Tips for Building a Successful Startup

Most people fail in business because they don't know how to build a product. I've started 15 companies and built a ton of products along the way. Here's how to maximize the chance of success for your first product: 1. Prioritize Product Knowledge Understanding your product intimately is a game-changer for your success. And I’m not just talking about features. Understand your: • Market • Unique selling points • Customer pain points Immerse yourself in your product’s universe. That’s how you build a winner. 2. Iterate This approach is your secret weapon for building a successful product. • Release a minimum viable product to get valuable feedback • Adapt your product based on users’ feedback • Make continuous improvements Remember: perfection is the enemy of good. Get something out there. 3. Focus on your customer Your customers should be the heart of your product development process. Get crystal clear on your customers’: • Needs • Preferences • Pain points Involve their feedback in the development cycle. You want to create a product that speaks to them. And to do that, you need to speak their language. 4. Focus on Solving a Problem Successful products solve urgent problems. Groundbreaking, right? But you would be surprised how many ignore this. Ensure you: • Pinpoint a problem faced by your target audience • Find more effective solutions than existing solutions You're not just building a product. You're solving a problem. 5. Build a Strong Team A great team is the engine that drives successful product development. Look for diverse skill sets: • UX • Design • Marketing • Engineering Foster a cohesive environment and encourage contribution. The best entrepreneurs know great products without teams don’t exist. 6. Embrace Failure as Learning Failure is the foundation upon which success is built. • Examine the reasons behind failures • Identify lessons from setbacks • Use these insights for future development endeavors Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game. 7. Create an Effective Go-to-Market Strategy Your product’s journey to success begins with a solid go-to-market strategy. Consider: • Pricing • Distribution channels • Marketing campaigns • Competitive positioning Create a comprehensive plan that aligns with your target market Then implement the strategy meticulously. Those were my tips for getting your first product to market. Want more content like this? Hit that follow and 🛎️ to get notified when I post. #productlaunch #entrepreneurship

10 takeaways from quitting my job to build a CFO and bookkeeping business serving 40+ clients in 18 months: 1. 𝗕𝗲 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. The hardest thing for me to do initially was put myself out there. Posting on social media didn’t come naturally, but it’s been one of the highest-value things I’ve done. It’s led to amazing connections, customers, employees, and even friendships. 2. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀. The first 3-5 are the hardest. Do whatever it takes to land them. This will: • Build confidence that you can actually do this. • Give you with a foundation to learn and iterate. • Kickstart the flywheel of loyal customers who refer others to you. 3. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀. Your primary focus during the first 3-6 months should be sales. Don’t get distracted by building the perfect website, designing a great logo, or crafting the best business plan. Sell, sell and sell. 4. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺. Momentum is a real thing. Show up day in and day out. Even when things are hard, progress is minimal, and you just don’t feel like it. Success compounds. 5. 𝗕𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride. The highs are euphoric, and the lows are gut-wrenching. You WILL experience both, so prepare accordingly. 6. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. You will reach a point where you can no longer provide existing customers with the quality of service they deserve AND keep building the business. When that time comes, you'll need to hire and delegate. 7. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲. The scariest decision you’ll make in your business is to hire your first full-time employee. But as long as your cash flow supports it, rip the bandaid off and hire. Hiring gets easier over time. 8. 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸-𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. You don’t need to work nights and weekends to be successful. You need to be at your best. And that won’t happen if you neglect your health or time with your loved ones. 9. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲. Business is all about people. If you build a company whose primary goal is to add real value to the lives of both your customers and employees, then it’s hard to go wrong. 10. 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆. Don’t get so caught up in achieving your goals that you fail to revel in the moment. Be proud of what you’re building, and don’t sweat the small stuff. Even the brutal valleys provide opportunities to learn and grow. Keep your chin up and keep going. — I hope you learned something from my experience. Follow me for more content on SMB accounting & finances. And if you need help with your business numbers, my DMs are open.

