Over my 10 years long startup journey I've realized that there's no single factor that makes a startup succeed, it's actually many things that have to go right at the exact same time for you to end up being a successful company.
And here are 5 factors that can save you 10 years:
And here are 5 factors that can save you 10 years:
1. Your Product is not oxygen enough:
One of the best descriptions I've used to find out if your product is top tier is to ask yourself if it's “oxygen”: will people survive without this?
- Most product ideas that succeed are oxygen.
- PMF alone is not enough.
One of the best descriptions I've used to find out if your product is top tier is to ask yourself if it's “oxygen”: will people survive without this?
- Most product ideas that succeed are oxygen.
- PMF alone is not enough.
8 Years ago, I remember pitching my product -- Jobspire to Accel and a partner at Accel at that time called Prayank.
And Prayank at that event told me the metrics I should be hitting because until then I was all thinking about vision, what I’m supposed to build,
And Prayank at that event told me the metrics I should be hitting because until then I was all thinking about vision, what I’m supposed to build,
and all the cool stuff. But Prayank gave me numbers and mentioned specifically: “these are the targets you need to hit.” to understand if your product is “oxygen”.
However today these numbers are very different
However today these numbers are very different
and Accel, which is the fund that Prayank works for, is actually one of India's largest investors.
Now every year the best resource on the internet changes in the startup world. And this year that resource in the startup world is Accel's SeedToScale: seedtoscale.com
Now every year the best resource on the internet changes in the startup world. And this year that resource in the startup world is Accel's SeedToScale: seedtoscale.com
I highly recommend it since it is a curated series to help founders build venture scale startups.
This series has direct experiences, insights and metrics from some of the best founders in India like Swiggy, Myntra, Urban Company, Taxi for Sure, Spinny and so many others.
This series has direct experiences, insights and metrics from some of the best founders in India like Swiggy, Myntra, Urban Company, Taxi for Sure, Spinny and so many others.
Learning from these founders on how their story evolved overtime, and how their metrics evolved over time is something which is definitely worth learning from if you are starting up.
Because hey, who better to learn from than people who have been there and done that.
Because hey, who better to learn from than people who have been there and done that.
2. Hiring:
When we at Avalon hire people today, We put the culture round first, because we want to know if we align with the candidate so that we're not wasting their time or our time. Good culture is like having a house built of Concrete.
When we at Avalon hire people today, We put the culture round first, because we want to know if we align with the candidate so that we're not wasting their time or our time. Good culture is like having a house built of Concrete.
If a fire starts, which in a startup, everyday is a fire: the fire won’t spread at all because the entire house is concrete. But if the house is built of paper, it’s more likely to spread.
3. Your market matters more than your product
You may have a terrific idea in a bad market and get nowhere, you could be the best founder in a very tiny market and get a small portion of the outcome,
You may have a terrific idea in a bad market and get nowhere, you could be the best founder in a very tiny market and get a small portion of the outcome,
or you could be an average founder in a fantastic market and still get a large portion of the outcome.
Marketplaces that understand this the best, go on to succeed and scale. You can hear more about this in the Accel’s seed to scale curated masterclasses.
Marketplaces that understand this the best, go on to succeed and scale. You can hear more about this in the Accel’s seed to scale curated masterclasses.
4. Your chance of startup success increases as you go from one co-founder to two co-founders:
A single co-founder situation does not work since you have no one with whom you can communicate, and as I previously stated, a startup is a roller coaster with some days being fantastic
A single co-founder situation does not work since you have no one with whom you can communicate, and as I previously stated, a startup is a roller coaster with some days being fantastic
and others being terrible, for example, we had two extremely difficult weeks this month and then in the third week we closed a $100,000 ARR sale that my co-founders and I celebrated together, so, we absorb the lows and the highs together.
The second thing is that my co-founder today Abhinav bullshit tests me and so do I. If I feel like he's saying something that I'm not so sure of or vice versa we talk it out, we say are you sure about that and it's a good way to keep our cognitive biases in check because
as a single founder you can't just be misled by your own thoughts and your vision.
In general, having multiple Founders is a good thing. It's more people to steady the ship.
In general, having multiple Founders is a good thing. It's more people to steady the ship.
5. It is all about timing:
All of the other four points I mentioned must be executed in a certain order, they should be executed in the exact same time, and in the exact right ratio;
All of the other four points I mentioned must be executed in a certain order, they should be executed in the exact same time, and in the exact right ratio;
you can not spend too much of your time on hiring or too much of your time on product and discovering oxygen product, you must learn when to do what and when these inflection points shift,
because the best approach to become successful is to learn from other people's stories and ensure that you are consistent and identify whether you're at that moment in the story today.
(Resources mentioned in this tweet: seedtoscale.com)
(Resources mentioned in this tweet: seedtoscale.com)
Loading suggestions...