The perfect startup doesn’t exist
No company starting up is perfect from the start. There is always things that go wrong. Trouble on the horizon and ups and downs.
Even for the most successful companies like Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft the journey wasn’t straight to success. Apple famously almost went broke. Tesla too.
But if I can dream a little this is my perfect startup:
We have a big vision. Much bigger than the initial problem and solution. I think having a bold vision makes everything easier to cope with.
We have identified a clear problem in need of a solution. That’s where we start.
A problem we start solving for a very specific group. We know for whom we are doing this.
We focus on building/creating a small(ish) thing as a start and then iterate from that depending on the outcome.
The founding team would consist of (depending on the problem and solution) a designer, a backend/fullstack developer, a frontend/fullstack developer and a sales/marketing person. All should be product thinkers and understand the target audience.
In the best of worlds we should all be in the target group of the solution as well. Scratch your own itch.
We all have the same commitment and focus on succeeding. Work life balance is important but to sometimes work on weekends or all night shouldn’t be unthinkable.
We can argue about the best solution without anyone taking offence. We constantly discuss the solution and the problem.
We practise rapid communication. Ask a thousand questions. Give constructive feedback. In person or through tools like Slack. Don’t complicate things.
We work fast with focus on quality where it really matters but not where it doesn’t.
There would be some leeway to come up with solution that works but not a budget big enough to relax. There is urgency to succeed in some way.
We work close to the target group. Constantly getting feedback on the solution.
We have a revenue focus from the start. Money in makes everything much easier.
We only bring in strategic smart money and only if we have to. Unless the solution needs to scale up quicker than can be handled with smart money.
We spend time on the solution and our target group not on investors and politics.
We keep things simple. Always. Say no to a thousand things.
We prioritize like the end of the world is close. Something is always more important than something else.
We understand when we need to pivot, give up or scale up in some way.
