Quais erros você precisa evitar ao desenvolver uma startup?

I would list three. The first one is to elaborate a business plan based on what an established company world do. Since you’re a startup, most of the times you have an idea, a prediction, and you need to take risks. You can’t deal with it in a common way. The second one is premature scaling. You’re excited and decide to go faster than planned – hiring more people, investing more, spending more, promising more. And things can go different than you planned. The third is what we call “manage through crisis”. You start to have some problem and must quickly manage it (and stop looking to the other things). So, if you are developing a startup, get the good things you know, but also save some space to creative and innovate.

When choosing a co-founder for your startup, it's critical to prioritize shared values, complementary skills, and a mutual understanding of the business vision. Ensure clear communication and establish roles and responsibilities early on to foster a strong and collaborative partnership. Building a startup is a demanding journey, and having a co-founder who aligns with your goals and brings diverse strengths to the table can significantly enhance your chances of success.

There is a lot of buzz around being a soloentrepreneur and how one can save costs etc., but having a co founder and a good team that can challenge you is crucial for success. One needs to ensure that you share the same vision and goals or else the "partnership" is doomed to fail. In my experience trying to find the right team is one of the hardest part of a startup!

Partnering with a co-founder is a major strategic decision. Choosing someone whose skills and vision complement your own can radically transform the trajectory of your project. Collaboration brings a dynamic conducive to innovation and efficiency. It also allows sharing challenges, doubling intellectual and especially creative resources, while accelerating the development of your project. Finally, from a financial perspective, it's better to share a big cake with your co-founder rather than eating a much smaller cake alone 🧁

Finding a co-founder is a double edge sword. It can compliment your efforts or can be the biggest obstacle to your business. However, having a co-founder always pays off, if you select it carefully depending on the need not just because you like someone or someone has agreed to invest. It also enhances you chances of getting investment. Moreover, collective wisdom always bears good fruit. Prefer to select the co-founder in the skill that you lacks e.g. if you are good in marketing try to find the co-founder in finance or operations. This will helps you conver your vulnerable part of the business.

One of the key mistakes is not understanding the problem you are solving and being able to articulate that to your target customer. Customers are looking for solutions to their pains, or solutions for challenges that keep them up at night. They are not concerned with your feature set, that comes later. In my experience, customers don't wake up at night thinking I wish I had a platform with feature x or y, what they care about is a solution to a problem ( sorry, caps are meant to highlight actual problems), e.g my customers are getting their deliveries late, which could LOSE ME MY VALUABLE CLIENT or budget constraints require me to drop 10% of my developers, I WONT BE ABLE TO MONETIZE MY NEW FEATURES. Focus on your positioning! Not features

Startups should remember they're in the "startup" phase for up to five years. Growth requires constant financial oversight. Focusing on product/service development is key, but neglecting sales risks cash depletion, and for a startup cash is king. To understand and improve the client journey, experience it yourself: scrutinise your marketing, navigate your website, explore client acquisition channels (e.g. call centers - test them anonymously). Knowing the customer experience first hand allows for enhancements that boost sales. Increased sales lead to more cash and more cash means you can afford more resources to solve other issues.

Alot of time people try to solve someones else's problem, maybe because it is big or because it is cool, or because you have faced it and you feel it should be solved. While all problems deserve to be solved but not all problems can make a unicorn startup. You should be around one of 2 things: 1) Problems that you have faced. 2) An issue that you have deep knowledge about. If it is anything else don't waste your time or money on it. Even if it is one of the above 2 then try to find at least 100 people except your friends and family who have faced similar problems and are willing to pay if you give them a solution. If you can find 100 people who are ready to pay you hard cash for your solution. BINGO !! Go ahead and do it.

A good startup build PSP. You know what is PSP? It's a Problem Solving Product. What we need to make a PSP? -A Problem. -A Solution. -A Product. So, First stage is Problem. Problem is the main thing you need to find out. So first work on finding and understanding the problem. If you can do that, Congratulations.. you are Half way there towards success. You are 50% successful. Second Stage is Solution: For this you need to check that if the solution is solving the problem. Our main focus should be the problem as without solving that nothing is valuable as we can't write 100 without 1. Third stage is product and It should be easy to use and solving the exact problem. Defocusing PROBLEMS will led startups only towards Failure

Every startup needs financial cushioning. So to ensure that they are in the pink of monetary health the following are necessary precautions: * Don’t needlessly burn your cash *Know how much of financial runway is available to you to carry forward your liabilities * don’t keep salaried staff that you don’t require * keep evaluating your startup goals with real financial outcomes * don’t be stupid with investors trust and money * always keep an emergency fund

Family, Friends, and Venture Finances During its early stage, a startup isn't generating revenue. Yet, that venture still has expenses--even BIG expenses. Did you know a jet uses 10X more fuel lifting off the ground than it uses at cruising altitude? That's an important lesson for founders! So, where will you find that money? Not from VCs. Your venture's not enticing enough to them yet. Not from an Angel. You don't have real traction yet. That leaves family and friends. But, I often hear from founding entrepreneurs, "My family and friends are broke." If that's indeed true, you've got to get a better class of family and friends, because this is the only chance you've got! Venture With Vision 😎

Be aware of how much of your time it will take, how lonely it can feel, how emotional it can be, how scary it can be, and then do it anyway! You only truly regret what you didn't do in life. Oh and choose partners with your head, not your heart.

