StartupCity Des Moines has an amazing lineup of mentors. This is the fourth in a series of blog posts introducing our mentors and their particular skill sets.

Name: Shane Reiser
Job: Director of Community at Kohort

1. You are a Midwesterner now living in Seattle. How do the two regions’ startup scenes compare?
In Seattle, there is more of everything—more talent, more startups, more success stories, more investors. But more also means it’s harder to stand out. In a small city like Des Moines, not only is it easier to network and get noticed, but you also get a deeper level of support from the community. The Seattle community encourages each other to do well, but I see less people going out of their way to help other entrepreneurs like I see in smaller towns. On the other hand, bigger towns like Seattle are better test markets for consumer-facing products. As far as the most important ingredient goes—people—there’s no difference in the degree of talent. Both Des Moines and Seattle have amazingly talented and passionate people, there’s just more of them in Seattle. I’ve heard Iowans complain about a lack of tech talent. Turns out the problem exists everywhere from NYC to Seattle. In Seattle, only the craziest techies turn down offers from Microsoft and Amazon.

2. Your first gig out of college had you managing people who hated their jobs. What were the top 3 things you learned about how to motivate employees?
1. Don’t hire people who don’t believe in your mission.
2. Fire poor performers fast.
3. Become a “typewatcher”. Typewatchers study the Myers-Briggs personality types, understand what motivates each type, and then put this knowledge into action when they communicate with and incentivize others. Coming to terms with your own personality type and learning to control your emotional reactions will also do wonders for your professional life.

3. In your work with Startup Weekend, you saw hundreds of pitches. What do you think is the biggest mistake people make when pitching and what is the most critical element in getting it right?
Demonstrating a deep enough understanding of the addressable market, and being clear enough about the problem your product is solving.

4. What lessons did you learn from Startup Weekend that have helped you now that you are working for a startup?
I learned a lot about people—how to listen to them, what motivates them, how to get them to give a shit about you, etc. True people skills. I don’t just mean how to be nice. I mean actually understanding what makes them tick and how to approach them—this is important in dealing with customers, employees, partners, investors, your mentors, your spouse—everyone. Other things I learned that are applicable:

  • When you’re launching, all that matters is product. The whole team should be obsessed with it.
  • You don’t have to have a better product to win. You don’t have to be innovative to win. First movers rarely win.
  • Awesome customer service is a competitive advantage in any industry, except footwear and wine.
  • Always talk to at least one person before you make any decision. No exceptions. But hurry up and make a decision—don’t over analyze.
  • Assume that your competitor knows everything you do. Do everything with a sense of urgency.
  • Gets lots of feedback from customers, but be selective about which things you actually act on. Keep it simple and go with your gut. Same thing goes with advice from mentors—listen, but don’t act on everything. Mentors help you make decisions, they don’t make them for you.
  • People won’t give you stuff unless you ask. Ask for the sale.
  • Handwritten thank-you notes are a powerful weapon.
  • Most startups fail because of founder issues. Choose your co-founders and your employees wisely. Hire slow.

5. What do you think are the top 3 factors to success for Des Moines’ startup ecosystem?
The three things Des Moines should improve in order to strengthen the startup ecosystem are:
1. StartupCity needs to spit out at least two fundable companies (by fundable I mean revenue-producing and high growth) over the next two years. In other words, StartupCity needs to succeed. If that happens, then the underlying issues of mentoring and exposure to investors will have been addressed.
2. Des Moines needs a big win to talk about. *cough* Dwolla *cough*
3. The community needs to do a better job of convincing students from local universities to get into startups during school and immediately after graduation. Look at Brad Dwyer [of Hatchlings]. On the same leaf, universities also need to stop pretending to support the local tech scene and actually put their time and money where their mouth is. In my opinion they are doing about 10% of what they could.