Aside from a good business model, a good idea and excellent execution, timing determines if a company succeeds or fails.<ul><li>Airbnb. People thought that no one would rent out a space in their home to a stranger. But the company came out during the recession when people needed extra money.</li><li>Z.com (1999-2003) was an online entertainment company with a great idea. But broadband penetration was too low, and it was too hard to watch video content online.  In 2005,  Adobe Flash solved the codec problem, and broadband penetration reached 50 % in America, perfect for YouTube to start and become a success.</li></ul>

Examples of timing

The startup organisation is one of the greatest ways to make the world a better place. You can unlock human potential if you organise a group of people in a startup with the right equity incentive. Yet, many startups still don't succeed because they lack the right timing.

The startup

<ol><li>The idea. However, the idea is not everything. </li><li>The team and execution. Mike Tyson once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." Much about a team's execution is the ability to adapt and to get punched in the face by the customer.</li><li>The business model.</li><li>Funding. Some companies with intense funding don't succeed.</li><li>Timing. The idea is too early, and the world is not ready for it.</li></ol>

Factors that  contribute to start-up success

<ol><li>Timing accounted for 42 percent of the difference between success and failure.</li><li>Team and execution came second</li><li>The uniqueness of the idea came third.</li><li>The business model and funding are the least important. If you're underfunded at first but then gain traction, is very easy to get intense funding.</li></ol>

Timing is the most important

Bill Gross has founded many start-ups and incubated many others. He got curious about why some succeeded and others failed.

Bill Gross has founded a lot of start-ups, and incubated many others — and he got curious about why some succeeded and others failed. So he gathered data from hundreds of companies, his own and other people's, and ranked each company on five key factors. He found one factor that stands out from the others — and surprised even him. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship

startup

Startups

videos

Videos

Bill Gross has founded a lot of start-ups, and incubated many others — and he got curious about why some succeeded and others failed. So he gathered data from hundreds of companies, his own and other people's, and ranked each company on five key factors. He found one factor that stands out from the others — and surprised even him.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gross_the_single_biggest_reason_why_startups_succeed

Follow TED news on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tednews
Like TED on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TED

Subscribe to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TEDtalksDirector

The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.

TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com