How to start a start-up (infographic)

20 Feb 2015

Setting up your first start-up can be a terrifying leap into the unknown, but do you know so much help is out there for you, wherever you are based?

Start-ups are difficult to entirely define, perhaps they are one year old, perhaps three. Perhaps they are running at a loss, perhaps they are profitable but still seeking funding.

Either way, fresh ideas are what drive the current information age, with some of the most valuable companies around at the moment actually quite recent start-ups themselves.

Indeed valuations such as US$41bn for Uber should show just how much opportunity there is out there for even the most basic of ideas.

Important points, such as talking out your idea with some trusted, critical peers, building a strong core team, and identifying your real market are crucial for potential entrepreneurs.

But finance is key, and there is plenty of help out there. Naturaily’s infographic at Tech Infographics lists some of the better accelerators in Europe and the US, including the NDRC, which is dominating the start-up scene in Ireland.

Last year alone, start-ups in NDRC’s portfolio raised €37m in follow-on investment, employing a total of 500 people. It was also listed in the top 2.5pc of global business incubators.

To truly test your idea, spread out your field research base, talk to big groups, diversify the audience, and adapt the model. But most of all, take the risk.

How to start a start-up

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com