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Monday, December 12, 2005

25 Characteristics of The Ideal Startup

Sam Decker, over at Decker Marketing, posts his comprehensive list of "25 Characteristics of The Ideal Startup."

As always, Sam's insights are invaluable. Here's his list:
  1. Defendable and differentiated
  2. Competitive cost structure
  3. Attractive partnership opportunities
  4. Repeat customers
  5. Word of mouth opportunity
  6. Memorable product and name
  7. Potential for PR
  8. Attractive to be bought or merged
  9. Scaleable staff and systems
  10. Scaleable product -- build once, sell many times
  11. Uncomplicated
  12. Focus
  13. Niche market or fragmented industry
  14. High velocity and large market / industry
  15. High perceived value
  16. Product can be accessorized – revenue synergies
  17. Healthy cash flow –> margin x velocity
  18. Demonstrable felt need, demand – does it hit a primal chord?
  19. Business can be measured for improvement
  20. Can claim leadership
  21. Sales model is scaleable and predictable
  22. Product evokes emotion
  23. Can make big wins – big customers
  24. Limited exposure to legal issues
  25. Own relationship with and information about customers
BOTTOMLINE: Can your startup have all of these attributes? Not likely, but this list is a great sanity check on whether your business idea has "a long tail."

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