Startup Skills

Lessons on making great ideas come to life — from scratch.

9 out of 10 startups don’t fail because 9 out of 10 ideas are bad.

Personality clashes. Lack of shared vision. Poor financial planning. There’s a million reason why great ideas can fail to make real world impact.

Pivoting isn’t failure.

It’s key to distinguish between the parts of your idea that work and the ones that don’t. With that self-awareness, you know where to make changes and where to be resolute.

Practice makes partnership.

When looking for partners, start small. Pick up the phone early and practice your pitch on different stakeholders. Find “internal ambassadors” in big organizations who will push your idea right onto their boss’s desk.

Keep asking why anyone should care.

When you give your elevator pitch dozens of times a day, it’s easy to sell yourself on your own idea. Be honest about why your product, service or company deserves to exist, and then communicate that value.

Written by Rachel Benner and Hannah Lewman. Learn more about the authors here and here.