I have to say this just reads like any other robotic startup founder advice column that we get here. Dime a dozen. Every person who goes down this path has to make decisions like the ones described. Read the YC library, it's full of "how tos".<p>I think the <i>more</i> interesting lessons and questions are (which they are not incentivized to have you think about):<p>-- Decide early on who's going to control your path: you, the product, or the money? Many figure out too late who's in control.<p>-- Are you willing to hand over the keys if some day you discover you're not the right person to lead? What will you do if you find out this isn't what you signed up for?<p>-- What are you <i>not</i> willing to do in pursuit of growth?<p>-- Are you willing to walk away from a lot of money today, for something deeper tomorrow?<p>-- Who do you want to be, and what does this company do for you in your life?<p>I myself generally hate that things have to become "people stories", but in my experience, these are far more fundamental questions that you will have to confront when you talk to your team, the VCs, the investors, more so than anything about how to manage a feature roadmap or the perennially boring, "when to hire a CMO", etc.
A very good post, but angel investors can also give you terrible, terrible advice that you should completely ignore. If you are founding a company, take the good advice, sure, but ignore the bad advice. Don't just assume because somebody is an angel investor they have any idea what they are talking about in terms of your product/company.
I liked this post, as i am building a PAAS now. We are still at the product stage trying to go public. Going public is not easy because I think we are too scared it does not get the traction it deserves. So we keep delaying and fix a comma here and there...
The goal is set for Jan 2021. Let's see if we keep the promise
A lot of successful founders have thankfully documented their paths through the startup world through blogs and books. A great one to start with is Founders at Work by Jessica Livingston. You can find more startup books here <a href="https://www.startuplit.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.startuplit.com</a>
I liked how down to earth and practical this advice is. As I work on something early stage myself, I find that this is resonating a ton with respect to what I'm hearing from others and what I /actually/ need to do.