As the founder of Y Combinator, one of America’s most successful seed accelerators, there isn’t much that Paul Graham, venture capitalist and essayist, doesn’t know about how startups work, or better yet, should work. Graham is a prolific writer, and has written on everything from how to spot a good idea, how to avoid common mistakes and survival tips for startups. The former is outlined in his 2009 essay ‘Startups in 13 sentences‘.
Funders and Founders have released an infographic based on this essay.
Whether you are right at the beginning of your startup journey or feeling stuck after your first, second, or third year, here are words of wisdom to keep you moving towards your goal.
1. ‘Pick good co-founders. You are only as good as your partner. Don’t only look for partners that you share a common goal or set of beliefs with, but who also bring a different skill set.
2. ‘Launch fast’. Starting work on your startup as soon as possible means you not only start building your product, but also start learning and perfecting your product sooner.
3. ‘Let your idea evolve’. Don’t be afraid to move away from the original idea. Your idea will change the more you learn about your market.
4. Better to make a few users happy than many ambivalent. Not everyone will love you or your product. The secret is to give your focus and energy to those who do.
“There will be bad days and low points. Take comfort in
knowing that it’s all part of the journey to success”
5. ‘Offer surprisingly good customer service’. Customer service continues to be a huge factor in whether people buy your product or not. So make sure your customers always walk away happy.
6. ‘You make what you measure’. Keep track of the numbers and avoid generalities. The numbers will tell you what’s working and what’s not.
7. ‘Spend little’. Keep your overhead as low as possible.
8. ‘Get ramen profitable’. Start making a profit, it doesn’t matter how small. According to Graham, ramen profitability means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders’ living expenses.
9. ‘Avoid distractions’. As an entrepreneur, you will be responsible for almost every aspect of the business, including the day-to-day running of your business. Unless something is a core function of your business, direct your energies and focus to functions that are.
10. ‘Don’t get demoralised’. There will be bad days and low points. Take comfort in knowing that it’s all part of the journey to success.
11. ‘Don’t give up. The most important skill. Persistence is often credited by many successful entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs or Herman Mashaba, as the secret behind their success.
12. ‘Deals fall through‘. As the saying goes, don’t count your chickens until they hatch. In his essay, Graham says it’s very dangerous to morale to start to depend on deals closing, “not just because they so often don’t, but because it makes them less likely to”, he adds.