Financial management and understanding your cashflow is very important. Often, startups want to kick into hyper speed to mega growth and spending gets out of hand on non-essentials. I see lots of startups waste investor money on non-relevant event sponsorship, or aligning themselves with strategies that don't help them grow or scale. It's interesting that the caption to the left says marketing isn't essential for your startup - I would disagree because if people can't find information about your startup you can't sell your product/service, or generate interest from investors. One of the core priorities is having a clear budget across the lifecycle of a startup, not just in the launch phase.

J'ai porté mes échecs comme un fardeau, puis 10 ans après, un matin, j'ai pris conscience que les dits "échecs" n'étaient en réalité qu'une solide expérience. Les leçons à en tirer ne sont pas toujours évidentes, elles font mal à l'égo voire l'annihilent. Le recul pas facile à prendre mais la pilule finit par être digérée avec pour effet de décupler nos capacités constructives, qui rappelons le, passent aussi par la destruction. Par analogie, je pense au Lego. Quand on part sans plans ou notice de montage, irrémédiablement il faudra défaire refaire et parfaire.

Failures aren't the antithesis of success for startups; they are its very foundation. A visionary innovator understands that each setback is a stepping stone towards a future of achievements. To embrace this, foster a culture where experimentation is celebrated, and learnings from each misstep are valued and integrated. The key is to pivot with purpose, maintaining a clear vision but adapting the approach as new insights are gained. Remember, the most groundbreaking innovations often come after a series of trials and errors.

In startups, not learning from mistakes is like trying to ride a bike without ever falling down. It's not just about avoiding blunders but figuring out how to do better. Think of it as making cookies; the first batch might not turn out right, but you learn to make perfect ones next time. Not learning from mistakes is like making the same burnt cookies again and again; you miss the chance to get better. Every mess-up is a lesson, like realizing too much flour makes cookies dry. If you don't learn, you might keep making the same mistakes. So, in startups, not learning from failures is like missing the chance to become a better baker—you might keep serving not-so-great cookies instead of creating something awesome.

I tried my hands at a start-up many years back. Despite winding it down in 3 odd years, I prefer to call that particular phase as "successful failure". Failure obviously as we could not achieve our goals and scale up, "Successful" as it set the foundations of the career and success that followed.

It is not enough to learn from mistakes for founder. There is a difference in learning from mistakes as individual and learning as a team. It is important to establish processes in the company for capturing, reporting, communicating and learning from mistakes. Then you enable it on a company level. Otherwise, people have similar mistakes without realising and sharing about them (though learning)

Others have covered a lot of good points. I would simply add: 1. Ensure leadership alignment at the outset, and check in often. Especially with externals/VCs etc. 2. Have a plan for scale: both technology and people. 3. Know your exit - be ready if/when it appears.

Narayan Murthy says you should work 70 hours a week. I agree only if you can generate that income for yourself and your investors. Otherwise, prioritize work-life balance. Burning the candle at both ends in your youth can lead to health issues in your mid-thirties that money can't fix. Therefore, keeping track of your health-o-meter and working hard is important.

Fail fast and recover quickly. If an idea, solution, or employee is not meeting the desired expectations, cut ties swiftly. Time is your greatest asset, and the longer you wait to make such decisions, the more they can adversely impact other business areas. Avoid letting the fear of failure linger; instead, address and rectify issues promptly.

Too many people glorify being an entrepreneur. Is can be very stressful and trying on you, your family and your health. Talk to others before and during this journey. You do not have to do it alone.

The journey of a startup for the founder is remarkably similar to what Joseph Campbell describes as the Hero’s Journey. As the founder and CEO of The Digital Economist, I can attest to this first hand. In the beginning, there’s a call to adventure — a vision to innovate and create impact. You then face trials and tribulations that test your resolve, from securing funding to scaling operations. This process of continual learning and adaptation is essential in finding your place in the world. The key is to stay committed to the journey, embracing both the highs and lows. Ultimately, success comes to those who persevere, much like heroes who complete their journey, emerging transformed and triumphant.