This post is not about this run, but the SubMate semi-marathon instead. It's Monday March 8, and we're finally catching sight of the finish line. A semi-marathon, because it's an early alpha we'll be releasing. But as Reid Hoffman said: "If you are not ashamed by your product when you launch it, you launched too late" !

So here's how it went down so far on SubMate:

• Early December 2009. I attend the Statup Weekend Paris edition. At the last minute, I decide to pitch SubMate, an old idea I already worked on unsuccessfully. I find an amazing team to work with me on the project and we deliver a prototype by the end of the weekend.
• End of December. We meet a cool guy, Hubert Fisselier, a soon to be iPhone developer. He loves the concept of SubMate, and we decide to work together on an iPhone app.
• Mid-January. Things are slow in December and early January, you know how it is: Xmas, foie gras, Hanukkah, vacations, family, … So nothing happens until mid-January when we pick where we left off. Starting out by rethinking the site, the architecture, the navigation. 
• End of January. We are trying to code as much as possible, but my two cofounders are employed. Good news: Sylvain has decided to leave his company to concentrate full time on the project. And Jonathan is working on nights and weekends. 
• February. On the 12th, almost a month ago, Sylvain hits his final day at his company. February is a tricky month though: it flies by so fast!  Without even noticing it, we're already at the end of the month. However, since the 12th, Sylvain and myself work efficiently on the code. The majority of the development happens as of that date.
• End of February. We applied for a couple of conferences, and are selected amongst the 20 finalists of Plugg 2010. We decide to target the conference (March 11th) for the beta release of the app. The first release of the iPhone app is looking good, and we need to finalize it and put some polish on it.
• March. Here we are. Less than 3 months since the Startup Weekend, and a month into heavy coding. The beta should be ready soon, and the iPhone app looks better every day.

As you can see, it's been a marathon so far. In only three months, we went from an idea to an organized startup project. And in only a month, we took a dirty prototype to a beta site and an iPhone app. 

But I call it a "semi" because what's coming next is HUGE. So stay tuned for some cool SubMate news!

Watch it, it’s just an incredible execution: one take (apparently) but seven months of preparation.

210 days for a 4mn clip.

Execution is key in a startup life. I blogged about it in the past, while working on CabEasy. Read Fabrice Ginda’s post about Fund raising 101 to grasp the execution risk.

Execution is the way you take an idea to a (minimum) viable product (read Eric Ries). Execution is how fast you’ll get to your next milestone. It is how well you’ll achieve a goal. And it is key to win early adopters, convince investors, get partner deals. 

To clearly understand it, put yourself in the shoes of an early stage investor: you wanna bet on the team that shipped a product in 3 months or 12? That has a clear, limpid user interface or a complex product? That integrates user feedback fast and seamlessly or ships a release every 6 months? That does one thing well or ten things poorly?

So act fast, act wisely, concentrate on your next milestone and build a lean startup.

The execution and the stop motions are great, congrats!