29.5 tips for budding entrepreneurs

By Laurence McCahill
Co-founder of The Happy Startup School

1. Getting started is the hard part. Just start. Now.
2. Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will
3. It pays to be kind in business
4. “Don’t chase the paper, chase the dream” Biggie Smalls
5. Work with people you like. Why else do you want to be your own boss?
6. You’ll get further with others than you ever will on your own
7. Don’t waste time with bullshit, there’s plenty of it
8. Positivity is contagious, surround yourself with people that give you energy
9. Talk less, do more
10. “Be stubborn on vision, but flexible on detail” Jeff Bezos
11. Making things people want is more fun than making people want things
12. Don’t chase investors, chase customers
13. “Start with why” Simon Sinek
14. Never stop learning
15. Everyone has a purpose, find yours and build your startup around it
16. Approach people you admire, they may surprise you
17. Don’t underestimate the power of good design
18. It’s all about people
19. What you do is more important than what you say
20. Saying no is a skill you need to master
21. “Customers don’t care about your solution, they care about their problems” Dave Mclure
22. You’ll only be true to yourself if you take risks
23. Negative people are like a poison. Avoid them as much as you can.
24. You make your own luck. Now go get lucky.
25. Make a minimum loveable product
26. Work smarter not harder (and know when to switch off)
27. You’re not the first person to ever run a business, learn from others
28. Plan for what you’d do if the worst happened. It won’t be as bad as you think.
29. Sometime you need to know when to walk away

and finally…

29.5 JFDI*