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Got lucky to attend @mwseibel's @SaaStrAnnual session: How Not to die after raising your seed round. 
@QuolumHQ raised seed less than a year ago. Very few days I sleep w/o the macabre thought that startups that haven't PMF-ed are like a candle in a wind tunnel.
A
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@QuolumHQ raised seed less than a year ago. Very few days I sleep w/o the macabre thought that startups that haven't PMF-ed are like a candle in a wind tunnel.
A
...
0/5 Startups die because of:
- Fake Product-Market fit
- Investor becomes boss
- Co-Founder conflict
- Becoming ordinary rather than extra-ordinary
- Slow product development
- Fake Product-Market fit
- Investor becomes boss
- Co-Founder conflict
- Becoming ordinary rather than extra-ordinary
- Slow product development
1/5 Signs of fake PMF:
- lots of hiring
- lots of biz users than engineers
- no dashboards
- too many nice things: culture, team dinners, offsites, parties, famous angels, famous VCs
- flat graphs
- changing KPIs
- lots of hiring
- lots of biz users than engineers
- no dashboards
- too many nice things: culture, team dinners, offsites, parties, famous angels, famous VCs
- flat graphs
- changing KPIs
1/5 Preventing fake PMF:
- honest KPIs
- capping the burn
- retention metrics
- consider raising less money in seed
- strong tech co-founder
- force revenue to pay for expenses beyond capped burn
- learn about the bad investments of famous investors
- honest KPIs
- capping the burn
- retention metrics
- consider raising less money in seed
- strong tech co-founder
- force revenue to pay for expenses beyond capped burn
- learn about the bad investments of famous investors
2/5 Signs of Investor becoming Boss
- empowering investors to tell you what to do
- false assumption that there is a 100% repeatable path to victory
- lack of talking to customers leading to more talking to investors
- hiring faster -> getting aligned with investors on wrong KPIs
- empowering investors to tell you what to do
- false assumption that there is a 100% repeatable path to victory
- lack of talking to customers leading to more talking to investors
- hiring faster -> getting aligned with investors on wrong KPIs
3/5 Co-founder conflict causes:
- weak prior relationship
- no clear R&R
- lack of trust
- unrealistic expectations
- too much relationship debt
Fixes:
- have tough conversation
- have clear R&R
- weak prior relationship
- no clear R&R
- lack of trust
- unrealistic expectations
- too much relationship debt
Fixes:
- have tough conversation
- have clear R&R
4/5 Ordinary vs extra-ordinary cause:
- copy-pasting things from others and expecting insane success
Failure rate amongst startup is so high that if you are not extra-ordinary, everybody else will fail
- copy-pasting things from others and expecting insane success
Failure rate amongst startup is so high that if you are not extra-ordinary, everybody else will fail
4/5 Prevent slipping towards ordinary:
- create a Jedi-council
- set measurable goals
- habit formation (read: atomic habits by @JamesClear )
- get better: every day, every quarter
- create a Jedi-council
- set measurable goals
- habit formation (read: atomic habits by @JamesClear )
- get better: every day, every quarter
5/5 Slow product development causes:
- no process
- no sprints, no deadlines
- no written specs
- engineers are not involved in product dev
- no metrics
- no customer interactions
- bad co-founder relationships
- low-quality product founder
- low-quality technical founder
- no process
- no sprints, no deadlines
- no written specs
- engineers are not involved in product dev
- no metrics
- no customer interactions
- bad co-founder relationships
- low-quality product founder
- low-quality technical founder
5/5 Slow product development signs:
- deadlines are missed
- release schedule is quarterly or longer
- discouraged engineering team
- half-done features
- deadlines are missed
- release schedule is quarterly or longer
- discouraged engineering team
- half-done features
5/5 Slow product development fixes:
- follow dev cycle (read: @mwseibel's product dev cycle)
- process to take many shots
- qualitative + quantitative feedback
- write specs
- use prodmgmt s/w
- give everybody access to data
- release on time
- manage team's motivation (<- big)
- follow dev cycle (read: @mwseibel's product dev cycle)
- process to take many shots
- qualitative + quantitative feedback
- write specs
- use prodmgmt s/w
- give everybody access to data
- release on time
- manage team's motivation (<- big)
