(I've literally seen it across all founders that I worked with)
- lack of product demand. being first to market is often a wrong idea; targeting a non-existent niche is a critical mistake.
- building features without speaking with customers.
not enough focus on sales. sales should begin from the day the mvp is ready.
not building good relationships with employees. leading by fear alienates talented employees who have options.
promising equity but not putting it on paper makes employees hesitant to stay.
building with an exit strategy in mind, especially revolving around a single big business acquisition, is risky.
hiring interns rarely makes sense for ambitious startups.
following the hype instead of focusing on monetization.
raising capital too fast, often before achieving traction or product-market fit (pmf).
focusing on unnecessary work at an early stage, such as adding analytics or excessive features.
not being fast enough: long meetings, unnecessary travel, excessive days off, inefficient capital allocation, wrong hires, etc.
founder-market fit isn’t mandatory but accelerates progress significantly when present.
using buzzwords in startup features instead of providing clear value.
not iterating enough based on user feedback.
not discussing numbers (user retention rate, churn rate, revenue, profits, capital allocation, etc.) regularly
failing to track essential kpis like ltv (lifetime value) and cac (customer acquisition cost).
not being transparent about pricing on the landing page; making customers click ‘request demo’ can deter them.
burning capital too quickly without considering the runway.
overspending on marketing, product development, or hiring without a clear roi plan.
PS. not sure what to build next or how to grow it? I can help you get there without burning time or cash via ZeroToCustomers .com - find all kinds of help you need over there as a founder.
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