5 things you need to know if you’re a startup founder
Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Banglore !! There are only a few hubs in the world having enough talent to serve the needs of a startup. More than that, enough drive to work in a startup.
Being a founder is hard, then what would be the life of a fresher founder?
Building and growing a company is difficult than the dreams. In this article, I’ll emphasize on facts that make the growth of a startup stagnant. And how to overcome them.
1. High cost of getting the first customer
First customers are crucial. They’re the light bearers of your company. But to get a customer use your product and stay with you is complex. And costly as well. Most of the founders see it as a difficult process. I did it too.
But don’t worry. Start with ProductHunt. This list has the most efficient hunters of PH. A good hunter is half done. Also, read the guide to launching and things to remember before launch. Another thing that’ll bring you more leads is the PR. Make sure you have the PR stuff ready to go.
2. Long development cycles
Can you plan for a long run? For the one year ahead and act accordingly? Don’t !!
You might be able to do so. But plan for a month. Test if it’s working. The lean always work. Be ready to pivot when required. Never stick with your team onto a long dev cycle and develop a full fledged product. Start with a POC and test the market(link). Or you might regret in the end.
Then, take it step by step. Create the MVP and deliver the quality. Check whether the customers are staying. If not, you might have to think it through. Every change should be something that can be implemented in a week. And you should keep your people inline. Break down every task into a simple, repeatable one and test everything you build. If that doesn’t fit in, you’ll only lose the last fifteen minutes.
Easy right?
3. Taking the risk
Risks are risks only if it’s unknown. If you can see it through, it’s not actually a risk, it’s a decision. Take the unknown risk. Be ahead of the game. You might not have the light to walk, but trust your gut feeling.
Faith in yourself and the team is the foremost thing a founder should have. Don’t judge someone based on their daily performance. Maybe you’ll find a steady curve in the end.
4. No investment?
If you can build a world class product or prove that there’s a market, you can always get some client projects. Bootstrap till you’re ready to scale and conquer the market. You don’t need money to build something.
Be on yourself. Be ready to hustle.
5. Lack of talent
Be an alien. Look from outside the world. Don’t be stuborn to have your team always around you. Be remote, let your team be remote. Live with that. Because most talent is concentrated in the fewer parts of the world.
Opportunity won’t come to you. You’ll have to go for it.
Keep these in mind. Entrepreneurship is complicated and difficult. Deal with it. Have anything to add to this story? Leave it in the comments !!
Originally published at blog.refly.it on August 23, 2017.