Tech founder hacks. Not a fancy framework, just stuff I've found that helps. 0. Use Stripe Atlas to incorporate. It's inexpensive and easy. You'll also have all the docs you need for everything else (hiring, contracting, partnering, NDAs, etc). 1. Spend the vast majority of your time doing what you're great at. Spend as little as possible on everything else. 2. Delegate anything rote that isn't critically important. Assistants are great (listen to Tim Ferriss interview Sam Corcos if you want reasons and tactics). 3. Hire experts for everything that requires real skill (yes that includes sales and marketing). Nobody ever told a founder to not hire an immigration lawyer and DIY H-1B visa applications. Why would you DIY HR, brand, messaging, SEM, cold email, sales, partnerships? Start with contractors/consultants. It's cheaper than doing it wrong and having to do it over again later. 4. Align spending with your values. Not with what other people do. 5. Don't go overboard reinventing everything. Google can do everything their own way because they've been minting money since ~2000. Reinventing everything is earned by building a business. 6. Focus on the 1-3 things that matter right now. Make sure your time spent aligns with that focus (look at your calendar!). Nirav Tolia spent months looking for a CTO at Nextdoor, but was only dedicating ~60-120 min / week to the effort. When he spent 4 straight days on it, he signed a CTO that same week. 7. Meet the CEO of every respectable competitor. You're spending your lives solving the same problem, so you have at least that in common. If you need to sell, these are your most likely buyers. Or maybe they'll need to sell, and you'll want context. 8. Send monthly investor updates. 9. Do weekly team check-ins. Focus on what the team actually did that week (wins!) and address anything that went badly head-on to create a culture of responsibility. Highlight other people's performance; it is not about you and if it is, see 1-3 above. 10. Read the 15 Principles of Conscious Leadership by Diana Chapman Jim Dettmer and Kaley Klemp. Decide if it's right for you, and if it is, try it. If it isn't, I'd love to hear your reason why not (maybe drop a comment below) 11. Get a coach. This is not an investor (though investors can introduce you). This is someone who knows your journey and brings a broader perspective. You can go to them with doubts and problems–which you definitely can't do on a daily basis with your board. My coach (Dave Kashen) totally changed the trajectory of my company and career. Find yours early. 12. Salespeople are better at selling than you are. Even if you came from sales. 2 reasons. First, salespeople are confident–they've experienced success. Second, they're not worried about the stuff a founder/ceo worries about–payroll, fundraising, shipping product, HR, future ex-founders, etc. Hope this was helpful. If you have any other advice please post in a comment below!

Entrepreneurship is the art of balancing conviction and flexibility. While building my first startup, I was underprepared and relied on several people’s opinions. This affected my ability to make confident decisions, and as a result, our company’s growth was misdirected. Here’s how I learnt to navigate startup-building: ➤ 1. Define your foundation - Create your ideal customer avatar: Visualise one person whose problem you’re solving, and list their pain points, needs and desires. - Identify non-negotiables: Define team values, guiding principles and ethics you need to abide by. This helps you to align your team in the same direction. - Determine your why: Delve deeper into the problem you are solving, and why you have chosen it. Use it as your north star in times of doubt. ➤ 2. Embrace areas demanding fluidity - Be adaptable: Adjust to the evolving market trends, pricing and revenue streams by being receptive to data-driven insights. - Iterate continuously: Test your product in the market, seek user feedback and refine it based on market validation. - Let your team evolve: Deflect stagnation by hiring associates who can deliver top notch work and respect your work culture. ➤ 3. Cultivate the ‘switch mindset’ - Assess yourself: Make self reflection a priority and question whether your actions are abiding by your principles or kneeling to your stubbornness. - Seek guidance: Hire coaches who can help you excel in areas you find difficult and push you to perform to the best of your ability. - Celebrate adaptation: Strengthen your work culture by acknowledging small wins like successful pivots and market driven adjustments. These 3 guidelines will help you stick to your guns when required, while being receptive to the external market climate. How do you balance your decision making? #entrepreneurship #decisionmaking #startup

Over the last few months, I've had dozens of conversations with aspiring entrepreneurs. Here are 4 pieces of advice I wish someone had given me when I started my first business 👇 ⚙ 1. STUDY BUSINESS MODELS All business is hard, but some are harder than others. Target the following - ‣ High Margin ‣ Very Capital Efficient ‣ Customers Who Can Pay 👉 In general, B2B is easier than B2C, retail is extremely hard, and low AOVs require a LOT of customers... 👨🔧 2. FOUNDER MARKET FIT A great business and great business model is NOT always the right choice for you. I have few strengths, but I am decent at communicating, building relationships, and marketing. There are a few applications of that skillset - headhunting, fund manager, etc. 👉 Find a high-margin application of the activities you like to do. 💰 3. MAKE $1 BEFORE YOU TRY TO MAKE $1 MILLION New entrepreneurs worry about scalability or build things that are only valuable at scale. 👉 Experienced founders find a way to sell SOMETHING to validate their ideas and customers first. 🦄 4. NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE A UNICORN If you only target a $1bn company, you're limited in what types of biz you can build. 👉 Service-based businesses are notoriously difficult to scale, but simple to start. They can be fun and lucrative, plus you can productize over time. 🖼 PHOTO CRED: I was interviewed on the news for my first startup, Paintru. I thought that PR would unlock a ton of sales - it didn't. There are no quick fixes in business or shortcuts, just lots of hard work and small steps along the way. -------------------------------------------------- BONUS TIP: If you're a veteran or milspouse, build a great network. Join us for The Military Veteran Startup Conference on 2/8 & 2/9 in SF to meet 400+ founders, VCs, and operators who can help you! Milvetstartups [dot] com --------------------------- What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs? Have questions about the above? Let me know in the comments below!

