What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen startups make?

Alex B.

Member
Sep 18, 2022
35
3
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The biggest mistake is not listening to their investors or going radio silent. The second is not taking advice from other founders.
 

Cynthia49

Member
Sep 22, 2022
38
0
6
What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen startups make?
The biggest mistake I've seen startups make is not understanding their target customer.

The most successful companies are the ones that understand who their customers are and what they want, so they can create a product that meets those needs. It's not enough to just be a good product—you have to create something that people actually want to buy.

But there's more than just understanding your customer: you have to understand how your customer will use your product. If you're making an app for parents, for example, you need to know what kinds of things parents do with their phones (and whether or not they'll download an app). You also need to know if there are any other apps out there that already do what yours does and how those apps are used.

If you don't know these things, then how can you make an app that works best for parents? How can you figure out if your product is going to be successful?
 

David Viera

Member
Sep 22, 2022
40
0
6
What are some of the biggest mistakes you've seen startups make?
The biggest mistake I've seen startups make is not being able to stick to one idea. I know that sounds like an obvious answer, but hear me out. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of creating a product, and then once you have it, you want to start building it, which means you have to figure out how to make money from it.

But there are so many ways to make money from a product—you can sell ads on it, use affiliate marketing, create an app for it… The list goes on! So how do you decide what's best? The answer is: You don't.

This is when most startups go wrong—they start with one idea, only to realize later that maybe they should have gone with another one after all. What happens then is that they end up spending time and money on something that they might not even be able to sell, because they've invested too much into making sure it works (or at least trying).

It's better to start small and take baby steps until you find something that works for you. If your first idea doesn't work out? That's okay. Just move on and try something else.
 

Baldric

Member
Sep 22, 2022
40
0
6
Not having a clear understanding of what their business is and what they do.
Not spending enough time on product development and customer validation.
Spending too much time and money on marketing before they've achieved product/market fit.
Relying too much on their initial investors for guidance instead of building a team of experienced advisors.