The 5 Silent Killers of Startups no one dares to admit
I've lost 4 startups and invested time/money in 4 others. Here's what actually kills companies, and it's not what you think.
- The Expert's Curse
- Being industry expert = biggest liability
- You solve yesterday's problems
- You "know too much" to see new patterns
- The 90-Day Death Clock
- Day 1-30: Vision leads
- Day 31-60: Need validation
- Day 90+: Still no validation? You're already dead
- You don't die when money runs out. You died 3 months ago
- Reality Distortion Debt
- Every assumption = debt
- Every "we know better" = interest
- Every delayed user test = compound interest
- Most startups are bankrupt before they're broke
- The Competence Trap
- More competent = more dangerous
- Building becomes escape from selling
- Perfect code > messy customers
- Death by beautiful product no one wants
- Time Perception Disorder
- "Soon" = Never
- "Perfect timing" = Fear
- "Market not ready" = We're not ready
- While you wait, market moves on
Hard Truth: Your startup doesn't fail when you run out of money. It fails the moment you choose:
- Comfort over truth
- Planning over testing
- "Knowing" over learning
Look! Building a startup is extremely tough. Sometimes you may do everything right and yet not have the results to show for it. The goal should be to poke holes in your business every few days to eliminate the weak spots, which may not always be apparent.
Because if you don't do it, the market will.