What do you do if your software engineering startup is struggling to take off?

First of all you probably should take a look at yourself and analyze what type of chip you have on your shoulder which would motivate you to start a software engineering startup when great founders I know have already started plenty of great companies that are already taking off. If you don't have a chip on your shoulder, perhaps startups aren't for you. It's likely that you would fit into a regular company which is full of people who are satisfied with regular software engineering work. This is a more straightforward method of software engineering as long as you avoid hyper specialized roles. Otherwise hone your understanding of big pain points in general which represent significant market opportunities. Solve these problems.

To help your software engineering startup succeed, conduct market research to better understand customer needs and competition. Identify trends, evaluate your product's fit, and pinpoint areas for improvement. This analysis will help you plan your strategy and adapt to market demands.

I worry. Good engineers are great at making things efficient but there is so much more to starting a business that flies in the face of statusquo industry. Streamline your understanding of huge market opportunities first. What is your process for identifying user pain points for large numbers of users? Streamline it first. Streamline your process for problem solving once you have streamlined your process for large market opportunity identification.

Secure conviction and investor support and know how much funding you need and for what. For me, I strongly intend to be not investing in a startup which engineers a solution looking for a problem, so make sure that your "software engineering startup" solves a significant market problem. Market opportunity is the second thing I look for. The first thing I look for is a chip on your shoulder and it should come from the pain points associated with this problem in the market which you the founder are driven to solve. I would ask a founder of a "software engineering startup" what the heck is so hard about software engineering which seems to be getting easier and easier. Hopefully this startup is solving a problem that got harder and harder.

ABC: Always Be Connecting. If you are an engineer and this is your first rodeo find some clowns who say its not their first rodeo. Founders who failed may share what they learned to overcome barriers. Startup life is about networking and community not about NDAs and secrets. Now that you are allowed to talk about more of what you are now working on with the real world use it. Meet people who you may be able who share your general vision. They should probably tell you that you need to solve a significant market problem too, not just engineering for the sake of engineering.

There is a secret weapon in early stage and growth stage startups. I call it FWF and it stands for "founders who failed." Nothing wrong with serial entrepreneurs but be careful with the ones who only have success because they are often less helpful when it comes to learning from mistakes. Ask FWF what they did in the early stages and growth stages to overcome hurdles. Also most of the good ones probably didn't set out to start an engineering company for the sake of engineering, but rather saw engineering as part of the execution within a greater vision of a greater solution to a greater market problem. Don't engineer a solution looking for a problem.