Four Start-Up Tips From 'The Social Network'

Look for Inspiration in the Smallest Moments

According to the movie, a fight with his girlfriend prompted Zuckerberg to take to his blog and draw up a prototype of "FaceMash," which allowed users to rank Harvard students' attractiveness. This form of interactive media was the foundation for Facebook's birth. If you're frustrated with something, use that spark as a propeller for creating your own version or designing a new product.

Ask Your Family and Friends for Seed Money

In the film, Zuckerberg teams up with Eduardo Saverin, a wealthy classmate from a Brazilian family with resources. Saverin initially funds the venture and provides ample bank to help the project off the ground. When the two get into a massive fight, however, Zuckerberg is forced to ask his family for a loan to keep the servers running (this part isn't depicted in the movie). Big-time angels may come later in the process, but in the beginning, start with those nearest and dearest to you.

Don't Be Afraid to Dream Bigger

There's a point where Zuckberg realizes that he and his team have to move to Palo Alto in order to get Facebook the attention it deserves. He drops out of Harvard to pursue the venture, lured in part by Napster founder Sean Parker's words of advice. "A million dollars isn't cool," Parker says. "You know what's cool? A billion dollars." It's that encouragement that enables Zuckerberg to realize that Facebook can be stretch across continents as a behemoth in its own right. Some call it deluded self-confidence, but without it, no start-up can succeed.

Make Sure You're on the Same Page as Your Coworkers

Saverin becomes obsessed with putting ads on Facebook pages, an idea that doesn't thrill Zuckerberg in the beginning. Ultimately, their outlooks diverge so drastically that Saverin is forced out and his shares are massively diluted. Creative differences are an important part of the start-up process insofar as they force founders to examine things from all angles, but don't be so unyielding that you're forced out at the outset. Saverin sued Zuckerberg and eventually settled, but after that spat he wasn't able to be a part of one of the most exciting business launches of its era.

Powerful Networking

One of the first things you find in situations where you are meeting new people is that they want to know about your work…what you do. They don’t want some long drawn out life history and it would obviously be rude and nonproductive to wave off their interest. Yet, you need to be able to effectively and naturally deliver the info they seek. Stuff like, what your work consists of now, what your experience (work &/or education) is, and maybe a bit about your career goals. They just need to be able to categorize you a bit. Getting categorized sounds rude but it is meant to be helpful. If an opportunity comes up that they want to share, they need to be able to quickly pull you out of their mental filing system. Many people love to make connections and help others this way especially if it is easy and they know just the right person to refer.

So, have you spent time practicing your one minute bio? The exercise feels kinda lame and unnatural but the important thing is that you give it some thought and practice putting your voice to your thoughts about your work — where you have been careerwise and where you are going.

There is an art to networking. It is quite difficult to remember to take a moment to understand who you are interacting with and how to best present yourself in various situations. But keep your mind on it and stay aware for opportunity, not just opportunity for you but opportunity to help others somehow — that is powerful networking. The person you help may not be the one to help you but you set wheels into motion by being generous with your knowledge, info, and positive energy.

Source : http://www.steviesue.com