Thought Experiments to De-Risk Your Startup
Just in case you got trapped, this is mostly a boilerplate which goal is not to help you but the author to get the appropriate image that would allow him to invest in companies that are doing well.<p>> How do competitors view you? Think about your 2-3 closest competitors. If you asked their CEOs to truthfully describe your company's strengths and vulnerabilities<p>Well, your 6 months old startup has no "strengths and vulnerabilities". It should also not have direct competitors. Only big companies have this kind of things. You have code, users and growth.<p>> Are you ready for a Series A?
> Imagine that instead of being the founder of your company, you're an investor<p>You already ask yourself these questions.<p>> The debate from hell<p>This one is decent and I'm nice. You already did this with your cofounder most of the time.<p>> Was your MVP truly minimal?<p>Who cares, you've survived.<p>> Stomach-churning churn numbers<p>You will stress automatically about churn.<p>> The missing key<p>Don't hire "key role". Only big companies do that.<p>> Laughed out of the room<p>Decent and I'm nice.<p>> Unexpectedly large market<p>By the way, only investors say <i>market</i> when talking about startups. While this has sense, it's kinda a concept for big companies again. Your startup has early users and say pool / niche of those.<p>> Unexpectedly small market<p>You rarely have an unexpectedly small market. Most of the time you have no market at all: you have built something people don't want.<p>> How does the trajectory of the world over the next 5-10 years align (or misalign) with what you're doing?<p>If you're growing, you're "aligned".<p>And on and on. The intention is not really to help you here I believe.