Real Founder Lessons
The best startup advice from experienced founders...one real-world lesson at a time.
The first question to ask when you are considering a startup
(at minute 51:04)
Founder Lesson
If you are a first-time founder considering launching a startup, here’s the first question that I’d recommend you ask yourself...
Do you really want to be a founder?
In this podcast a serial entrepreneur comments on what it truly means to be a founder.
Here are some of his points…
- . . .
Example of not having product-market fit
(at minute 6:20)
Founder Lesson
I’ve spent a decade of my life in the “local discovery” part of the startup universe. In 2009 I co-founded a company called Scoutmob, a very early entrant into the part of the local discovery space that Groupon kicked-off a year earlier. This was after working for two years on the same problem with a different startup . . .
How to know when you don't have product-market fit
(at minute 30:01)
Founder Lesson
Many of us have been in this spot...
1) You feel a problem so deeply that you have to solve it, so you set off on your startup journey.
2) You wireframe a product that will solve your pain for lots of people.
3) You spend 6-12 months getting your product built.
4) You launch the product . . .
Founders often don't have a grand plan at the very beginning
(at minute 16:10)
Founder Lesson
History is often re-written over time. A great example of this is startups that are successful. After reaching a certain level - for a bunch of good reasons - the origin story of startups is altered for PR reasons. The re-written story goes something like “the underdog founder had grand plans from the very beginning and has . . .
Talk with competitors
(at minute 15:54)
Founder Lesson
It’s common knowledge that talking with users is the best way to understand a potential market for a new startup. Less known, but also valuable, is talking with investors who invest in the space. Maybe even less accepted is a third way…talking with competitors.
In this podcast an experienced founder describes why . . .
In the early days hustle is more important than scalability
(at minute 18:03)
Common Founder Issue
One of the best things that I’ve ever heard about startups is the connection between promising businesses and how much those teams are constantly getting done. Related to this topic, I’ve grow to believe that it’s so difficult to connect the dots in the very early days that teams just need to work their asses off and . . .
You have to love the startup process
(at minute 22:24)
Common Founder Issue
Persistence (otherwise known as “just sticking around”) is a mandatory characteristic of startup founders. Part of “sticking around” is the motivation behind it. I’ve found that the most successful startup founders have just a few common reasons for sticking it out. One common reason is the strong belief that their . . .
