What I Learned by Talking to 50 Startup Founders Last Year
One of those most exciting parts about my job at LunarLab is that I get to talk to dozens of startup founders. Whether they’re clients, founders I mentor, prospects, or people I meet at conferences… I love learning about their unique ideas, successes, and challenges.
Last year, I had the opportunity to talk to around 50 startup founders. Here’s what I learned.
Fear is the Startup Killer
Founding a startup is terrifying. Seriously. You have no idea if your idea is going to work, but you’re quitting your job to do it anyway. And what’s worse, you’ve got to show it to people… people who might not like it! Nightmare fuel.
Here are some of the biggest ways I’ve seen fear kill startups:
Fear of launching
What it looks like:
- “It’s not ready yet.” “It doesn’t have every feature.” “There are still some minor bugs.” “The UI isn’t perfect.” “What if someone sees a typo in the text and deletes the app?”
The antidote:
- Launch it, baby! If you’re waiting to launch when you feel ready, you’ll either launch too late or you’ll never launch. I’ve seen founders spend years without launching, trying to squash every bug or add every feature. Every year that they didn’t launch, they lost out on potential revenue while also spending thousands in development costs. Not only that, they missed valuable opportunities for user feedback which could have made their product even better. Launch before you’re ready.
Fear of feedback
What it looks like:
- “What if nobody likes it?” “What if nobody uses it?” “What if people don’t find it useful?” “What if they don’t see my vision?”
The antidote:
- Bad feedback is your new BFF. This might sound counterintuitive, but it’s important to identify potential issues as early as possible in the process. It’s better to know now that people won’t use a feature, rather than spending thousands of dollars developing something nobody will use. If you know early on where the problems are, you can pivot to create a more successful product. Build feedback loops in and talk to customers often.
Whatever it is that you’re afraid of doing… do it anyway. The most successful founders overcome their fear and use it to fuel their dreams.
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – Frank Herbert, Dune
Choose Your Co-Founder Wisely
Oh, the horror stories I could tell you about bad co-founders. This year I talked to startup founders whose co-founders flaked out, stopped working on the business, cut them out of deals, and even (gasp!!) took funding money and ran.
I’m not gonna tell you that founding a startup is like a marriage… buuuuuut… you’re about to be legally tied to another person who you’ll share major financial decisions with for a long time. The decisions that you make with this person will impact your finances, your future, and even how much time you spend with your kids. You’ll need to be on the same page with this person more often than not, and if you’ve got a problem with them you’re gonna need to be able to work it out. If things go well, this is a person you’ll be entering into multi-million-dollar deals with.
So choose wisely. Make sure this is someone you trust, whose goals and vision match yours, and who has impeccable integrity. Make sure this is someone you can have healthy conflict with, and still be able to work with at the end of the day.
Choosing the right co-founder is one of the biggest, most important decisions you’ll make on your startup journey.
Everyone is Totally Just Winging It
You know that wildly successful startup founder that’s always in your LinkedIn feed securing funding, closing deals, and winning awards? The one who seems like they have everything in life figured out? Here’s a secret: they’re just trying to make it through the day, just like the rest of us. Even the people who seem to have it all together have an inner voice full of self-doubt. You can’t hear it, but it’s there.
Once you deeply embrace the fact that we’re all just making it up as we go along, you’ll find that you have a lot of freedom. You’re free to find your own path, because what worked for someone else won’t necessarily work for you. You can confidently go with the flow, and know that you’ll learn along your journey.
There are so many ways that this realization is freeing, but the biggest is that it leads to vulnerability and the ability to ask for help. Talk to your fellow founders – they may have just solved the biggest problem that your business is facing, or they may know of a tool that can save you a ton of time. I definitely recommend joining a high quality founder group like Saba’s Circle (waiting list here) and chatting with others who are going through the same thing you are.
Know Your Metrics
Metrics aren’t always the most exciting part of business, but they are definitely a big deal. One thing that I frequently see that makes successful founders stand out is that they really know their metrics inside and out. They’re not just measuring vanity metrics or what someone told them was important: they’re measuring the most important things specific to their unique business. This is different for everyone, and what’s important at one startup isn’t necessarily important at another.
Additionally, successful founders know exactly what their metrics are at any given time. They are completely clear on where they’ve been, where they are now, and where they’re going in the future. They can tell you their goals at a moment’s notice, and they are great at communicating them in a clear and concise way.
I’m lucky that every day, I’m able to work with startup founders at all different stages. There are so many different ways to be successful, and no two startups are the same. If you’re a founder and you want to chat, reach out to us at LunarLab! We love helping founders achieve their goals.
