Ask HN: Things you wish You had known before your first startup?
2 comments
Great list.
I would second validating the idea. This also ties in closely with talking to users/customers.
There is a nuance to validating that I have tripped on. You want to find a way to validate that customers will buy. That may be a difficult test to setup, but where I’ve stumbled is getting positive feedback and confusing that for validation.
A lot of times when people express interest, you may be hitting on something, however they may simply be validating the idea is interesting.
Unfortunately there is a big space between something people are intrigued by and what they will actually pay for.
Another question I wish I’d thought more about is: Can I set up something basic to get traction while I build? Whether it’s leveraging Typeform or Notion or some other tool. Is there a simple thing you can offer the customer base to serve them while you work on the first version of your product.
I would second validating the idea. This also ties in closely with talking to users/customers.
There is a nuance to validating that I have tripped on. You want to find a way to validate that customers will buy. That may be a difficult test to setup, but where I’ve stumbled is getting positive feedback and confusing that for validation.
A lot of times when people express interest, you may be hitting on something, however they may simply be validating the idea is interesting.
Unfortunately there is a big space between something people are intrigued by and what they will actually pay for.
Another question I wish I’d thought more about is: Can I set up something basic to get traction while I build? Whether it’s leveraging Typeform or Notion or some other tool. Is there a simple thing you can offer the customer base to serve them while you work on the first version of your product.
thx
I do that all the time now.
I set up a landing page with a waitlist.
If i see many people signing up, I add stripe payment link with 50% off presale.
Maybe try this
Mine:
1. Validate idea first. I wasted at least 5 years building stuff nobody needed.
2. Kill your EGO. It's not about me, but the user. I must want what the user wants, not what I want.
3. Don't chaise investors, chase users, and then investors will be chasing you.
4. Never hire managers. Only hire doers until PMF.
5. Landing page is the least important thing in a startup. Pick an average template, edit texts and that's it.
6. Hire only fullstack devs. There is nothing less productive in this world than a team of developers.
7. Chase global market from day 1.
8. Do SEO from day 2. As early as you can. I ignored this for 14 years. It's my biggest regret.
9. Sell features, before building them. Ask existing users if they want this feature.
10. Hire only people you would wanna hug.
11. Invest all money into your startups and friends. Not crypt0, not stockmarket, not properties.
12. Post on Social Media daily.
13. Don't work/partner with corporates.
14. Don't get ever distracted by hype, e.g. crypt0. I lost 1.5 years of my life this way.
15. Don't build consumer apps. Only b2b. Consumer apps are so hard, like a lottery. It's just 0.00001% who make it big. The rest don't. Even if I got many users, then there is a monetization challenge. I've spent 4 years in consumer apps and regret it.
16. Don't hold on bad project for too long, max 1 year. Some projects just don't work. In most cases, it's either the idea that's so wrong that you can't even pivot it or it's a team that is good one by one but can't make it as a team. Don't drag this out for years.
17. Tech conferences are a waste of time. They cost money, take energy, and time and you never really meet anyone there. Most people there are the "good" employees of corporations who were sent there as a perk for being loyal to the corporation. Very few fellow makers.
18. Scrum is a Scam. If I had a team that had to be nagged every morning with questions as if they were children in kindergarten, then things would eventually fail.
The only good stuff I managed to do happened with people who were grownups and could manage their stuff. We would just do everything over chat as a sync on goals and plans.
19. Outsource nothing at all until PMF. In a startup, almost everything needs to be done in a slightly different way, more creative, and more integrated into the vision. When outsourcing, the external members get no love and no case for the product. It's just yet another assignment in their boring job.
20. Bootstrap. I spent way too much time raising money. I raised more than 10 times, preseed, seed, and series A. But each time it was a 3-9 month project, meetings every week, and lots of destruction. I could afford to bootstrap, but I still went the VC-funded way, I don't know why. To be honest, I didn't know bootstrapping was a thing I could do or anyone does.