A ton of lessons

I have learned a great deal from my startup failures, so it felt like a good idea to summarize and share the lessons here:

On starting up

• Validate before you build. Friends, girlfriends, and family should not be your early users for the validation exercise. They may resist being brutally honest and rip you apart.
• Start with the problem, not the solution. Build what your target customer will not hesitate to pay for. Do not build and look for paying customers.
• Start as lean as possible. Your MVP could just be a WordPress landing page or a WhatsApp number. Technology is just an enabler, not always the real business. Keep in mind that Amazon is a supply chain-intensive retail business that also sells online and not just a tech startup.
• Startups are more than a rigorous full-time job. Some may have managed to get beyond the first stage by holding a day job, but they had to work doubly hard. So, either you are all in, or you are not. It’s as black and white as that.
• Find a co-founder to tag along. This person shouldn’t be someone you met at a grocery store. He or she should share your passion, vision, and belief. This person will trust even when your best of friends or family members give up on you.
• If your product is tech-heavy, move code as often as possible. Baptism by fire in the early stages gets you far, so always be shipping.

# Vivek Singh