The 7 Deadly Entrepreneurial Mistakes

1)   Confusing “do-porn” with doing something

James Altucher coined the phrase “do-porn” (the recent phenomenon of “motivational” videos with screaming entrepreneurs telling you hustle or die) when he noticed aspiring founders didn’t know where to find inspiration. Do-porn is dangerous because it encourages people to run as fast as they can, without ever stopping to consider a direction.

Like James, I believe true motivation comes intrinsically, and when you find it, it will be the reason you jump out of your cubicle and into your passion.   What if for every hour you watched other people on youtube about being successful, you were actually working on your business? 

2)   Getting caught up in the numbers too early

So, you just got funding, a major press piece, a positive spike in data, or maybe all three. Congrats! But now the pressure to keep it up and hit your numbers every month quickly creeps in. Frantically, you spend more and hire faster. Typically focusing too much on your numbers and not enough on your customers at first, will leave you with low customer retention.

If you have the right investors however, they will know that perfecting your product is more important then hitting your sales or usage goals. Always keep long term goals in mind and find product market fit.

3)   Doing it to be happy

A lot of entrepreneurs go into business thinking that it will make them a millionaire and therefore make them happy. You are very likely to be interested and fulfilled by your business, but happiness will always be a moving target. Running your own business to maintain "millionaire status" can be stressful; the responsibility of 80-hour work weeks, managing 10+ employees and dealing with the lows and highs of business won’t always make you “happy”.

Instead, backwards plan from the emotion you want to have. If you want to feel like a million bucks, surround yourself with people and experiences that you love. But don’t depend on entrepreneurship alone to fulfill this void.

4)   Fearing failure

The worst characteristic an entrepreneur can have is ego. When you have ego, you become too afraid of failure. Oppositely, not having a fear of failure is critical to entrepreneurial success, and the easiest way to create accountability for your business goals is to publicize these failures. Tell everyone you know the name of your business and the day it will launch. This positive peer pressure will drive you to achieve your goals. Relinquish your ego at all costs. It is the only thing that holds you back from being free enough to find your purpose. Failure will set you free. 

5)   Thinking the customer is always right

When building the first commercialized cars, Henry Ford said, "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." While listening to your customers' feedback is critical to an early businesses' success, don't let it form all of your thinking. Always remember that YOU are the industry expert. If you agree to every customer request your business will eventually become reactionary to needs, rather then proactive. Reactionary businesses lack vision and innovation. Two things that can kill them.

6)   Thinking press matters

Press is the worst thing for your early stage start up, particularly “personal press”. I have seen many founders who's headshots have graced the pages of your favorite tech magazine, yet their business has no growth or revenue. Press connections are not the gateway to success, rather they are the gateway to perceived success. It is extremely dangerous for entrepreneurs to fall in love with perceived success because it feels great, but does nothing for your bottom line. Articles are not a metric to increase profits. Constantly remind yourself to separate the two. 

7)   Forgetting about February

Taxes, lawyers, accountants, cap tables, convertible notes, dilution…the list goes on. These elements of your business are the least sexy, but the most important. Many entrepreneurs who do not have a background across these topics tend to kick them down the road and as a result, issues pile up. Suddenly, it is tax season and you have no idea how to manage your books. Get an accountant and get a lawyer. You want to do everything in your power to protect your business, reputation and hard work. 

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 Brian Gerrard is the Founder of Bae. He led the company in becoming one of the fastest growing social/dating apps in the world. The award winning business has peaked as a top app in the US, and top 50 Lifestyle app in 20 African/Caribbean countries. He now runs marketing at If(we), where he builds and manages social apps across 300Mil users. He is based in San Francisco.