3 pieces of terrible startup advice

Usually, these lists mention advice that no one actually gave in order to prove a point by advising for the opposite.

I will take a different approach here and source where the advice came from (books, articles, studies), state why I think it's terrible and share my experience thus far.

So, no made-up stuff, only things I've read and found when looking for guidance.

Let's get started:

1. Do Anything and Everything

This is from the Startup Institute of Chicago. And it's a popular one.

"When I started, no coffee or meeting, no speaking engagement, was too small."

Says Jenn Yee, their Director, in an interview.

Why I think it's terrible:

When you start your business, unless you're incredibly wealthy already (in which case stop reading; you're doing a hobby; we're not in the same boat), you take a ton of financial risk.

If you rely on your new venture for income, time constantly works against you.

Even if your idea is great, if you don't execute fast, you will run out of food at some point. No money in, no business, even if you had the best idea in the world.

Wasting your time taking coffee with completely irrelevant people for the sake of "networking" is not smart.

Plus, the last thing I want to be is a hypocrite who "has time" for everyone at the start and disappears when they don't need these people anymore.

My take:

Invest your time very, very wisely. It's your most valuable and scarce commodity.

Decide what you want to do short and mid-term and focus SOLELY on that.

Do your value work (see how here ), and whatever doesn't fit in this, get rid of it.

Contrary to what many people like Jan (and other start-up advisors) say, be ruthless with your time.

And just to make it clear:

If it doesn't fit your plan exactly, CUT IT OUT. You know, the 5 slots you booked for 15m with a random dude that might tell others about you, CANCEL THEM. They're a wast of your time.

2. Start with the small things.

This comes from the Zuck himself. Yeah, the dude who built Facebook and Meta. *If you think he became a billionaire solely because he's a genius, think again.

"I think a simple rule of business is, if you do the things that are easier first, you can actually make a lot of progress."

by Mark Zuckerberg

Why I think it's terrible:

Let's start with the fact that it flies in defiance of how our brains actually work and that "starting with the easy things" has been disproven scientifically (see the latest study here if you're interested).

Further to the science (which apparently doesn't apply to business when you're a billionaire), as an early-stage Founder, you have many hard things to do.

It's so easy to get caught up in getting "small wins" and look back a couple of months after having accomplished nothing of significance.

Checking out the easy things will give you a dopamine kick, but you won't get much done in the long run. At least nothing that matters for your business.

My take:

Several hard tasks must be done correctly and on time when building a new business.

Trust me; I had no interest in sitting for two weeks figuring out PNLs and EBITDA sheets. I would much rather do LinkedIn outreach and create logos. Easy things that I actually know how to do.

I had even less interest in creating GDPR policies, Terms of Service, a detailed exit plan, or determining what Privacy Policy goes with what region.

Those things brought me to the point that I am now ready to launch a full service in 2 months.

Build first. Do the hard things. Do them well. You will have plenty of time to do the "easy" stuff later. If you fail the hard tasks, the easy ones won't matter anyway.

3. Know your numbers!

I don't have a singular quote here, but If you scroll through your feed or go to virtually any start-up event (or even worse, talk to consultants), that's the first thing they will tell you. This piece comes mainly from investors or people "advising" you on how to pitch to investors.

KNOW THY NUMBERS

First commandment from the Investor's Bible.

Why I think it's terrible:

There's a twist in this one. The advice itself is not terrible. What people mean when they say that, though, is BS.

What they mean:

Know THEIR Numbers.

Know the numbers that will make people invest money in your company.

First off, many of these "experts" have been so wrong in their predictions in the past five years that their licences should be revoked en masse (if they had any).

So, how valid were numbers like the magic math several investors did with ARR per employee, for instance, or the hiring spree in SaaS during COVID-19?

It is up for debate - at best.

Blindly following other people's numbers won't get you far.

My take:

Focus on the numbers that are important to your business model.

Focus on YOUR targets and what you want out of your business.

Yes, own your math, understand your PNL, know your risks. But don't sell your soul and vision to the people who "know best".

There's only one person who actually cares about your company succeeding with its mission, and that's you.

Align with your vision of how you want YOUR life to be.

Don't get lost chasing figures that mean nothing to you or your business.

Respect your work.

Summary:

Be critical. Very critical. The world is full of advice. Most of it is terrible, misguided or out of context.

That's why most of it is free or even unsolicited.

My 2 cents:

Trust your vision. Do the hard things. Don't sell out your dreams.