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Startups in 13 Sentences

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Saved by 30 people (-3 private), first by anonymouse user on 2009-02-23


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Go out of your way to make people happy. They'll be overwhelmed; you'll see. In the earliest stages of a startup, it pays to offer customer service on a level that wouldn't scale, because it's a way of learning about your users.

Highlighted by comechi

ne of the things I always tell startups is a principle I learned from Paul Buchheit: it's better to make a few people really happy than to make a lot of people semi-happy. I was saying recently to a reporter that if I could only tell startups 10 things, this would be one of them. Then I thought: what would the other 9 be?

Highlighted by mirwox

One of the things I always tell startups is a principle I learned from Paul Buchheit: it's better to make a few people really happy than to make a lot of people semi-happy. I was saying recently to a reporter that if I could only tell startups 10 things, this would be one of them. Then I thought: what would the other 9 be?

Highlighted by joel

it's better to make a few people really happy than to make a lot of people semi-happy

Highlighted by betolive

In a startup you can change your idea easily, but changing your cofounders is hard

Highlighted by betolive

the success of a startup is almost always a function of its founders

Highlighted by vkidd32

Launching teaches you what you should have been building

Highlighted by betolive

Launching teaches you what you should have been building

Highlighted by vkidd32

Launch fast and iterate

Highlighted by vkidd32

the growth in the first will be driven by how well you do in the second

Highlighted by vkidd32

the hard part is seeing something new that users lack. The better you understand them the better the odds of doing that

Highlighted by vkidd32

Initially you have to choose between satisfying all the needs of a subset of potential users, or satisfying a subset of the needs of all potential users. Take the first. It's easier to expand userwise than satisfactionwise

Highlighted by vkidd32

It's easier to expand userwise than satisfactionwise

Highlighted by betolive

Go out of your way to make people happy

Highlighted by betolive

Go out of your way to make people happy. They'll be overwhelmed; you'll see. In the earliest stages of a startup, it pays to offer customer service on a level that wouldn't scale, because it's a way of learning about your users.

Highlighted by vkidd32

be careful what you measure

Highlighted by betolive

put a big piece of paper on your wall and every day plot the number of users. You'll be delighted when it goes up and disappointed when it goes down. Pretty soon you'll start noticing what makes the number go up, and you'll start to do more of that

Highlighted by vkidd32

A culture of cheapness keeps companies young in something like the way exercise keeps people young

Highlighted by betolive

Most startups fail before they make something people want, and the most common form of failure is running out of money

Highlighted by vkidd32

Ramen profitable" means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders' living expense

Highlighted by betolive

"Ramen profitable" means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders' living expenses.

Highlighted by vkidd32

Nothing kills startups like distractions.

Highlighted by vkidd32

The startup may have more long-term potential, but you'll always interrupt working on it to answer calls from people paying you now.

Highlighted by vkidd32

Starting a startup is a huge moral weight. Understand this and make a conscious effort not to be ground down by it

Highlighted by betolive

the underlying cause is usually lack of focus.

Highlighted by vkidd32

Either the company is run by stupid people (which can't be fixed with advice) or the people are smart but got demoralized.

Highlighted by vkidd32

You can get surprisingly far by just not giving up. This isn't true in all fields.

Highlighted by vkidd32

Sheer effort is usually enough, so long as you keep morphing your idea

Highlighted by vkidd32

the dimension of wealth you have most control over is how much you improve users' lives

Highlighted by betolive

Understand your users. That's the key. The essential task in a startup is to create wealth; the dimension of wealth you have most control over is how much you improve users' lives; and the hardest part of that is knowing what to make for them. Once you know what to make, it's mere effort to make it, and most decent hackers are capable of that.

Highlighted by vkidd32

The most important reason for having surprisingly good customer service is that it helps you understand your users. And understanding your users will even ensure your morale, because when everything else is collapsing around you, having just ten users who love you will keep you going.

Highlighted by vkidd32