On frothiness

Enjoying a caffeine fix as I walk to the office in the morning has become one of the only "routine" parts of my day. Usually, I opt for a latte. The secret to a great latte is the right proportion of frothy milk-foam goodness on top to strong, robust espresso beneath. You never want more than 1 part froth to 2 parts espresso. The problem with froth is that you can't tell what's beneath it until you drink it up. If I slurp down the foam on top and there's not enough substance [mmmm espresso] beneath, I feel let down, and never return to that coffee bar.

There are lots of coffee bars for me to chose from, and there are lots of early stage startups for A+ potential employees and A+ investors to rally around.

When it comes to a startup, froth = buzz and press. Without a little froth, it is very difficult -- although not impossible -- to attract A+ employees and investors. I'd argue that in the case of first time entrepreneurs without a proven track record [e.g. us here at Udorse], some froth is an absolute must in the first 12 months to set a company up for long term success.

In a startup's case, the espresso, the substance = product. In the case of a consumer internet startup, the product needs to delight users [the key for the first few years], and then effectively translate this user delight into revenue while maintaining -- or increasing -- said delight. Users, and customers, don't give a damn about froth. A user doesn't care how many times you were mentioned in the WSJ or on TechCrunch. They don't care how great you look in an AmericanApparel startup logo T-Shirt. They care about the product solving a real problem and being a joy to use.

Froth / Substance is a tough balance to strike. Yet, like so many other elements of starting a business, getting this balance right is critical.

Where things go badly off the rails is when startups get drunk on their own froth and forget substance. This can happen even with really smart founders [Cuil gets picked on a lot, but it's a good example of The Affliction Know as Frothy Inebriation]. I've watched from afar as a number of startups took their froth to the bank too early without the right proportion of substance beneath. There was a ton of froth around widget companies in 2007. Now, not so much.

In some ways, "froth / substance" is a perceptions game. Today I was reminded just how easy it is to unwittingly generate the perception of too much froth at the perceived expense of substance. After a summer of 80 hr plus weeks in the office, we took 1.5 hours off last week to snap a few pictures of ourselves on the roof of our building. The view is amazing, and a friend-of-a-friend is a great photographer. It was a fun break, and we got right back to building our product after the "photo shoot" was done. I posted the pics to Facebook today, and one of the first comments I received was from an acquaintance saying "you are supposed to defer the photo shoots until after you succeed." Oh boy.

If things around Udorse get too frothy in the coming weeks and months, please tell me. I'll be grateful. We can grab a latte together, my treat.