Re:Diary of a Failed Startup
by nostrademons on Monday June 23, 2008 @12:52PM
(#225277)
There are probably exceptions to every single one of the observations I posted, but that one was the one that most stood out for me, both based on this startup and the last one I worked at. If I do a startup again, I'll definitely be waiting for an idea that's an app and not a platform.
Something to ask about your company: are you going out to find customers, or are they coming to you? If it's the latter, congratulations; you've succeeded where thousands of entrepreneurs have failed. But if you have to make lots of sales calls to close that one sale, it doesn't necessarily mean anything, even if you're profitable. Try enough prospects and one is bound to say yes, if only because they have money to burn and want to see if you can help them out. That was a lesson learned at my last employer, which was profitable before I joined but got no new business while I was there, because their revenue came from customers that didn't really use the product and just bought it because a couple million is a drop in the bucket when you manage a few billion in capital.
Something to ask about your company: are you going out to find customers, or are they coming to you? If it's the latter, congratulations; you've succeeded where thousands of entrepreneurs have failed. But if you have to make lots of sales calls to close that one sale, it doesn't necessarily mean anything, even if you're profitable. Try enough prospects and one is bound to say yes, if only because they have money to burn and want to see if you can help them out. That was a lesson learned at my last employer, which was profitable before I joined but got no new business while I was there, because their revenue came from customers that didn't really use the product and just bought it because a couple million is a drop in the bucket when you manage a few billion in capital.