I’ve made many mistakes while working on my second startup. This led me to write out the principles I know to be true if you wanna build something real.
These four principles are what will save you months, if not years, of work that leads nowhere. You need to answer them truthfully, without making things up. It’s okay if you haven’t figured this all out. But until you do, don’t think about distribution, fundraising, revenue, metrics, press.
1. Solve a real problem.
What problem are you solving?
Have you talked to 10 people who have this problem?
Is this truly a painful problem, or a nice to have problem?
Do people care about this problem?
How are they solving this today?
What existing solution are we competing against?
Is this a problem you have yourself?
2. Contribute to the world.
Is this something the world needs?
Are you happy to spend the next 10 years of your life working on this?
Are you happy to spend the next 10 years of your life working on this if no one knew you are the one who made it?
Do you deeply care about the change you are making in the world?
3. Build a simple product.
If you have to remove as many things as possible from the product, what remains?
What is the essence of the product?
What do we say no to?
Who is this product for initially if you can only pick one group of people?
What is the first job your product will nail perfectly?
What does your product do in one sentence?
4. Make something 10 people love.
Have you made something 10 people deeply love?
Is your product making their life better?
How disappointed would your first 10 users be if your product disappeared tomorrow?