Loading ...Paul Graham’s 18 start-up mistakes
From
http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html
18 mistakes that kill start-ups.
Only the points pasted below. Please see the URL for the details (for
a software industry)
The points are mostly valid for any start-up.
May be valid for social work initiatives also.
You may like to analyze your start-up/ future start-up from this point
of view. Please note, this is NOT one-size fits all.
Thanks
Pradyot
18 mistakes that kill start-ups
1. Single Founder
2. Bad Location
3. Marginal Niche
4. Derivative Idea
5. Obstinacy
6. Hiring Bad workers
7. Choosing the Wrong Platform
8. Slowness in Launching
9. Launching Too Early
10. Having No Specific User in Mind
11. Raising Too Little Money
12. Spending Too Much
13. Raising Too Much Money
14. Poor Investor Management
15. Sacrificing Users to (Supposed) Profit
16. Not Wanting to Get Your Hands Dirty
17. Fights Between Founders
18. A Half-Hearted Effort
The details at http://www.paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html
Do you have to make ALL of those, or a small subset ? Between 8/9, and 11/13, its a world of ‘tough calls’
Essentially, after reading the whole list, one gets a feeling that analysis paralysis is what can nix most people starting out - dive in and figure out how deep the waters are. You cannot be too right/wrong - just be prepared to change easily.
Great!! one can use these points as a checklist before getting started. I am just wondering if a matrix can be prepared out of this
I think “Derivative idea” shouldn’t have been in the list. Every new innovation is getting build on top of something which is already in place, or it can be persuasively new.
Therefore saying “derivative idea” is one reason for failure is not entirely correct. Din’t Japanese car makers built few decades of dominance using same concept as Ford but adding new concepts on top of it?
outstanding list. All true.
I want to add:
19. Growth dependant only on raising big bucks. One can always innovate to grow
Whats the thrill in entrepreneurship if you dont make mistakes and it is so true that only practically mistakes make you a better manager than any MBA institutes. I would urge entrepreneurs not to be wary of making mistakes and spend time on how to avoid making mistakes. Rather just go ahead, follow your instincts and let the mistakes happen. Your ability to make the right moves and makeup for mistakes is what’ll make you a strong entrepreneur.
All the best.
I love this post…coming back a 2nd time to read it and copy paste the URL to a few people who need the advise
Just adding to what Pat said….
mistakes are ok but only if the corrective actions are taken!!
right anil. however, just thinking what do you guys think about this:
For a first generation entrepreneur (assuming him/her to be in late 20s), the first startup should be to learn from mistakes and then grow the company to a respectable position and exit, the second should be to make up for the time and money invested in the first and exit with good money, and the third should be to real try and change the way world works i.e. actually take risk.
Now keep this generic, we cant take examples like Google here. We are just trying to understand the possible cycle for a wannabe serial entrepreneur.
Well, Paul’s innovative SPAM busting technology was based on much dated mathematics principles! Bayes theorem. I think there’d be very very few members out here, who haven’t read it already in school! So “Derivative innovation”, is indeed a very vague point in this list.