5 questions to ask yourself when starting a startup
5 questions to ask yourself when starting a startup
the most important decisions you’ll make in life are where you live, who you spend time with, and what you do. those three things determine almost everything else
and if you’re going to start a startup, the "what you do" becomes even more important.
so you’ve got to be very sure it’s the right call before you take the plunge.
5 questions to ask yourself when starting a startup
we want to figure out two things: should you start a company, and should you start this company
is now the right time for me to start a startup?
starting a company from scratch is a grind, especially during the early stages. you (and your family) have to be prepared for late nights, headaches, and stress
you may think you've had tough jobs before, but it’s different when the entire company is yours and it isn't something you can truly prepare for ahead of time
how much risk am i comfortable with?
startups are very risky businesses to start because they require you to create something new. with an agency or bootstrapped business, you can simply provide a similar service to other agencies and go after different customers. but with a startup, you must provide something unique and 10x better than anyone else.
venture-backed startups also require you to raise money in order to grow quickly enough to address the problem you've uncovered and are solving. if you can't raise vc money, you won't have a startup for long. most venture-backed founders also take minimal salary in the early days of the company.
before starting, make sure you're comfortable with that amount of financial risk.
why is now the time for this idea?
the best businesses often start when culture has shifted or tech has progressed just far enough for a new business model to work.
for example, the combination of millennials coming of age and the mobile phones considerably improving allowed marketplaces like uber and airbnb to flourish. those ideas would not have worked 10 years earlier.
to answer this one, do user research. talk to potential users who fit your target persona. see what they are, and are not, ready for.
what is my key insight?
many startups are built around one key insight. understand that VCs will look for this insight. finding new problems to solve is very hard, so they want to see what you know that others don’t.
figma was acquired this week for $20 billion. that team saw adobe and sketch building tools for designers, but their key insight was that making figma collaborative would be an incredible wedge and moat.
why me?
founder-company fit is way less talked about than product-market fit but is at least equally important. your drive and interest in what you’re building is what’ll keep you going when tough days inevitably come.
think critically about yourself, your goals and motivations, as well as your passion for solving the particular problem your startup would be tackling. is that something you'll be excited to work on day after day?
homework
if you’re considering taking the plunge, send me your answers to these questions
if you already started something, what’s another question you recommend others ask themselves before jumping in?