A startup that didn’t quite start — Part 0
Our startup idea received USD 100,000 for a 1 million pre-seed valuation. We were off to a comfortable start. We had the wherewithal, our idea had great market potential and our founding team had a fantastic mix of business and technical expertise. But it was only a matter of months before things went downhill.
This ephemeral startup journey had lessons in team-building, relationships, negotiation, manipulation, conflict-resolution, idea development, business development, product design & development, product pricing, marketing, sales etc. — which I would like to share. A lot of these had to be acquired in a short span by devouring business books at a rate of knots. These are sure to guide me through the rest of my life.
I am a senior software developer with over 7 years of industry experience. My co-founder was from (arguably) the best business school in the US. It has been 2 months since our partnership severed, and I have used this time to reflect on all the things that went wrong (and right). I am documenting my journey with the objective of never repeating the same mistakes and helping others learn from my mistakes.
I will publish these in the order below. For my reading, I usually prefer long-form journals, however, in interest of others’ time I will adopt short-form here.
- Choosing a co-founder: Games people play
- Idea stage — tools & processes: Start where you are, with what you have
- User Research and Persona: Know master/slave
- Prototype to MVP launch: Don’t let your tools become your process
- Team building: There is no “i” in team
I hope these help others who are taking (or deciding to take) the plunge. My objective is to promote self-reflection and learning. In doing so, I will be discreet and unbiased. I have the best interest of my ex-co-founder and investors in mind.
