So you're building a startup?
The startup fundamentals – What are the important must-know's (is that proper grammar?) and how-to's (and this lol) when it comes to going from zero to one.
So you’re building a startup? Or maybe you’re yet to start?
Firstly, congratulations 🎉 You’re embarking (or about to) on the most rewarding journey you’ll ever go on. Filled with ups, and downs, mountains, and trenches.
Take a moment to congratulate yourself on making the leap. It’s the very first step and often not an easy one.
But, we’re going to talk about the things you should be aware of, that you may or may not already know.
See, when I first started, I had a very different idea of what was important and what needed to be done.
I have a heavy product background and blindly followed the “if you build it, they will come” idea. They will not.
This is mostly the same for every other first-time founder in their area of expertise (finance, sales, product, etc.). I mean, you don’t know what you don’t know.
A good idea doesn’t mean a lot
Okay, it means something. Just not as much as you probably think. If you’re anything like me, you have a notes app full of ideas, and you sit around with ambitious friends discussing ludicrous ideas.
A good idea is only a very small part of the equation, and more often than not, that idea is wrong.
Too often, founders hoard ideas and get precious over who came up with what. Fun fact: I was legally threatened by ex-colleagues over an ‘idea’ they had vs. something I was actively building that had a vague resemblance. This IP is utterly worthless without the execution.
What actually matters
Whilst there is a never-ending, ever-growing list of things that matter when building a startup, I’m going to outline some of the most important, most foundational pieces.
Your idea ties to a broadly felt problem or pain point
Try to ensure your idea solves a problem, and not just a problem you experience. A broadly felt problem. Talk to people, validate the problem space, and leave out the solution. Read The Mom Test to find out how to do this well.
Sometimes (and I mean sometimes), your idea might be so new and groundbreaking that it doesn’t solve a problem. It creates something completely new. If you feel like this is you, I’d recommend reading Zero to One.
Your idea is backed by an ambitious and motivating vision, mission, and goals
Your vision, mission, or goals are the vital organs of your startup. It’s what attracts the right people, and keeps them around. It’s what helps you stay focused, defer distractions, and make good decisions.
Let me give you an example from a recent client. Their product (at present) is a startup AI agent. You use Slack to engage with a trained startup assistant. Cool, but that only goes so far. Their vision? ‘Help 50% of startups succeed’, and digging deeper ‘build the first product that warrants equity as a form of payment, over traditional SaaS pricing’. Now that’s something people can get behind. It doesn’t matter how it’s done, or how much the product changes. What matters is staying focused on the outcomes.
Self-explanatory, but make sure you deeply care about it. You don’t want to get years in and discover you’re actually not that excited by it.
You understand your market
In innovation, this is an often overlooked component. Founders get obsessed with creating new categories or markets (which can sometimes be true), but more often than not you can keep zooming out until you get to an existing market.
Make sure you know the market, thoroughly. You’ve ideally either spent considerable time in it or are currently in it. It’s important to understand how much money is circulating, what people are paying for, how fast it evolves, pain points, trends, and how it works. For example, the retail technology market is a slow-moving B2B beast where anything ‘new’ is a result of enterprise movement that trickles down to mid-market and SMB.
You have the right team
This rings true for both your co-founder(s) (if applicable) and your founding team, all the way through to your growing team. Noticed how I said ‘the right team’, not ‘a good team’. Jim Collins makes a great distinction on team in his book ‘Good to Great’. Take your time to hire the right people for your problem/product/vision, make sure they work well together, then put them in the right seats. This will take time.
The right people/team is one of the most important determining factors of your success. A general rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t fight to keep them around, then get rid of them. Hard decisions now, make for an easy life later. Trust me, I’ve made this mistake over and over.
If they’re exceptional but don’t work well with others, don’t hire them
Look for red flags early
Surface issues asap
Test/trial/vet people
Don’t settle, even if you’re desperate (no hire is better than a toxic one)
You build iteratively
Don’t spend months (or years) in isolation building out a detailed vision in your mind. I often see founders make the mistake of getting stuck in an ever-lasting internal loop of feature development. Not only is that doing you a disservice, but you were likely wrong the entire time.
