Guest Speaker: John Dimmer

This week, we get the guest speaker that Andrew Fry has been talking about for a while. John Dimmer is someone with a lot of knowledge and experience. However, he did not start that way because when he started his own company he was unsure if he could do it. I have the same feeling right now because even though I have an idea to lunch my own business. He explained that after graduating from a degree in accounting, he went to get work for the company to improve his skills. This is something that I have in mind because my end goal is to start my own company. Maybe if I work for a company, I would acquire some skills that I could use in my business.

Another interesting that John Dimmer explained is to always have an exit strategy. You should have a plan on when you are going to exit the business whether it is about money. For instance, if the company reach a specific revenue, you will sell or you have a specific time on how long you are going to run the business.

Most of the guest speakers that we had this quarter talked about the aspect of the product: how to price it, or to make sure it works, listening to your customer review. John provided the financial advice which holds a huge part. He explained different steps to follow when you are a startup. One of the advice that he provides is that always have a product that works before you look for investors. Another advice is always trying to finance your own product or use friends and family to help you as a startup, and always think carefully before start using angel investors. Know who you are bringing to your company to invest because sometimes you can get people to invest in your company and later on, they vote you out. In a way know what you are giving up.