Lessons learned from a startup that didn’t make it
Some entrepreneurs would rather nurse their doomed prized possession – the Grand Idea – rather than learning quickly that there is no market for it.
Patrick Vlaskovits • The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany
The mistake is thinking your startup idea is venture-scale and getting on the VC treadmill. Once you’re on the treadmill, here’s what changes:
- High growth expectations: VCs are looking for companies that grow big enough fast enough. If your business isn’t suited to this kind of rapid growth, it can lead to undue pressure and unrealistic expectation
Lenny Rachitsky • Your startup idea probably isn’t venture-scale
Patrick McKenzie • Thread by @patio11: "Some people really benefit from hearing advice that everyone knows, for the same reason we keep schools open despite every subject in them h […]"
One result of this past tech cycle was a view that companies needed to build hyper complex ponzi schemes of ambition in order to accumulate capital and be valued. This led to a variety of shooting stars that never realized their main goal.
Another view was an insane amount of value ascribed to hyper-narrow features masquerading as companies, leading... See more
Another view was an insane amount of value ascribed to hyper-narrow features masquerading as companies, leading... See more