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Preface
Startups are hard. Successful startups are even harder. Don't let you tell otherwise. If it wasn't hard, everyone would be a successful entrepreneur.
All successful startups are product oriented. All successful products are customer oriented, even if the initial customer is the entrepreneur himself.
1 Mbanq Team at Mbanq Labs Hackathon in Singapore
Startups are all about growth – explosive growth. Once your company stops growing exponentially year on year, you cannot consider it being a startup anymore – you moved into the category of established companies or you went out of business, which is way more likely.
If you hear the word startup and think FAANG (In finance, “FAANG” is an acronym that refers to the stocks of five prominent American technology companies: Meta (META) (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Netflix (NFLX); and Alphabet (GOOG) (formerly known as Google)) and perks – you do not know anything about startups and you probably do not want to start one or work for one.
Startups are not about perks, off-sites, IPAs or gender wars. Startups are about blood, sweat and tears.
Startup is about constant grind, consistency and stamina. Startup is neither a sprint nor it is a marathon – startup is a fartlek – a long run consisting of short high-intensity intervals and short slower paced ones. Startup is about being able to fall and stand up over and over again.
If none of the above is something you can live with – do not join a startup and do not start one – you will definitely fail.
Why do people start companies then? The answer is very simple – because they cannot do otherwise. You have founders, who want to change the world and founders, who ride the current hype wave and want to make money. You have people, who cannot stand the bullshit and politics of big corporations and crazy scientists, who have been working on their idea for years and got discovered by a VC. All of them have different motivations but they have at least one thing in common – they are ready to sacrifice their time, health and their relationships to bring their idea to life.
No product is created in a vacuum. You will always have competition. The competition will be fierceful. If you want to truly make it, you must be at the very top. Only a monopoly doesn't need to compete – don't let you tell otherwise.
All product related things aside – startups are all about grit. If you decided to build your own product and to dedicate your life to it – expect a bumpy ride. It will be probably the best decision of your life but only if you will have the right attitude.
I hope this book will help you to avoid some obstacles on your way to success. It doesn't represent the absolute truth, it just gives you some insights that I would love to know prior to embarking on a startup journey. I will keep it short; I promise – I know you won't have a lot of free time on your hands. I also won't go very deep into the startup matter. To paraphrase Leo Tolstoy: All happy startups resemble one another, but each unhappy startup is unhappy in its own way.
Ok, let's not waste any more time and concentrate on the topics that will hopefully help you to create a happy and successful startup – to infinity and beyond!!!
I would like to thank everyone at Mbanq. Without the team that was carefully assembled by Mbanq's CEO Vlad Lounegov – I wouldn't be able to truly experience the startup life and share with you any insights.
Here is a couple of thoughts I would like to give you on the way:
Ideas are worth nothing without execution
Your customers do not care about your tech
Startup is a marathon not a sprint – pace yourself
Timing matters but you cannot control it
You do not know how exactly your product will be used
It will be harder than you think
Product
2 Gates Sign at the Bangkok Airport
Product is at the center of your startup. Your product is what it's all about. When I say product, I don't talk about the idea. Idea on its own is worth nothing. Ideas are a dime a dozen – everyone has them but not everyone is able to bring their idea to life
Execution is the key – that's what startups are all about. If you cannot execute your idea, you won't have a company and won't make the world, hopefully, a better place.
Your product is not the heart but a brain of your startup. Without your product your company is brain-dead. Even if it looks shiny, it's not operational.
The art of the product development is to deliver a working solution as fast as possible by keeping an eye on the big picture. Keep in mind that during the development of your product, your idea will transform as well. Don't be too stubborn – otherwise you may get stuck and frustrated.
Products are hard, good products are even harder. They are hard to build, hard to launch and even harder to continuously improve.
Products solve problems. Good products solve hard problems. Hard problems are not easy to solve, so good products are hard to build.
According to Marty Cagan – the founder of the Silicon Valley Product Group has the best definition of a successful product – the best products exist on the intersection of following qualities:
Something that our customers will choose to use
Usable – Easy to figure out how to use
Feasible – Buildable using the technology stack and skills we have
Viable – Workable for our stakeholders within our budget, legal, ethical, and reputational constraints
Summary
Idea alone is worth nothing
Your idea will change when you start executing it
Good products are hard to build
Launch early
You can launch multiple times