🚀 This blog is from my series 0 to 0.1 for early-stage founders, wannapreneurs, and startup enthusiasts.

Starting an early-stage startup is a challenging yet rewarding journey. Nothing goes to waste—every mistake is a lesson, and everyone learns in their own way. Let’s break down the learnings into two categories: fundamentals and learn-by-experience. Kindly note, this is not an exhaustive list.

Fundamentals

Do validate your idea early. If possible without developing, If not, know your MVP.
Do research on your market and target audience. Don’t overdo.
Do understand your north star—your key guiding metric.
Do know your financials and limits.
Do plan for monetization early, unless your product is mass market.
Do know your team is the most important asset.
Don’t underestimate your competition.
Don’t ignore legal and compliance.
Don’t spend too much time on fundraising early on.
Don’t overestimate early traction—keep testing, validating, and improving.
…

World Renowned Resources

Do check out world-renowned resources like Y Combinator.
Do explore Techstars for mentorship and accelerator programs.
Do read Paul Graham’s Essays on startups and growth.
Do follow First Round Review for in-depth advice from industry leaders.
Do check out Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z Blog and Podcast for insights on tech and investing.
Do use AngelList for networking, funding, and job opportunities.
Do visit Product Hunt to discover the latest startup products and trends.
Do explore The Lean Startup by Eric Ries for methodologies on building and scaling efficiently.
Do follow Indie Hackers to learn from bootstrapped entrepreneurs.
Do attend events by 500 Startups to gain insights and mentorship.
…

Do get attached to the problem statement, Don’t get attached to one solution.

Learn-By-Experience

Thoughts are King, Clarity is Queen

It’s easy for early-stage founders to fall into the illusion cycle, where you picture yourself achieving success without going through the grind. It’s like imagining yourself on stage, playing the guitar with fans cheering—without even learning the guitar or going through the pain.

Just like you have ideas, so does everyone else. The first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself.

Know thyself.

Are you inventing a new technology?
Are you innovating a new application using some old/new technology?
Are you stealing an existing product? Yes, but with your insights and your strategy.

Knowing your reality will help you make better decisions. Most early-stage founders fall into the third category but behave like they’re in the first. Stay humble.

Steal, Not Copy

It’s okay to be creative and innovate while drawing inspiration from others’ work, rather than directly duplicating it. Don’t shy away from picking something that’s working for another product. Copying lacks originality, but stealing is about taking what works and adding your unique perspective, insights, or improvements. Your users will notice the difference.

Examples:

Apple: Steve Jobs famously “stole” ideas from Xerox’s graphical user interface (GUI) and mouse, but Apple transformed these concepts into revolutionary products like the Macintosh and iPhone, defining their own design language and usability.
Instagram Stories: Instagram “stole” the idea of stories from Snapchat, but they made it their own by integrating it seamlessly with Instagram’s photo-sharing experience and enhancing the feature with filters, stickers, and integrations.

Start using the lingo with yourself and your team: Let's steal it, not copy.

Tip: Steal from multiple sources.

Your idea & name

When I was in high school, one of my commerce teachers told us, “You cannot open a world-class truck or tractor repair shop on a street where the vehicles can’t even enter and park.” Little did I know how deep that was at the time. I don’t know why I am sharing this, I just like it.

It’s a common misconception among first-time founders that the idea is the ultimate sword, the goldmine, the end goal. And yet, again and again, the industry reminds us that the idea itself holds little value without execution.

I believe that your idea and name are both important, but not to the extent that you keep them to yourself, fearing others will copy them. No matter what you do, if someone finds value in your product, they will steal, not copy. They might compete in another market, offer a different user experience, adjust pricing, or focus on customer service. Don’t shy from sharing your idea or even making it public. Check Thoughts are King, Clarity is Queen section again. You always know how much to share. Your strategy and execution differentiates you, not your idea.

When it comes to naming, there’s no rule of thumb, but I personally believe it’s important. However, don’t let it become a showstopper. If you’re stuck, do a time-bound exercise and give it an internal name. Once you’re in flow, your subconscious will take over. Remember, even companies like Airbnb and Craigslist didn’t start with great names.

Start maintaining a document with good names, irrespective of products; you can pick from the list later on. It's also a great brain exercise.

Assumptions vs. Hypothesis

When you’re building a startup, you’ll be swimming in assumptions and hypotheses, but they aren’t the same thing. Let’s break it down.

Assumptions

What are they?
Assumptions are things you believe to be true without needing proof—yet. They’re often based on gut feeling, experience, or just because they seem logical. It’s like saying, “I assume people will love this feature,” but you haven’t actually tested it out in the real world.
Role in Startups:
Early-stage startups are full of assumptions. You’re assuming the market wants your product, assuming your pricing will work, assuming you know how users will behave. And that’s okay—to an extent. But untested assumptions are dangerous because they’re just guesses, and if they’re wrong, they can lead you in the wrong direction.
Example:
“I assume people will pay for my app because they like the free version.”

Hypothesis

What is it?
A hypothesis takes an assumption and turns it into something you can actually test. It’s a statement that can be proved or disproved through experiments, data, or observation. It moves you from “I think” to “I know.”
Role in Startups:
In startups, you want to convert your critical assumptions into testable hypotheses. It’s the way you reduce risk by figuring out what’s real and what’s not. Instead of guessing, you run experiments to get the answers.
Example:
“If I introduce a premium version of my app, I expect 10% of free users to upgrade in the first three months.”

Remember:

Assumptions are untested beliefs, things you think are true.
Hypotheses are testable statements designed to validate or invalidate those assumptions.

In short, assumptions are where you start, but hypotheses are how you test whether your assumptions hold up in the real world.

