(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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