May 24, 2008
Posted by Ryan Graves
Why Startups Fail
David Feinleib at Mohr Davidow Ventures pens a piece called, “Why Startups Fail.” Here are his four reasons with my thoughts below. Keep in mind I’ve not yet gone through the entire process…
1. Spending too much on sales & marketing before they’re ready.
Every thing I know says focus on the product. It makes sense that if the product doesn’t work really really well then what is marketing going to get you. Specifically on the internet, everything is viral. If you can’t utilize that energy to spread the word on your product you’re basically screwed.
2. The market outpaces the startup’s ability to execute.
This point is awesome. I’m ready The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki and he starts his book talking about positioning. It is so important to be ahead of the market. Or at least find a market that still has plenty of growth potential. If you’re late to the game, find another game because the profit is probably already squeezed out of this one. Sorry.
3. There is no Entrepreneur
This is really encouraging for me because I’m the entrepreneur. I’m not the “hacker” so I’m the one who is ready to lead, make decisions and tell people “no”. Focus on the business and the business will work.
4. The market takes too long to develop
I believe that you have to develop the market. Seesmic is doing a great job of this one. Loic Lemeur is out there everyday making biz dev deals and finding ways for his product to infiltrate new markets. Don’t wait for the customer to go to you. Drag the customer to your product. I love Loic, he’s a great example of entrepreneur and great biz dev, just look at the new Disqus partnership!
(One other thing)
Have fun, rock out and focus on culture. If you’re putting in 100 hours a week you might as well love it, right?
