10 questions to… Natasha Starkell

A good startup is one that… has a great product and an experienced team which loves what it is doing and is prepared to be in it for a long term.

The most important attribute for someone who is creating a startup is… self-belief, leadership and stamina.

Key skills in a startup team are… infinite self-confidence, Uber-productivity and networking.

Innovation is for startup like… Well, it depends on a startup. You can either kill it with innovation no one needs, or fly high if you get it right. Innovation does not really apply if your startup replicates something that has already been done before, even without being innovative, you can still make a difference on a new market, and get wealthy in a process, although getting press coverage with a clone is more difficult, as there is only that much to say about yet another copy of XYZ.

If I had to get funding for my own startup, I would decide to… give away a share of my equity to a high profile angel and build up on resulting connections and publicity to get more funding. Or feature at as many startup competitions as possible to get noticed.

The best way to promote a startup is… crazy creative outbursts of viral multimedia content.  Oh yes, and don’t forget to tweet.

The most frequent cause of a startup failure is… a mediocre product and a weak team

The most frequent cause of a startup success is… experienced and charismatic founder

The main difference between American and European startups is… the nature of the local market (a single large market in the US, and fractured European market), entrepreneurial culture versus risk aversion applies to American startup comparison with Western Europe, but in Eastern Europe entrepreneurship and risk-taking is more in vogue

Startup is worth creating because… you do not want to work all your life to pay off that mortgage. Plus, I hate when someone else tells me what to do.