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Early Startups: The Only Thing That Matters

·Bryan Lai
Non-TechnicalStartupsPMF

Early Startups: The Only Thing That Matters

If you are starting a startup, forget almost everything you think matters.

Logo, office, deck, and grand vision do not matter yet.

The only job is product-market fit.

Until a specific group needs what you built, you have nothing.

Talk To Users

Do not ask people to judge your idea.

Study their day.

Find the spreadsheet, WhatsApp thread, tool, or workaround they already use.

Make something ten people love before trying to make something a thousand people tolerate.

Do Things That Don't Scale

Do not automate too early.

Onboard users by hand. Fix their problems manually. Watch where they get stuck.

You are not building the machine yet.

You are learning which machine to build.

Launch Now

Put something in users' hands as soon as it has a sliver of value.

It will feel unfinished. Good.

Reality beats theory.

Solve A Real Problem

The best starting points are close to you.

Problems you have. Problems your friends have. Problems you have watched someone suffer through.

Distance makes startup ideas sound clean. Proximity makes them true.

Watch Growth

Once people love the product, watch a real usage metric.

About 10% weekly growth is a strong sign.

Not press. Not followers. Usage.

Ignore Competitors

Startups usually die from suicide, not homicide.

They run out of money. Founders fight. Nobody wants the product.

Competitor obsession steals attention from users.

Finding Good Ideas

Good startup ideas often feel like secrets you stumbled into.

They might be:

  • Something you desperately wish existed.
  • A side project that people keep asking for.
  • A painful schlep other people avoid.
  • Something newly possible because the world changed.

Beware ideas everyone agrees are good.

Those are often traps.

If you must choose between a side project you love and an idea you brainstormed, bet on the side project.

The loop is simple:

Talk to people. Build something small. Watch what they do. Repeat.

References & Further Reading