3 things you’ll need if you want to become the next startup billionaire

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If you’re a gamer, or a passionate follower of all things start-ups, you’ve probably heard about Microsoft’s acquisition of the popular creative-world gaming sensation, Minecraft for more than $2.5 billion. The stranger than fiction story of the world’s newest, accidental billionaire starts with a tweet that eventually led to an acquisition by Microsoft of Mojang Studios.

In more recent news, the decision was made to allow Minecraft to be accessed by gamers in the exclusionary People’s Republic of China, through a partnership with NetEase. The story of Minecraft, from its initial creation as a pet project, to its organic growth into an entire sub-culture and eventual acquisition is the kind of story that gets dreamers ready to take the plunge into the insane world of startups; a place where the chance of real success is a measly 10%.

If you’re tempted, here are three things you can do to improve your chances of success:

1. Develop a laser focus on your core competencies

There’s a fantastic article that covers strategies on how to focus at work, but I’m going to expand on the importance of focus at an organizational level. If you’re in the pre-revenue phase of your business, it’s tempting to jump at every opportunity. As investors and potential clients emerge, finding ways to satisfy all of their needs might seem like the best way to generate cash-flow. Don’t fall into the trap!

Startups that try to be all things to all people end up crashing and burning. If you’re lucky, your company will be able to do one or two things well. Trying to diversify to early will burn through valuable resources and cause your team to suffer excessive burnout.

Takeaway: To focus your organization, treat every idea or opportunity as a potential distraction. If it takes you away from your primary focus, find ways to avoid taking it on. Encourage your team to proactively identify distractions disguised as opportunities and pivot back to your core competencies.

2. Get in the habit of making lists and attacking your top priorities

Similar to the point above that discusses focus at an organizational level, in your personal work-life you need to be able to focus your energies on your most important objectives. It’s nearly impossible to confidently identify your most important objectives in the moment. You must take time to step back every few hours, create / review your list of tasks and refocus your efforts.

In Brian Tracy’s bestselling novel, “Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time”, Tracy hammers away at the importance of taking on your least palatable task first-thing during your workday. Having a difficult task in the rearview mirror gives you the energy and enthusiasm to conquer the rest of your to-do list.

Takeaway: Thoughtfully create a personal to-do list. Divide it into “Today”, “This Week”, “This Month” and “This Year”. These lists, updated regularly throughout the day, will allow you to tackle both long and short-term goals by creatively procrastinating on low-value tasks (i.e. time eaters).

3. Cut expenses to fuel growth and expansion

Creating or expanding a business requires capital. Whether it’s the acquisition of product or services that you can’t develop on your own, or a new marketing campaign, capital allows you to pursue opportunities. When I was building my first business I had very little income. I was hyper-focused on building and creating something unique from scratch. What I quickly realized was that I needed capital to achieve optimal results.

I loathed the idea of bringing on investors. I didn’t want to sacrifice my equity in my dream, and I wanted to have full control over the direction of the business. That meant I needed to self-fund my expansion. If you’re willing to slash your personal expenses and pour everything you can into your business, it can be done.

For starters, I committed to spending 20 minutes a day hunting for coupons and other novel ways to save on my personal living expenses. For example, after reading an article about creating a grocery budget calendar that kept track of how much I was saving on groceries, I turned the idea of saving on food into a game. As couponer extraordinaire Jen Altrogge says in her article, a grocery expenses spreadsheet allows “you [to] easily track your progress and determine if your hard work couponing is paying off.”

Takeaway: Create a plan for saving money that is trackable and provides a real return on the efforts you’re making to cut costs. Consider the opportunity cost involved in saving money and balance cost-cutting with the efforts necessary to independently build your business.

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