Real Founder Lessons

The best startup advice from experienced founders...one real-world lesson at a time.

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The job of the founder/CEO is to say "no"

(at minute 4:19)

Founder Lesson
I'm a huge fan of hack tests. For example, let's say you believe that gardeners will buy more gardening equipment if you create a content-focused startup where the content's goal is to drive e-commerce. Instead of spending months building a site/app, setup a MailChimp account today and start sending emails . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things execution focus founders micromanagement persistency podcast process product market fit unique playbook ycombinator

Do the simple thing first

(at minute 13:46)

Founder Lesson
Two years ago I was working with my co-founder to help renovate an old building in downtown Atlanta to become a startup hub. We didn't know anything about construction, so there were lots of lessons. Perhaps the biggest lesson was that construction is a process with lots of fits & starts. You decide one day to put a . . .

Posted in: all bootstrapping counterintuitive things execution focus founders hustle micromanagement mvp podcast process product product market fit solving a problem stanford university unique playbook video

You aren't the exception

(at minute 19:31)

Founder Lesson
About a year ago I was talking with a founder going through Techstars and he told me something that really stuck with me...

"Our behavior towards our startup totally changed when it occurred to us that we are the rule...not the exception."

In other words, this delusional founder (he's . . .

Posted in: all counterintuitive things delusion execution founders how i built this persistency podcast process psychological friction resiliency unique playbook

Why founders don't heed good advice

(at minute 00:49)

Founder Lesson
I don't have all the answers. No one does.

Your best advisor doesn't have all the answers. The best VC on Sand Hill Road doesn't have all the answers. The best founder doesn't have all the answers. That's why startups are so tricky...every straight-forward problem has been solved. So what's . . .

Posted in: advisors all business model validation counterintuitive things execution focus founders my favorites optimal living daily podcast process product market fit solving a problem unique playbook

Thank you David Cummings

Founder Lesson
On Saturday morning I was going through email and noticed the latest blog post from David Cummings...

Silvrback blog image
Like many founders in Atlanta, I read almost every post from David. Besides finding personal nuggets that I've been able to use over the years, I've lost track of the number of founders who have . . .

Posted in: advisors all execution first principles founders pattern matching persistency process purpose vision

Savor the surprise

(at minute 31:15)

Founder Lesson
I'm working closely with two startups right now that are somewhere between launching an MVP product and getting their first few hundred customers. Both founders are trying to determine if they have product-market fit, but not quite enough customers have used the product. Over the next six months both will be able to do . . .

Posted in: 33voices all business model validation counterintuitive things customer discovery engagement execution focus focus groups founders mvp my favorites niche products persistency podcast process product product market fit solving a problem super fans traction unique playbook value proposition

Startups are learning machines

(at minute 9:35)

Founder Lesson
Every founder has super powers and blind spots. The hope is that the results that come from the super powers far outweigh any problems that are caused by the blind spots. Once a company is growing you can hire to offset blind spots, but early on it's really about one side overwhelming the other for the founding team.

. . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things execution first principles focus founders hustle persistency podcast process product product market fit solving a problem traction unique playbook video ycombinator

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