Founder Lesson
I think of large businesses as symphonies. There are lots of musicians. Lots of instruments. Many moving parts. Much coordination.

A startup, on the other hand, is more like one person playing the hell out of their guitar and another person singing at the top of their lungs - at least in the very beginning. Most first-time founders that I meet believe there are many things to focus on (because hey…you are starting a real business, right?), but in actuality there are only a few key areas of focus.

This podcast caught my attention because this founder says that there are only two hard problems with startups...

Problem #1 - Product-market fit

Problem #2 - Growing the team thoughtfully

I would add a third...

Problem #3 - Marketing/distribution

Reasonable people can disagree with the exact number and wording of these, but there are only a few things that founders should be using their precious few resources to focus on in the very beginning.

It’s very difficult, but try not to think about your business “at scale” in the early days, so that you can focus on the right areas to increase your odds of success.

Get Right to the Lesson
I’d recommend listening to the entire thing, but to get right to the point go to minute 14:51 of this podcast/video.

Thanks to these folks for helping us all learn faster
David Rusenko (@drusenko), Founder of Weebly (@weebly)
Roelof Botha (@roelofbotha) of Sequoia Capital (@sequoia)
This Week In Startups (@TWistartups )
Jason Calacanis (@jason)
Jacqui Deegan (@jacqKD)
Jacob Beemer (@jacobbeemer)

Please let me and others know what you think about this topic
Email me privately at dave@switchyards.com or let's discuss publicly at @davempayne.