Turn as many assumptions as possible into hypotheses.

Have tech co-founder OR technical-product-manager for tech products

I consult startups, and many times non-tech founders come with great tech ideas. The only problem? They lack the technical do’s and don’ts. More than that, they don’t speak the technical language, and a lot of the conversation gets lost in translation.

I cannot stress this enough—having a tech co-founder or a technical product manager is crucial to bridge the gap between your vision and execution. Let’s face it, engineering is both a creative and analytical job, and finding the right people can feel like winning the lottery.

Having a tech co-founder/product-manager from the early days is not an expense—it’s an investment.

Do not hire on payroll

Your team can be a double-edged sword, especially in the context of early-stage startups. From my experience, avoid hiring on payroll unless it’s absolutely necessary. Putting people on payroll early can push you into a build trap—locking in expenses before you’ve validated enough. We live in the age of freelancers and agencies. Find your fit.

In addition, avoid hiring part-time people if you can. Part-timers often work at their own pace and have multiple commitments, which can disrupt momentum and affect your core team. That said, you know your situation and your people better than anyone.

Avoid Gossip

It needs no explanation—just avoid gossip. Don’t participate. If you notice it happening, try to understand the root cause and fix it. Don’t fix the symptom. Your team should be discussing ideas, not people.

Gossip spreads like wildfire.

Fire early

This is a controversial topic, and I think every founder makes this mistake—or at least most do. I’ve made it a few times myself.

I can’t tell you exactly when to fire—you’ll know. There will be people with great skills but not a good fit, people who aren’t accountable, people who love gossips, and especially those who don’t even use the product you’re all building but are vocal about it and so on.

Sometimes you will be confused, Here’s the rule of thumb: don’t hire on payroll unless you really need to, and if you find someone isn’t a fit, fire early. Do damage control. Be honest with your other team mambers, take feedback before and after.

Remember, hard things against hard things. Your job is to give clarity to your team—check out Mission, Vision & Your Startup.

Have a strategy that you feel confident about

Imagine aliens with superior aviation tech but no underwater tech. You need to travel from one country to another. An airplane could get you there faster, but with only a 1% chance of success. A submarine would be much slower, but you’d have a 99% chance of making it. What strategy would you choose?

At every stage of your startup—brainstorming, designing, developing, marketing, launching, iterating—you’ll face situations that demand your full attention. Make sure you have a strategy in place for each phase.

I’ll admit, there have been times I didn’t have a strategy, and it came back to bite me. I use the phrase feel confident intentionally. Nothing is guaranteed, but having a strategy binds your team with a common purpose.

But what is a strategy?
A strategy is simply a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim. It’s not about making the perfect choice; it’s about making an informed choice that aligns your resources, team, and efforts toward a goal. A good strategy gives direction, minimizes confusion, and keeps everyone focused.

Having a wrong strategy is better than having none.

Focus on Your Strengths, Delegate Your Weaknesses

As a founder, it’s easy to try and do everything. Know Thyself—focus on what you’re good at and delegate the rest. Delegating doesn’t mean ignoring. It means having the final say and giving the seal of approval.

Make Yourself Involved in Product Execution

Once you’ve delegated what you’re not great at, immerse yourself in the rest. Understand the what and why of everything happening. It’s your duty to safeguard the vision and ensure everything aligns with the strategy.

Knowing Everything Is Not Micromanaging

You don’t need to tell your team how to do their work, but you must be aware of how things are being done. If you see a gap, fix it early.

Check out Founder Mode

Products live and die in pixels and you must know all the pixels.

Follow the Trend - Marketing

If you can’t be the trendsetter, follow the trend. It can feel counterintuitive if not done carefully. Understand what the internet is responding to, keep an eye on social media trends, and find ways to be creative within that space.

Avoid the Build Trap

Take it from experience—avoid the build trap. Find your north star, test it, and build on top of that. It’s easy to fall into a situation where your team is idle, building features without actually reaching users. Stay focused on delivering value, not just features.

Burnout is Real

You and your team need physical movement, and your brain needs analytical movement. Set aside one day a week to not focus on the product. Do anything that helps you detach. I write blogs, walk a lot, listen to podcasts, explore EDM, watch documentaries, and so on. Find your own break from work.

Data Analytics is a Must, A/B Testing is Not

Without analytics and a clear core objective, you’ll never know what’s not working. It can easily lead to focusing on unimportant tasks. Analytics give you a window into user behavior. The trick is not to overdo it. Start slow—tracking the user journey, drop-offs, and interactions can help you understand the outcome. Adopt a hypothesis-driven mindset.

That being said, A/B testing has become another trend for founders and product managers. Understand the concept: A/B testing requires data, and at an early stage, you don’t have enough data. You’re looking for signals. While it’s subjective, my advice is to avoid A/B testing early on and focus on your core funnel with analytics.

Avoid Unethical Growth Hacks

I read somewhere that the internet is a living, breathing entity, much like Mother Earth. If you cross a boundary, it will come back one day and bite you. Just avoid unethical growth hacks, short-term gains aren’t worth the long-term damage.

Be Honest and Open with Your Users

Finally, always be truthful with your users and explain your reasoning. When I get feature requests, I’ll often say, “That’s a good idea, but because of ‘xyz’ (honest) reasons, we can’t implement it right now.” Most of the time, users appreciate the honesty and engage in dialogue. They leave good reviews as well. You don’t need to be in their good books by lying—you’ll get there by being honest. Learn the art of articulation.

“Do: You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology.”

“Don’t: You can’t start with the technology then try to figure out where to sell it.”

Steve Jobs 1997

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your startup journey? Let’s discuss in the comments or feel free to contact me!

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