Advice to First Time Founders (and Maybe All Founders) When I was a first time founder 12 years ago, I received a lot of bad advice. Here’s the advice I wish someone had given me when I was first starting out. Short version below, longer version on Medium: 1) Take all the advice you receive with a grain of salt - including this. No one will know how to build your business better than you. 2) This is YOUR company. Not your investors’ company, not your employees’ company, not your customers’ company. Don’t make decisions to please any of these other people. 3) The vast majority of startups pivot or evolve in some way. No matter how good your initial idea is, you will almost certainly learn a lot more as you get out there, experiment, and engage with potential customers. Keep an open mind, be cautious with your cash, and expect that you’ll learn things along the way. 4) Sell something as early as possible. Startups that ship tend to keep shipping. The longer a company goes without shipping, the higher the chance it never will. 5) If this is your first startup, choose an easier product - something you can get out fast. Investors invest in traction, so you need to get that traction as quickly and inexpensively as possible. If you burn all your money and don’t have any sales traction, you will have a very hard time raising more money. 6) Your biggest problems will be people problems. The scarcest resource in your startup is your own mental energy. If you are up at night thinking about issues with your team members, that sucks your energy away from thinking about how to propel your company forward. Cut problematic people ASAP. 7) Great things are built by small teams of exceptional people.

Being an entrepreneur for the first time is painful. You feel lost 98% of the time - the ups and downs are gut-wrenching. I wish I had a cheat sheet for when I started my first company. So I wrote one. In honor of 2023, here are the 23 lessons I wish I knew sooner 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 1) Bias to action always WINS. So when you are stuck, TAKE ACTION vs keep thinking. 2) Never be the bottleneck for someone to get work done. 3) Effective delegation is neither easy nor natural. 4) Get really good at email so you can respond quickly and efficiently. Inbox Zero is the ultimate founder hack. 5) Tenacity is the most important trait for building a company. It is not intelligence, creativity or salesmanship, but sheer determination. 6) Build strong relationships with mentors, people a few steps ahead of you, and peers 7) There is no RIGHT way to start and build a company, stop looking for one. 8) Making decisions is hard; but a 'bad decision' outweighs NO decision every time. 9) Don't be in a huge rush to grow and scale - take your time to understand customers, the market, and your own product. 10) Services businesses are great ways to generate cash flow to start other ideas! 11) Competition is usually a sign you picked a good market; don't obsess over competitors. As Jeff Bezos says, Obsess over your customers. 12) When it comes to business results, be ruthless. But when it comes to people, be very compassionate. 13) There is no such thing as a momentary lapse of integrity. If someone is dishonest, it is likely not the first time and definitely not the last time 14) Have everyone "assume positive intent." Assume people want to do a good job, want the company to succeed, and want to grow in their career. Even if these aren't all true, it makes one more open minded and less petty 15) People need to be motivated, guided and empowered. 16) Early on, focus wins. 17) Don't be afraid to borrow from those that came before you. In fact, obsess over your industry's history and current players. Know it better than anyone. That's how the biggest companies in the world came to be. 18) As a founder/owner/manager, you are not the same as your team. Your ability to impact someone's career (and therefore their life) makes you different. The sooner you realize this, the better you will be at your job. 19) If you constantly find yourself unsatisfied and unhappy, consider its time to do the inner work. 20) Fear as a motivator is a non-renewable resource that leaves a negative residue on you and those around you. 21) When in conflict, I'd take curiosity & enthusiasm over intelligence & organization. 22) Learn how to sell. Selling isn’t just required in business, it’s required in everything you do. 23) Eat healthy, exercise consistently and sleep well. 24) If you enjoyed these lessons, follow Jesse Pujji. I share advice and stories about entrepreneurship and leadership like this every week. And don't forget to share this post with your network!

I built 3 startups from scratch. And made multi-millions $$ in revenue. 💪 These are the 7 most crucial lessons I have learned as a founder: 1/ Generating Revenue from Day 1: Charging customers early on is crucial. I initially hesitated, thinking a free model would attract users, but learned the value of monetization from the get-go. 💸 2/ Company's Rituals: Establishing weekly rituals (like our Monday meetings) from day 1 creates consistency. It's now an integral part of our routine, ensuring everyone's on the same page. 🗓️ 3/ Hiring Process: Don't rush hiring! Being innovative and resourceful matters. Slow and careful hiring ensures you bring in the best candidates when you genuinely need them. 4/ Fundraising: Planning is key! Allocate 4-8 months for fundraising, do your homework, and position yourself for efficient capital raising. 5/ Finding a co-founder: Take your time selecting a co-founder. Observe how they handle stress, execute tasks, and manage people before making a commitment. 6/ Contracts in Place: Never underestimate the importance of contracts. Have agreements in place with co-founders, partners, employees, etc. It's an investment in your venture's future. 7/ PR for Traction, Not Revenue: PR builds traction, not direct revenue. It's a vital step to showcase your existence to the world. 8/ Staying True to Your Numbers: Optimism is good, but staying grounded in reality is crucial. Work on your numbers, course-correct when needed, and be realistic. 9/ Adding Value and Telling a Story: Direct communication with customers is invaluable. Tell your story, and build a brand—it doesn't require a hefty budget, and the impact is significant. Subscribe to my newsletter to know more about how I did it: https://lnkd.in/gsTPjgRU #startups #entrepreneurship

