Quickies From A Failed Founder #1: Don’t Sit And Stare: Do Something!
Here is a first of what may turn into a series: Quickies FAFF. About the conveniently ignored art of ‘keeping things moving’.
Another day, another project not moving forward. The same room of, arguably, talented people staring at the same lifeless spreadsheet for the umpteenth time. Sounds familiar? Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.
Most founders pride themselves in creating a fast-paced work environment. One where today’s agile minds solve tomorrow’s urgent problems. But after the honeymoon phase of roughly 18 months, startups tend to slow down.
The stuff of nightmares: Knowing you’re going into a meeting that won’t make anything actionable happen.
There’s nothing more demotivating than a new website that just doesn’t get released. You want your people to feel like they are making things happen. Yes, the stakes are high, but please remember: You are not curing cancer here.
Here’s some sound advice: Just do it. Really. Stop trying to ship something perfect. Whether it’s a whitepaper or a new feature — stop worrying, start releasing. Once it’s live, you and your team can move on and learn. How?
You build. You release. You measure. You learn. You document. Repeat.
Lessons From A Failed Founder is a series of blog posts by a thirty-something entrepreneur who made all the mistakes in the big startup playbook, and then some. My posts are no pearls of wisdom: Consider them the cautionary tales of a young founder who wants you to avoid making the same mistakes.
Feel free to reach out to me at failedfounder{AT}gmail.com
