Must-read advice for first-time founders

First-time founders should be aware that product development is complex and expensive, and avoid simple mistakes. A lot of founders underestimate these things and can't even launch their ideas. Check out other people's mistakes so you don't fall into the same traps.

Three founder stories

The First Story

Two founders who don't know much about tech have been trying to build a marketplace for three whole years. They still haven't launched, they don't have any users, and they hired an outsourcing team that can't seem to get anything done fast enough.

But honestly, the worst part is this:

• the code written 3 years ago is already outdated
• the team do not perform, because the code was already very complex
• or, the team is not qualified enough, which creates an even more complex product.

Let's be real, the odds of a startup succeeding on the first try are pretty low.

Getting your product off the ground is just the start and it takes a ton of work to talk to users and perfect your baby.

If your product is too complicated, you might be out of luck when it comes to making changes, so watch out for that.

The Second Story

Two non-technical founders with full-time jobs and small savings decided to make a product. They put in a ton of effort analyzing their competitors and making a product with over 20 huge and complicated features, hoping someone would buy it.

That's a pretty flawed approach.

They should really just focus on making a basic product that's good enough to test with customers, and then get feedback before adding more bells and whistles.

• too many features in the first product version
• building such a product costs a lot to build and even more to change & maintain after going live
• investment is too big for none validated idea

The Third Story

The founder was supported by family, friends, and later, venture capitalists. Even though he didn't have any tech experience, he was able to create an educational platform and a B2B website. Getting started on the educational platform is a bit of a process for both students and tutors. The whole business model depends on having a bunch of students using it. It's a pretty complicated project because there are three different groups of people who need to sign up: students, tutors, and businesses (but only after the first two).

*For first-time founders creating a complex educational platform and B2B site, it is important to focus on onboarding separate users (students, tutors, and businesses), and to prioritize getting lots of students on the platform for the business model to work.

So the founder tried to make version one but it didn't work out because the team wasn't good enough and they picked the wrong technology. Now they've been working on version two for 9 months but haven't launched it yet. When asked what they need for a first launch, the founder brought his lead engineer who had a Google doc with like 6.5 days of work for two people. They finally launched an app for students last week.

*For first-time founders, it's important to pick the right team and technologies. A founder who failed the first time is now building a second version for 9 months without launching. A list of things needed for a first launch was given, and the app was launched for students last week.

Let’s get into what I think is a better approach to launch your idea.

Validate your idea

For first-time founders, using no-code solutions like Webflow, Soft, or Bubble can help launch a landing site or one feature MVP.

Once you have a simple landing site, attract people by setting up Google Ads and use a good Click Through Rate (CTR) to raise funds and validate your idea.

Validating your idea can include making small launches, building waiting lists, and offering early user discounts.

Testing different messaging, marketing channels, pricing strategies, and value propositions is the best way to get started and save money.

Launch ready-to-scale products fast

It's important to set a deadline of 2-3 months for launching the product and to feel uncomfortable about the launch. Delayed launches increase burn rate and additional costs. If you've been building a first version for over 3 months, it's time to reassess and make changes.

• stop for a sec and think about minimalist launch plan
• launch a smaller version of the product

Find first 10 users

Don't forget that a product ain't nothing without users.

Getting the first 10 users is tough, but start digging for them as soon as you're building the product.

Chit-chatting with early users and getting feedback is something you won't be able to do once the company gets too big.

Check out Paul Graham's essay "Do Things That Don't Scale" if you haven't already.

Summary

First time founders often make these mistakes:

• not launching for too long / no clear launch roadmap
• spending too much to build first version of the product
• hiring and trust contractors too much and too early
• underestimating complexity & ongoing costs of building products
• not talking to users early on

To avoid these mistakes:

• validate your idea, launch landing and/or quick MVP
• launch a ready-to-scale product in 2 months
• start searching for customers as you build the product and find first 10 quickly