With so much noise out there relative to what’s important in startups, here are 50 things every startup should know, in no particular order.
- Just do it
- 99% of decisions aren’t permanent
- Be slow to hire and quick to fire
- Measure what you manage
- Competition isn’t as important as the customer
- 95% of startups shouldn’t raise money
- Join a startup peer group
- The biggest challenge with growth is keeping everyone aligned
- Price differentiation doesn’t last long but customer service does
- Market timing is the most important factor for homeruns
- Empower customers to help sell new customers
- Create the best environment you can for your team
- Asking good questions is more important than guessing the answer
- Build relationships before you need them
- Always consider the best alternative outcome before beginning a negotiation
- Consciously balance time working in the business vs working on the business
- You only get one first impression
- What you start out doing isn’t likely where you’ll find success
- Get the corporate culture right and everything will fall into place
- The best exit strategy is to not need one
- The biggest enemy of websites is the browser Back button
- Recurring revenue is the best form of revenue
- Don’t burn any bridges as it is a small world
- Build a niche brand and curate all aspects of it
- Pivoting and iterating is healthy in a startup
- Always ask for a discount
- Your idea isn’t unique
- Sharing your idea with others will lead to benefits you can’t predict
- Keep it as simple as possible
- People identify with companies more so than products
- It’s worth paying a professional (lawyer, accountant, etc) to do it right the first time
- Set goals and adapt to changing information
- Storytelling is more powerful than marketing
- Most startups initially price their product/service too low
- Make time to think
- Focus on rhythm, data, and priorities
- Develop offline analogies to describe your startup
- Companies aren’t just about profits
- Celebrate the small victories
- Play to your strengths
- Be opinionated about your product when considering customer suggestions
- Know why you’re different and clearly articulate it
- Don’t develop products in a vacuum
- Regularly communicate with employees, customers, investors, and the community
- Remove friction for all stakeholders
- Absent information people make up reasons
- It is difficult to concentrate on more than three things at any one time
- Employees are the most important stakeholder
- No plan is perfect
- Consume the startup but don’t let it consume you
What else? What other items would you add to the list?
David Cummings on Startups 
Excellent post, David. I will add one more: 51. Be Transparent
Another one to add is “Stay sane! Keep your mental health in check and ensure you get time out from time to time.”
Actually, just re-reading a book E-myth Revisited. Excellent advice for establishing systems within your business.
GREAT POST ! I will print this out and put it in front of my desk.
Great Article.
Short and sweet…
Two more to consider:
“Build a business not a job.”
“Build an asset not just an income stream.”
Fantastic post! I would add surround yourself with connectors who love what you are doing and be authentic.
Excellent list. Thanks Dave! Great post.
I would suggest:
– find your unique strength (it can be anything from new generation corporate culture to new way of marketing) and put your passion on it.
This will immediately make you outdo any competitions, or have no competitions! 🙂
Love the post. Item 34 about pricing too low is something I’ve experienced a couple of times now… have to remember to be greedier! (meaning, believing more in the value of my own services).
51. The best ideas are often borrowed ones.
Thanks, David!
“”just do it!!!””
“constantly redefine your product” — with every piece of information that you learn from customers, employees, investors, etc, sometimes your thoughts are out of sync with what you are building — it helps to redefine the vision and the ‘archetype’ customer so you can stay focused and consistent.
Thanks for the list. Very interesting reading.
Integrate sustainability and if it’s possible Life cycle principles = innovation, lower costs (mid term) and good réputation…
That’s a long list
But one more 🙂
– 5X “Don’t be evil!”
David, this is seriously amazing. I’m going to think about these weekly and come up with a “so what” for each of them. Fantastic.
Exercise, even if it means pushups on the office floor. It will keep you sane and make you smarter.