HOW TO BUILD A STARTUP?

WARM-UP
Answer the question.
What are the advantages of working at a startup as opposed
to working at a big company?
Look at the tweet and talk about the pros it mentions. Do you
agree with what it says?

EXERCISE 1A
Read the first three paragraphs of the text and find the words that mean:
Able to be seen through clearly With an optimal balance of value to price
Adjusting Giving good results
Start developing something successfully Business founder
Desire to take active part in something

Did you ever dream of building your own startup? Even if you didn’t, startup mentality and startup culture
are very popular topics in the tech world. Steve Jobs even once said that Apple is the biggest startup on
the planet. Today we’ll talk about why startup culture is so influential and what it takes to build your own
successful startup.
Many startups have values that even big businesses are trying to adopt such as:
• Quickly adapting to change
• Demanding high levels of involvement and engagement from all co-workers
• Having open, honest and transparent relationships between teams and management
• Thinking outside the box and finding innovative, cost-effective solutions to customers’ problems.
Even if you’re planning on creating your own business, thinking like an entrepreneur can be very beneficial
for your personal development and career growth. So what qualities do you need to have to get your
business off the ground?

EXERCISE 1B
Complete the text below with the right headline for each paragraph.
Prepare you pitch Put together a great team
Develop a vision for your product Think about the logistics

1. __________________________
It all starts with a good idea. Ask yourself: What customer pain point can I solve? Which gaps in the market
can our business fill? Is our solution elegant and scalable? Can we pivot if we have to?
2. __________________________
As a leader, you need to be in charge of people to hire. Very often new businesses are formed by a couple
of friends who have known each other for years and share the same mindset. However, as your company
grows you will have to bring new people on board. It is important that your new employees are the right
match for the company. That means they not only have the right skill set for the job but also share the
same motivation and passion for your common vision and goals.
3. __________________________
Where will you be located as a business? What expenses will you have to take into account? What annual
budget will you need? A CEO is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades at least during the early stages of the startup.
What can help you though is an incubator. Incubators are non-profit organizations or individuals which
provide new businesses with a range of possibilities such as access to low-cost equipment, mentorship,
help with marketing, PR and pitching, living accommodation, networking opportunities and helping the
startup find prospective investors.
4. __________________________
If you ever come across someone important (say, a potential mentor or shareholder) you want to be able
to deliver a concise informative speech about yourself / your product or your company. That’s what pitching
is all about. By getting your idea out there to people who can fund you and mentor you in the future can
be scary because there’s a lot at stake. However, it is important to pitch as many people as possible. Even
if you don’t get a partnership or a contract, every pitch can be a source of valuable learning for the future
and the people you give it to may even suggest useful tips or make you see things from a different
perspective.
In short, having an entrepreneurial spirit is beneficial for everyone and the 4 tips we’ve just discussed can
be applied in other areas such as your job or personal life. In future segments, we will focus more on how
to create and deliver your own pitch.

EXERCISE 1C
Match the highlighted words with their definitions.
1 Pain point a Having an ability to grow bigger 1
2 Scalable b Ask someone to join the team 2
3 Pivot c Change the course of the existing strategy 3
4 To be in charge d A problem that a business / service can solve 4
5 Bring (someone) e Encounter 5
on board
6 Expenses f Likely to happen 6
7 Take into account g Short and informative 7
8 Annual h At risk 8
9 Jack of all trades i Yearly 9
10 Prospective j Consider 10
11 Come across k Someone who can handle many different responsibilities 11
12 Concise l Costs 12
13 At stake m To be the main person responsible for something 13

EXERCISE 2
Complete the sentences with the following expressions with the word “market”.

Corner the market Break into a market On the market

Market economy Marketer In the market for

Beat (someone) to market Go-to-market strategy

1. The United States is a __________ where the prices are determined by the rules of supply and
demand.
2. They were planning to release their app next month but their competitors __________ them
__________.
3. This is the best solution right now.
4. A company always takes a risk when it tries to __________ a new __________.
5. We need to create a strong __________ if we want our product to be successful from the first
day of the launch.
6. That company has __________ and become the leading desktop manufacturer in the industry.
7. I’m __________ for a new pair of headphones.
8. Have you considered hiring a __________ to help you with promoting your services?

Taken from EfT