How to Write a Business Plan – Reflection Sundays

Every Sunday we reflect on the great companies that we spoke to over the past week. Here we will be restating some of best responses to questions around writing a business plan, applying to an accelerator program and starting a company.

Monday Interview with Notesolution Co-Founder and CEO, Jack Tai. Notesolution took part in the FounderFuel accelerator program of 2012 and are the first FounderFuel company that we have interviewed.

What advice would you give to people looking to start a company?

My one piece of advice is never start a company unless you are in it to make a difference, and dedicating a significant amount of your life to make that difference because it is a roller-coaster. There will be a lot of ups and downs with mostly downs.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to get their company into an accelerate program?

Be yourself! Talk about why you started the company, and try to relate it to your own experience, so they know where you are coming from. If you have any traction such as user growth, engagement level, and so on – show them! Be prepared to answer how big is the market size, and ideas on how you are going to tackle it. Last but not least, always look for a co-founder or two to join you because they will be expecting it.

Tuesday Interview with ReadyForZero co-founder & CEO, Rod Ebrahimi. ReadyForZero is a graduate of the Y Combinator accelerator program.

Notesolution is the largest note sharing site for post secondary students in Canada. Notesolution is the go to source for all academic needs of a post-secondary student. In addition to enhancing one’s own education, Notesolution also allows users to earn rewards by uploading and sharing their original notes and study notes.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to get their company into an accelerator program?

Focus all your energy on a big problem and get something in front of users as quickly as possible. We started with paper prototypes and put every product iteration in front of real users. What you learn from these interactions are a big part of what accelerators (and investors) like Y Combinator are look for.

What advice would you like to give to an entrepreneur thinking about writing their first business plan?

We didn’t have a formal business plan but we did do a lot of planning. We always live by George Patton’s famous quote: “”A good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.” If you are planning just make sure it doesn’t get in the way of taking action, always stay in motion.

Wednesday Interview with Tutorspree Co-Founder & CEO, Aaron Harris.Tutorspree is a graduate of the Y Combinator accelerator program.

Tutorspree is all about finding the perfect 1 on 1 tutor for every student. Parents and students are currently spending billions of dollars a year on tutors, but have no great way to find them. They use craigslist, flyers on telephone poles, and the recommendations of friends when available. That seems like a crazy way to do things. It’s haphazard, inefficient, and leads to subpar outcomes. We think there’s a better way, and that’s Tutorspree.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to get their company into an accelerator program?

Don’t focus on getting into an accelerator, and don’t rely on it for your success. The best companies at YC didn’t need YC to succeed, YC just gave them rocket fuel.

What advice would you like to give to an entrepreneur thinking about writing their first business plan?

Keep it fluid and don’t get bogged down into the details. No matter how good your business plan, the real world is going to surprise you and break whatever you’ve set up. If you’re tied too deeply to a paper plan, you’re going to lose the flexibility you need to succeed.

Thursday Interview with ooomf Co-Founder and CEO, Mikael Cho. ooomf took part in the Canadian FounderFuel accelerator program of 2012.

ooomf is an engagement platform that is reinventing the way apps and app makers are explored and discovered today. Our goal is to give mobile developers a platform and the tools to create a loyal user base during the entire life cycle of their app, from pre-launch, to launch, to post-launch.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to get their company into an accelerator program?

An accelerator program is definitely something every entrepreneur should experience at least once. But, keep in mind that not all accelerator programs are created equal. Make sure the goals of your company align with the goals of the accelerator program you’re applying to. Are you looking for funding or to get your metrics right? Different programs focus on different things.

What advice would you like to give to an entrepreneur thinking about writing their first business plan?

When writing a business plan, just make sure you know that it will need to be fluid. We used the Lean Canvas and wrote our first plan in 15 minutes. From then on, it’s all about testing your riskiest assumptions from that plan, and adapting as necessary. Don’t get stuck to a written plan if the market is telling you something different.

Friday Interview with Ryan Holiday, Media Strategist and Best Selling Author of Trust Me I’m Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator.

You‘ve mentioned in other interviews and in your book that we are living in an attention economy and that “doing good stuff isn’t enough.” What does this mean to entrepreneurs? Are their value propositions just not enough anymore?

It means that you can’t expect your product to get an audience just because. If you build it, they will NOT come. You have to make them come. And the only way to do that is to be adept at marketing, packaging and psychology. It’s not that the value proposition has changed it’s that the competition has gotten infinite while people’s attention spans have stayed the same. To get your share of it you have to win the fight.

If you were the Director of Marketing for a startup, where would you start? What’s “first things first”?

You start online and you start with the people who influence other people. Think of it as a force multiplier. You can put all your energy on getting a tiny article in the USA Today that might bring you a few hundred users. Or you can start small with a blog that is read heavily by other blogs and watch as one mention turns into dozens–and thus thousands or hundreds of thousands of users.

Saturday Interview with Prestopolis Co-Founder & CEO, Jeremy Easterbrook. Prestopolis is a graduate of the French Canadian accelerator program FounderFuel.

Prestopolis is a marketing solution for small & medium retailers who want to drive more traffic in-store. Retailers using our proprietary technology have seen remarkable returns on investment (in some scenarios: 850% +) both for in-store and e-commerce.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur looking to get their company into an accelerator program?

Vision and a kickass team! I can’t overstate how important having a great team is. In a tech accelerator like FounderFuel, it was mandatory to have a technical founder; but also demonstrate you guys have a personality.

One area that is underrated is the product. YOU NEED A COMPLETED PRODUCT. If you can’t, get as close to a product that you can demo as possible, even if it doesn’t work.

What advice would you like to give to an entrepreneur wondering how to write a business plan?

Writing your first business plan is important. I recommend the lean startup method, but anything will do. Next advice : DO IT, forget planning. It sounds counterintuitive, but I meet so many entrepreneurs who talk but don’t act. Try your idea out in the wild ASAP. It’s often way easier than it looks.


A special thanks to all the founders that took the time to speak with us this past week! We look forward to big things from all of you in the future!!!