll have knowledge of existing solutions and what they lack</li><li>You’ll know about the space</li><li>Youll know about your target market and customers</li></ul> Building a company for a problem you have is better than building a company for financial reasons.

10X Your Chances Of Startup Success

When looking for your first hires, you need to find people who are as passionate about solving that problem as you areIf you’re trying to build a startup in the software space but don’t have any coding experience, find a cofounder that doesNot every company has to be a venture-backed startup. You can build a successful small company that’s an awesome cashflow machine.

Recruit An Amazing Team

Why did James move from San Francisco to Los Angeles? <ul><li>James felt there were more creative individuals in LA than SF</li><li>SF was an engineering-focused space that was very financially driven</li><li>The relationships in SF tend to be more transactional than anything else</li><li>The culture in SF was a serious city that didn’t value humour in people</li><li>In SF, there are 200-300 investors for every great idea which lowers returns and makes it harder to get into a deal</li><li>James believes that in 5 years, LA will become the creative capital of the world</li><li>LA already has a lot of amazing companies such as Snapchat and Honey</li></ul>

Find A Better Playground For Your Creativity

At a certain point, your company will be too big for you to do everything. That’s where delegation comes in.If you’re too much of a control freak, you won’t let others blossom and you’ll limit the growth of your company.When you delegate, you won’t get 100% of the results you want, but you will get 90% of the results with only 5% of the work which is an excellent tradeoff.

When To Delegate Work

When building a company, launch earlier rather than later. By launching early, you’ll get feedback from customers sooner and will be able to make adjustments to improve the product.Refine and refine your solution to better solve the problem your customers face

Building A Startup

Build a company around a problem that you yourself have.

From the drawing board to fruition: A comprehensive guide to Startups.

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Books

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Problem Solving

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Communication

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Personal Development

The Startup Collection

Founder quotes and tricks for building a great product.

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine  Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show: 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline James opens the show giving the #1 piece of advice he would give to founders to multiply their chances of startup success 10 fold. He then takes answers voicemail questions about how founders should decide how to to delegate their time and the strategy founders could take in the early stages of their companies. He closes the show by expounding on why he moved away from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles, despite the large network effect that exists for founders in the Bay area. Support Our Sponsors Magic Mind https://magicmind.co Tech Meme https://www.techmeme.com/ Tiny Capital https://www.tinycapital.com/belowtheline   About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stanford University, TechCrunch Disrupt, and has been featured in outlets like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and Time Magazine. He’s been featured in Forbes, Time, and Inc Magazine’s “30 Under 30” lists and advises startups all around the world. All of this is his “above the line” version of his background. Hear the other 90% of the story in the intro episode of Below The Line.  “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Another Podcast Network.

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Host James Beshara is an angel investor, advisor, founder, & general startup-helper in Los Angeles, CA. He has started three companies, sold one (Tilt; acq by Airbnb), and invested in multiple billion-dollar startups in his career. Now he's talking openly and honestly with others about what's going on "below the line" — the 90% of the story you don't read about or hear about anywhere else.  Below the Line has evolved into a powerful weekly show that consistently takes a deep dive into the real journeys, the unspoken perspectives, and the psychological side of creating, founding, and learning.

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