3 Simple lessons I learnt as startup Co-founder
Startup Lessons
Focus on Minimalism
I started of my career in enterprise as developer and consultant. I took great pride in building complex systems, working with large teams and building systems of scale and launching them. In-short, what mind always said ...larger the better.... the more complex the puzzle and more difficult to assemble then it is worth the problem to be solved.
Building software at startup is exactly the opposite ( or I would way say more evolutionary). I realized the resources that were once available at disposal, no more exist. This requires whole new way of problem solving to get things done. It's all about building with high clarity of mind to solve single most important problem at a time and build over it. Importantly, solving problems which make the biggest impact to startup growth at given time is what matters the most.
This changed the very design of my thinking and understanding of building minimalist to clutter free software, while keeping in mind ability scale at no notice.
Execution is often more powerful than the Idea
I was overly protective about the idea and what we were building at the start. I realized over time it hardly matters. Its all about how we build and execute. In reality, we keep coming up new ideas, each probably better than previous one. In every iteration our ideas keep getting refined, some often get junked and while see the light of the day.
Importantly, for the good ideas to take off and make a flight it requires focused execution.
Users always make right choices - To build a great product its important to focus on user choices
We as founders are often obsessed with our passion. But products which take off and have traction are often one's selected by users.
In short, what makes a big difference in the product adoption is often small and simple, but it is the single biggest thing user has been waiting for since a long time. Understanding this makes a big difference in product design, build , go to market & sales
Startup is a journey which sets you on better path to life long learning
Somethings just can't be learnt by watching videos or taking a course or even reading a book. The only way is to just experience it. Startup is one such thing, there is no perfect book to it. It's your own unique learning & experience journey for life, giving it a shot definitely worth it.
