Why My First Startup Idea Failed
Mistakes I will never repeat again in a product
A few years ago, I had a business idea. One night, as I was falling asleep, it struck me like lightning. And it made me jump out of bed and grab a piece of random cardboard to write down the idea. The more I thought about it, the more I became passionate about it. I told my mom about it the next day. She said it was a great idea, and I should pursue it. So I did, for the next 10 months, only to shut it down. Why? I did not hustle.
After exploring product management as a discipline, I realized some very common mistakes many people make when ideating a product. These are the same pitfalls both new entrepreneurs and product managers fall into. I had to learn it the hard way. It took me some time to hard wire the learnings into my brain. Here they are:
Evaluating market potential is not enough
I did all the market research trying to justify the potential. But finding the market potential is just not enough. One also needs to figure out how to grab a piece of market share. Part of that process is testing out your assumptions using the right strategy.
One of the means to test your assumptions is to create an MVP, get feedback and iterate. I never developed an MVP to test out my assumptions. The whole idea was looming with assumptions I validated in my mind. Not investing in the process robbed me of an opportunity to validate my idea.
Do everything yourself first
Developing a minimum viable product will validate a hypothesis. It allows teams to collect the maximum amount of feedback and learning with the least effort. It can even be a 0.1 version of a product. This activity helps test out some assumptions and de-risk the venture. I could have built the MVP myself to test out my assumptions. Instead, I jumped into product development and had someone else build the website, as I did not know a few minor things at that time.
I felt I did not have the time to make mistakes. I am a computer programmer, and this is the biggest mistake I could have made. I still regret it. I also outsourced SEO without knowing anything about it. I had a full-time day job, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. I should have hustled!
Eat, grind, sleep
My solution rested on some assumptions. I should have identified them. Explaining my idea to someone else would have helped. Different perceptions help in digging those assumptions out.
I wanted to get the product out in the market due to the fear of someone else doing it. I was trying to bootstrap as quickly as possible without doing the groundwork. I should have spent enough time learning how to reach consumers. I did not create a solid strategy. I did not take understanding of SEO seriously. It was a black box to me, and I undermined the idea of learning about it.
De-risking
Although I established a hypothesis, I did not de-risk it. Since I did not validate my assumptions, the risks were piling up. I was having the baby-bias syndrome, where the ideator is so consumed by his/her idea that he/she becomes defensive when it comes to evaluating risks.
Priorities
I worried too much about incorporation and protecting the idea, even before I could work on the product. I was more paranoid about losing the startup to technicalities, so I spent too much time learning how to incorporate and protect the business.
Overall, I did not commit to my venture 100%. I tried to take short cuts in the most important aspects. I spent all my time focusing on things that mattered least or those that could have waited.
This story also has a silver lining. The only good thing I did was to realize all these mistakes and more. I accepted and learned from them. One of the key realities that hit me was that execution was more important than the idea itself. I decided to accelerate acquiring knowledge and share it at the same time. And to never stop it. If your business needs X thing, learn to do it yourself. Outsource it later.
Today, before I wire frame for a feature or product, I spend a tremendous amount of time collecting and analyzing data to validate my hypothesis. I get it vetted with multiple stakeholders to make it stronger. I say to my team: “Find every reason why this will not work. Shoot at it.” I realize it is time-consuming, but I have learned it is worth the time.
There is always a tendency to be defensive about your baby. But you need to expose the baby to criticisms outside your mind to build a strong person.
