Earlier today I was talking to a student about entrepreneurship. Naturally, he was very focused on the traditional model of identifying a problem, writing a business plan, building a product, and finally talking to customers. I told him that everything he was doing was backwards except for identifying a problem. After the conversation, I thought to myself that there had to be a concise way to describe the necessary steps for startup success.
Here are the five steps to startup success in 30 words:
1. Find a problem in a big market.
2. Line up customers willing to buy it.
3. Build a great team and culture.
4. Build a great product.
5. Build a repeatable customer acquisition process.
In 30 simple words we have five actionable steps in order of priority. While there are many more details, this provides a great outline for entrepreneurs to follow.
What else? What are your thoughts on these five steps and 30 words for startup success?
David Cummings on Startups 
Reblogged this on Bag Lady Boutique.
Great idea for a post. Even better advice. On step #2, what about replacing “willing to buy it” with “willing to buy your solution”? Other than, well, that’d make 31 words…
The copywriter in me likes to get specific with pronouns. The entrepreneur in me knows I need to tailor my solutions (product or service) to meet the needs of my customers.
Reblogged this on Ned Morgens and commented:
I feel like I’m stealing from David Cummings today. I’ve been on hiatus these last few weeks as my wife and I brought a baby boy into the world September. The first step, “Find a problem in a huge market,” is key. Small problems are just as time consuming as big problems, but it’s harder to be compensated for one’s time and energy properly when the problem is too small.
Nice. Summing up a big question in 30 words 🙂 !