Tips from Startup Playbook

Startup Playbook

• You want to build a “product improvement engine” in your company. You should talk to your users and watch them use your product, figure out what parts are sub-par, and then make your product better. Then do it again. This cycle should be the number one focus of the company, and it should drive everything else.

• When there’s a disagreement about anything in the company, talk to your users.

• Don’t let your company start doing the next thing until you’ve dominated the first thing.

• Among your most important jobs are defining the mission and defining the values. This can feel a little hokey, but it’s worth doing early on. Whatever you set at the beginning will usually still be in force years later, and as you grow, each new person needs to first buy in and then sell others on the mission and values of the company. So write your cultural values and mission down early.

• Building a company is somewhat like building a religion. If people don’t connect what they’re doing day-to-day with a higher purpose they care about, they will not do a great job.

• My first piece of advice about hiring is don’t do it.

• 99% of startups die from suicide, not murder. Don't worry about competition, just focus on yourself.