In 2021, I co-founded my first business. This month, we crossed $10,000,000 in revenue with only 8 US full-time employees. 100% bootstrapped. I’m a mom, wife, and now a first-time founder/CEO. Here are my top 11 learnings on leadership, entrepreneurship, and startups: 1) Tenacity is the most important trait for building a company. It is not intelligence, creativity or salesmanship, but sheer determination. Wake up every day and push the ball forward. 2) Competition is usually a sign you picked a good market - but don't obsess over competitors. At most, they are a source of data about your customers' needs. Obsess over your customer. 3) Leverage offshore talent whenever possible Our first 5 hires were offshore. We crossed 3 million in revenue before our first full-time US hire. Currently, our US team of 8 is supported by 30+ people in the Philippines. 4) When it comes to business results, be ruthless. But when it comes to individuals, be very compassionate. 5) Ups and downs don't go away. Even after growing and seeing success, it's still a nerve-wracking rollercoaster. The great things aren't as great as they seem and the bad things are usually not as bad. Keep calm and move forward. 6) Don't tie your self-worth to business success. As a founder, it's easy to beat yourself up when you are behind on revenue targets. Learn to navigate this feeling. Try not to let KPIs determine your mood. Identify when it happens, accept it but find ways to deal with it. 7) Feedback is a gift. Don't just give it frequently but seek it all the time, in multiple different ways. Create a culture where feedback is viewed as a gift and given frequently. Foster a candid communication style across the whole org. 8) Leading and managing people well is NOT an innate talent. Get a coach and a mentor and learn as much as you can. You will improve continually over time. 9) You may think that your company's problems are unique to you and that you are the only company with these problems. In reality, most things you face are much more common than you realize. Talk with other entrepreneurs/CEOs regularly. Join those communities. It's worth it. 10) Individual success is a function of company success. If someone puts themselves ahead of the company, they do not belong. There is no such thing as a momentary lapse of integrity. 11) Being focused leads to success Have a narrow focus in the beginning, expand later. Most business principles (e.g. EOS) are just a fancy way to create focus and alignment. Don't forget: Amazon only sold books for its first 3 years. That's what I got from our journey to $10M ARR with GrowthAssistant. This year, I plan to cross $13M. I think every startup/DTC Brand in the world will use offshore talent and be a customer one day. You can too: head to our website now to learn more and save your spot on our waitlist!

In six weeks since launching UserCue, we have scaled from ZERO to Hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in ARR (and counting)! It is by far the fastest-growing startup that I have ever worked with…6 weeks! Through many startups (and many failures), Luke Logan and I have learned a lot about what it takes to go from 0 to 1. Here are the biggest pieces of advice that I wish I had learned earlier for entrepreneurs starting their first, second, or third companies. 1. Wait to raise capital until you have a really good idea of what you are building. You WILL pivot. This is not advice; this is a fact. Once you raise capital, you are beholden to your investors. Switching directions quickly becomes much more difficult after you have sold investors on your idea. Raising capital is great to scale, but it is not a great use case for validating an idea that can be done without a full team. 2. Forget the UI, start as an agency. Andrew Gazdecki is right. There is rarely a reason that you need to go build a self-serve platform with top-tier design until you have partners who can help guide you. Start as an agency (or “technology consulting”) and build the solutions that your partners ask for. Once you have so many people requesting your service that you can’t keep up, THEN go build a platform for your partners. 3. The best startups in the world do customer discovery for a year before they truly “launch.” The #1 largest common failure point in startups is that founders suck at customer discovery. As founders, we often build solutions looking for problems. We build something that people don’t need or doesn’t solve the actual problem. We aren’t very good at talking to people and asking the right questions. Fix. This. Now. As YC would say, “Build something people want.” Until you have done that, talking to your customers is 100x more valuable than writing code, seriously. If you notice, there are several areas of overlap between 1-3 above. Spend the time to build something people want. Iterate as fast as possible and pivot as needed. Happy Holidays everyone and good luck in Q1!