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MenuAny recommendations for office entertainment for a growing startup? Looking for inspiration - not just the stereotypical foosball table.
Answers


No-Skill-Guitar:
Get a [guitar (Jasmine S35 Acoustic Guitar)] + [chord buddy (chordbuddy.com)] + [electronic tuner (Intelli IMT500)]. Any time you hear a good song, look up the chords for free on ultimate-guitar.com, save the page as a .pdf, and you'll be able to play the song right away on the guitar with the chordbuddy, even if you don't know how to play the guitar. You'll bond over sing alongs, and you'll be learning how to play the guitar at the same time with the help of the chordbuddy.
Hacky sack
Local Multiplayer Games (everyone plays on the same computer):
Get a couple wireless controllers (Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows), and download these local multiplayer games from Steam:
1) Speed Runners (http://store.steampowered.com/app/207140/)
2) Starwhal (http://store.steampowered.com/app/263020/)
3) Duck Game (http://store.steampowered.com/app/312530/)
4) Nidhogg (http://store.steampowered.com/app/94400/)
Naptime:
Get an ENO hammock for people to nap in. It's healthier and easier to sleep in than a real bed, and can be stowed away. They'll be able to work later.
Have fun
Do you have weights or a treadmill? One of things my friends who work from home or have start up software companies really benefit from is being able to have a physical release after working on a computer for so long. Tony Robbins says that our physical state needs to match our mental state. Being able to work yourself up physically will make working a lot easier, because your physical stasis aligns with the intensity of a lot of the mental work.
At Naughty Dog and Microsoft here in LA they have a gym, a yoga studio, and resting space so that they can physically align with whatever kind of work they're doing.
I agree with competitive multiplayer games. Those are great fun ways to get people hyped. Things like Fifa are great and FPS games are really exciting when you know the people you play them with. Tekken is a great game for two people to take their day out on.
ONE LAST THING. TEA, a friend I made who works at Naughty Dogg as a higher up and he swears by tea, it's incredibly cultural, there are different blends for different moods. A lot of people get behind it as an alternative to coffee or magnesium, and as hobby learning about all the different types is fun. And when done well it can be a very communal experience with whoever is serving the tea almost as a bartender where he can give you a blend to feel focused, hyped, relaxed, or whatever you need to get your job done.
Hope I helped in some way :)


I'm a big fan of board games and Card Games in general. We play board games as a team almost every Friday. Some of my favorites are Survive, Star Wars Armada, Takenoko and Sushi Go. Star Wars Armada in particular was super fun and super geeky - which we like. Great question and smart thing to think about...
A bin of Legos or wooden blocks is an inexpensive, portable way to give people something to do with their hands while they're in a meeting, or on the phone. Having them out in a public area will organically lead to collaborative building projects and creative thinking.
Related Questions
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How much equity should I ask as a C-level executive in a new startup ?
As you may suspect, there really isn't a hard and fast answer. You can review averages to see that a CEO typically becomes a major shareholder in a startup, but your role and renumeration will be based on the perceived value you bring to the organization. You value someone's contribution through equity when you think that they will be able to add long-term benefits, you would prefer that they don't move company part way through the process, and to keep them from being enticed by a better salary (a reason for equity tied to a vesting arrangement). Another reason is when the company doesn't have salary money available but the potential is very strong. In this situation you should be especially diligent in your analysis because you will realize that even the best laid plans sometimes fall completely short. So to get the best mix, you have to be very real about the company's long-term growth potential, your role in achieving it, and the current liquidity necessary to run the operations. It should also be realized that equity needs to be distributed. You cannot distribute 110% and having your cap table recalculated such that your 5% turns into 1% in order to make room for the newly hired head of technology is rather demotivating for the team. Equity should be used to entice a valuable person to join, stay, and contribute. It should not be used in leu of salary that allows an employee to pay their bills. So, like a lot of questions, the answer is really, it depends. Analyzing the true picture of your long-term potential will allow you to more easily determine the correct mix.
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Is there any typical questions for customers' pain points discovery or it's impossible to standardise?
I have built several multi-million dollar businesses using (2) very simple questions: "What makes you say that...." and "Tell me more...." No matter what someone says to you, you just keep asking one (or both) of the questions. If you do it 4 or 5 times in a row you'll learn everything you ever wanted to know.
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I finally found my billion-dollar startup idea. Now what?
The idea is a very small fraction of what it takes to earn the first million. Certainly billion. What actually matters is your ability to *execute*. Entrepreneurship means "having the talent of translating opportunities into money". Or, as Alexis Ohanian of Reddit said, "entrepreneur is just French for 'has ideas, does them'." As much as it may seem that transitioning off your 9-to-5 is the biggest hurdle, it's not. If you can't "get out of the gate" then you're also not ready to deal with the real challenges of business, like "competition that has 1,000x your funding" or "suppliers that jerk you around" or "customers who steal your intellectual property". It's easy to have a "billion dollar idea". I'd like to mine gold off of asteroids; I'm sure that would be worth billions. I'd also like to invest in Arctic real estate that will become coastal vacation property after fifty more years of warming. And, of course, to make a new social network that everyone loves. But saying these things is very very different from accomplishing them. Prove your concept by first taking a small step, such as making the first dollar. (Maybe try Noah Kagan's course at http://www.appsumo.com/how-make-your-first-dollar-open/). If you can't figure out a way to "make it go" without a giant investment, then you're kidding yourself about your ability to execute the business. If you *can* figure out a way to get a toehold, then by all means do it now! Happy to advise further, feel free to contact me for a call.
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How can I smoothly transition from full time worker to self-employment?
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Business partner I want to bring on will invest more money than me, but will be less involved in operations, how do I split the company?
Cash money should be treated separately than sweat equity. There are practical reasons for this namely that sweat equity should always be granted in conjunction with a vesting agreement (standard in tech is 4 year but in other sectors, 3 is often the standard) but that cash money should not be subjected to vesting. Typically, if you're at the idea stage, the valuation of the actual cash going in (again for software) is anywhere between $300,000 and $1m (pre-money). If you're operating in any other type of industry, valuations would be much lower at the earliest stage. The best way to calculate sweat equity (in my experience) is to use this calculator as a guide: http://foundrs.com/. If you message me privately (via Clarity) with some more info on what the business is, I can tell you whether I would be helpful to you in a call.