Let go of that ‘perfectionism’, build something small, ugly, and something you’re not particularly proud of. You legit want to look back at your first version and go “what in the f*cking world was that”.
Then, build a habit of iteration. Release to your customers often and early, get feedback then go back to the building. Rinse and repeat.
Just remember, a bug or a sh*tty experience will not sink your startup. Mostly any problem can be solved, and perception saved with great customer-centric communication and honesty. Being small is a superpower!
What feels detrimental to you as the founder usually isn’t a problem at all, or has a simple workaround.
Read more in The Lean Startup.
You talk to customers, frequently
This is an easy one to let slip. But in hindsight, it never makes sense. Maintain a consistent, constant communication flow with prospects or customers. EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE A PRODUCT OR ANYTHING TO SHOW. You don’t have to be prepared or have everything structured. Just talk to people on a human-to-human level, frequently.
In the early days, I like to make sure I have at least 3 meetings/calls with prospects or customers per week. Sometimes with an agenda, sometimes without.
You optimize for longevity
Behold my biggest, and hardest-hitting lesson.
Building a startup is a marathon, not a race. It’s long, hard work, and doesn’t really get any easier. Make sure you have the energy for the later rounds. I learned this the hard way.
Your mind is your biggest asset. It’s reported that 72% of founders suffer from mental health issues on the startup journey. How do you create a defensible position against that?
Avoid burnout like the plague
Use hobbies or strategies to destress and/or reset
Create a support network – surround yourself with one or many more that can be a pillar of support in times of need
You don’t want to be comfortable, but you need to be sustainable. Find your pace, push those limits slightly, and then figure out how you can consistently improve over time that does not come at the cost of your mental health.
You’re constantly learning
Never stop learning. Sounds like something written in Lobster 2.0, hung on your mum’s living room wall. But, it’s true. The moment you stop learning, you start going backward. When things are going well, it’s easy to enjoy it and ignore learning. When things aren’t going well, you scramble for answers or learnings. Don’t get stuck in that tug of war.
Keep current with trends, learn new skills, constantly seek improvement, and build sustainable habits. Here are some of my favorite books to help with your startup journey:
Wave goodbye to your comfort zone
The market doesn’t care if you can’t sell, or are an introvert. Conquer it. You’ll need to do things you’ve never done and go places you’ve never been. It’s an important part of growth and the startup journey. These aren’t things you can just solve by getting someone else to do them. Lead by example, let go of your fear of losing or being ‘judged’, and do the things you need to do.
Do not tell yourself the stories your comfort zone wants to hear.
Be rationally optimistic
There are certain realities of startups that founders love to dismiss. One of these is the fact that the odds are inherently stacked against you. The majority of startups fail. Optimists don’t survive. Rational optimists do.
Learn to accept brutal realities, maintain unwavering faith in the endgame, and your commitment to prevail.
The ‘Stockdale paradox’ is a concept developed in Good to Great, derived from Admirable Stockdale’s survival of his eight-year imprisonment during the Vietnam War. Where many of his fellow prisoners did not survive, he accepted brutal facts and never lost faith in the end of the story. He was adamant that this would turn into a defining moment of his life, where other prisoners told themselves stories that they “would be released by Christmas”.
You’re likely going to fail – find a way to prevail
This will require an unfathomable amount of work – learn to manage it
No one believes in it like you do – accept it
It’s going to be a bumpy ride. Strap in.
Find a way
One defining factor that differentiates a founder from anyone else is their innate ability to find a way. Exhaust all options. Think out of the box. Go left when everyone is going right. Keep going when everyone else gives up.
Just get the thing done.
We’re only scratching the tip of the iceberg here. This channel is solely dedicated to the purpose of helping early-stage and first-time founders unpack the various lessons, learnings, and foundations for building a startup.
Stay tuned for an exciting lineup of podcasts from exceptional founders dropping soon.
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Just started? Haven’t started? In over your head? Don’t know where to start? Push to Start is for you.
For the love of startups,
Tim