VC Turned Entrepreneur: 3 Lessons Learned

Before joining the entrepreneur scene, I was a VC at Canaan Partners where my primary job was diligence-ing new deals.  It was great practice for running my own startup, SkillSlate, a website that allows people to find & hire independent service professionals.  However, I’ve learned that no amount of VC experience can fully prepare someone to be an entrepreneur.  Below are the top three lessons that I learned since joining the startup world:

Hire the Best People You Can Find, Regardless of Where they Live.
Nothing beats working with fantastic people face-to-face, but finding great people in your city can be difficult.  Rather than holding out for several crucial months to hire that perfect local candidate, start looking for remote talent.  What you’ll lose in communication, you’ll gain in having a higher quality team member.

Use Your Own Product.
If your business is consumer facing, it’s important that everyone in your organization uses your product regularly.  You’ll be amazed what you learn when you see your product from your users perspective.

Get Out of the Building (and Talk to Your Customers).
Every moment that you’re not interacting with a customer, you’re slowly forgetting his/her needs, concerns and problems.  The longer this goes on, the more your product will deviate from their needs, and the more likely you’re wasting your time building a product no one wants.