A decade in product development has given me a different perspective on a lot of the advice that gets repeated endlessly in startup circles. Here’s my honest take.
”Ship fast, build fast, learn fast, fail fast”
Speed matters, but effort shows. The era of “throw money at anything” has passed. Do your homework and talk to real users rather than building blindly and hoping for results.
”Launch with minimal features”
First impressions count. While reducing scope is acceptable, shipped products must be polished. Users are trusting you with their money - treat it accordingly.
”No sales? Next project!”
This gets my strongest criticism. Abandoning a project after one week without sales overlooks a fundamental truth: marketing happens before and during development, not after. Building customer relationships takes time.
Key Principles
Keep Your Promises: Reliability matters for long-term success, especially if you’re playing the long game.
Make Real Connections: Genuine engagement and relationship-building beats empty networking every time.
Niche Down (Kind of): Focus on a niche with proven potential, secure initial revenue, then consider expansion.
“Build in public!”: Overrated. Not every product needs public visibility or founder recognition. Some things are better built quietly.
Be Real: I’m not making millions, and I don’t publish inflated metrics. Nine-to-five work remains valuable. Most advice promoting entrepreneurship at all costs comes from people selling courses, not people building products.
Play Your Own Game
Success timelines vary dramatically. Some reach $10K monthly then disappear; others take two years but sustain growth for a decade.
“I’m not in a hurry to die, I’m in a hurry to matter.” That quote captures where I’m at.
Build something meaningful - whether as your own venture or contributing to a company. Make it count.