{"id":45776,"date":"2023-10-20T15:46:19","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/six-pieces-of-no-nonsense-advice-from-shark-tanks-steve-baxter-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:46:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:46:19","slug":"six-pieces-of-no-nonsense-advice-from-shark-tanks-steve-baxter-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/six-pieces-of-no-nonsense-advice-from-shark-tanks-steve-baxter-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Six pieces of no nonsense advice from Shark Tank\u2019s Steve Baxter – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Selling a startup for $373 million despite not finishing high school was all due to having a strong passion for business, according to investor and Shark Tank<\/i> <\/i>star Steve Baxter.<\/p>\n

Speaking at The Sunrise conference in Sydney about his experience co-founding telecommunications company PIPE Networks, Baxter said a stint in the army from the age of 15 gave him a \u201cvery low tolerance\u201d for people not pulling their weight.<\/p>\n

He also said it is important for founders to seek forgiveness instead of asking for permission when they\u2019re disrupting a long-established, wealthy industry.<\/p>\n

Here are six more tips for startup founders from the serial entrepreneur and investor.<\/p>\n

1. Make sure you have technical skills in the founding team<\/h3>\n

Baxter says something that really pisses him off is when founding teams \u201cdon\u2019t have a chance in hell\u201d of building version one of their product by themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cExecutionless ideas are a waste of time for everybody,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everyone has to have technical skills, but you need to have technical skills in the founding team. If I talk to three ex-bakers who want to start an app business, that gives me the shits.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Employ the best people but strive to keep a work-life balance<\/h3>\n

Looking back on his past ventures, Baxter said surrounding himself with talented individuals and advisers was one of the most crucial things he ever did.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to employ the best people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have good procedures, you don\u2019t need to employ rocket scientists as they\u2019re expensive and hard to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the Shark Tank<\/i> shark also pointed out that it is important to keep a healthy work-life balance and not lose yourself in a business \u2013 no matter how important it is to you.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed all the businesses I\u2019ve been in,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there\u2019s no gravestone that says I should have spent more time in the office.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Fill the gaps in your knowledge<\/h3>\n

\u201cI make a big joke about the fact I didn\u2019t finish high school, but I wish I had and went to university,\u201d Baxter says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the things that could have killed my businesses over the years, and it is the accounting things. So especially in my first business, I wish I learnt more about the books. Knowing about numbers is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, if founders don\u2019t particularly know a lot about coding or accounting, all is not lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo away and get the skills,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so easy to get nowadays with online courses. So please go out and get those skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. Get your money from your customers<\/h3>\n

Another self-titled \u201crant\u201d that Baxter had was in relation to the number of startups that seek funding before bringing in revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand it more in a non-obvious world where you have online users\u2026 but at the end of the day you\u2019re a business and you have to make money,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t make money, you\u2019re a charity. I have a charity \u2013 they\u2019re not that fun. Please get your money from your customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t believe the bullshit<\/h3>\n

\u201cYou hear no end of bullshit when you\u2019re in business,\u201d Baxter says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were told it was near impossible to get a carrier licence. I picked up the Telecommunications Act and it said send a $10,000 cheque here and you\u2019ll get a carrier license. So don\u2019t believe the bullshit. And when it came to listing we were told it would cost $3 million\u2026 we did it for less than $600,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Back up your valuation with numbers<\/h3>\n

Baxter receives a lot of pitches from startups both on and off Shark Tank<\/i>. He says it\u2019s crucial to be able to defend your valuation when an investor starts asking the tough questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen asked about your valuation, saying \u2018because I\u2019m a tech business\u2019 is a really shit answer,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwn your valuation, if you think you\u2019re worth that then own it. And try your best to leave more than one investor in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baxter says this piece of advice was one of the key takeaways from the first season of Australia\u2019s Shark Tank<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope if there\u2019s a second season \u2013 and I have no idea if there will be or not \u2013 they go out and get out there and target the tech community more widely,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get on, it\u2019s a half a million dollar ad\u2026 but it\u2019s up to you to make it a good ad or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> <\/em>Facebook,<\/em> <\/em>Twitter,<\/em> <\/em>LinkedIn<\/em> <\/em>and<\/em> <\/em>Soundcloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Selling a startup for $373 million despite not finishing high school was all due to having a strong passion for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,28,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}