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Real Founder Lessons

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

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Make one doughnut

(at minute 13:01)

Founder Lesson
There’s a doughnut shop in my neighborhood called Revolution Doughnuts. As a neighbor I can attest that they are a tremendous local success story and their ratings on Yelp put them in the top 15% of all restaurants in town.

Silvrback blog image
I lived nearby before they launched their first location, so I saw how the owner . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things delusion execution first principles focus growth hustle lean startup loose threads mvp my favorites niche products podcast process product product market fit solving a problem super fans traction unique playbook value proposition

Don’t pay for customers for years

(at minute 12:37)

Founder Lesson
One of my first blog posts was called "Paid advertising is the tax you pay for not being remarkable." I got so many "what the hell are you taking about?" comments from this early post that it fueled my desire to continue to blog about counterintuitive/advanced startup concepts.

This notion that . . .

Posted in: all counterintuitive things focus growth hustle kara swisher marketing podcast product recode decode retention traction unique playbook

Founders need a theory of human behavior

(at minute 13:03)

Founder Lesson
A trusted startup friend came to me the other day with a new idea...

He just bought a house, so he's thinking a lot about paying contractors for large projects and doing smaller projects himself. There are lots of videos on YouTube about small home projects (eg cutting down vines on the side of your home), but . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things engagement execution first principles focus hustle masters of scale my favorites pivot podcast process product product market fit solving a problem traction unique playbook value proposition

It takes 3 years to know what you have

(at minute 2:24)

Founder Lesson
I'm talking weekly with a very good founder who's working on a startup to disrupt hiring. He checks all the boxes. He loves the problem...check. He's a visionary...check. He's smart with a strong work ethic...check. He has very relevant experience...check. He has a proven track record of building . . .

Posted in: advisors all business model validation counterintuitive things execution hustle joelle steiniger matt goldman michael sacca mvp persistency pivot podcast process product market fit purpose resiliency rocketship.fm solving a problem time timing unique playbook

It's all about love (not likes)

(listen to the whole thing)

Founder Lesson
There's only been two times that I've referenced a podcast in one of my blog posts, but not referenced an exact moment for the reader to listen to hear the lesson. First there was this one and today I'm going to do it again. In both instances the podcast has so many good lessons throughout that I would encourage . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things engagement execution first principles focus growth hustle lean startup listen to entire podcast masters of scale mvp my favorites niche products podcast process product product market fit psychological friction sam altman super fans ycombinator

Share your idea with lots of people

(at minute 15:43)

Founder Lesson
A few weeks ago a first-time founder emailed me to meet-up. One of my favorite things is meeting new founders, so I'm always excited to get emails like that. However my enthusiasm quickly declined when I read this at the end of his email...

"Please see the attached mutual NDA and let me know if you have . . .

Posted in: all business model validation counterintuitive things customer discovery execution first principles focus focus groups founders how i built this hustle mvp pattern matching podcast process product market fit solving a problem unique playbook

Iterate your first product with a small group ideal users

(at minute 2:24)

Founder Lesson
What I like to believe about startups is that two passionate founders who love a problem have a unique insight in a space and work on that problem until something clicks.

But lately I’ve been thinking about an alternative path.

What if founders just try to solve a problem without a big mission from the . . .

Posted in: a16z all business model validation counterintuitive things customer discovery engagement first principles focus hustle micromanagement mvp niche products podcast process product product market fit sidenote solving a problem unique playbook

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