3 Major Mistakes Early-Stage Startups Make

Disclaimer: I’m new to starting up; and learning as I go. These posts are my attempts to chronicle the mistakes I may make or I see others make.

Whatever else you may call it, you can’t deny that your startup is a business. Granted, it’s a special kind of a business because

a) You are dealing in an area with high levels of uncertainty, and

b) Your resources (time, money, talent) are typically constrained.

Which means you gotta be ever-vigilant of the 3 cardinal mistakes —

1. You are making something no one wants at all, or making something no one wants to pay for.

This is a big one! As numerous startup advisors have said before, you gotta keep aside (at least for a bit!) what you want to build or what you are good at, and build what the market is willing to pay for! It’s baffling to see too many folks get excited about the technology, and the sci-fi-sort of promises their products may hold; without really checking with any real potential users/customers whether they would use/pay for such a thing!

Interestingly, a lot of people who come across your idea/product will hesitate to point it out to you; and merely say “oh, that’s cool!”. Often, it’s a polite way of saying “how cute that you’re excited about this fancy gadget, but I’m not pulling out my checkbook for this”. Don’t fall for it.

2. Your product is sub-par.

Another major sin. You have not taken the pains to diligently build what you said you would. You have simply not put in the work. You may have worked hard, but the customers want results, not merely the process behind it.

Don’t be afraid to pivot; or go back to the drawing board and put in the right processes to achieve a sound product. I am not suggesting that you fall for a ‘I ain’t done till it’s perfect’ trap; but build a sound, functional MVP and ship it. An amazing insight (from Aarron Walter) is that the MVP has to have some elements of all the layers of the pyramid, as below —

3. You are not selling.

You would be surprised to see how many folks commit this, with or without realizing it. They simply don’t get off their asses and go make the sale. As the founder(s), you have to make at least the first few sales yourself, before you think of hiring someone for sales or even outsourcing the whole sales process.

Tech founders find it easy and within their comfort zones to sit in the office and code, work in the lab and build stuff; but not go out and make the sale.

Learning and growth don’t come from doing what you already know how to do. Get out and sell.