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The Hardest Lessons for Startups to Learn

paulgraham.com · 4,880 words · saved by 5 readers

April 2006 (This essay is derived from a talk at the 2006 Startup School.) The startups we've funded so far are pretty quick, but they seem quicker to learn some lessons than others. I think it's because some things about startups are kind of counterintuitive. We've now invested in enough companies that I've learned a trick for determining which points are the counterintuitive ones: they're the ones I have to keep repeating. So I'm going to number these points, and maybe with future startups I'll be able to pull off a form of Huffman coding. I'll make them all read this, and then instead of nagging them in detail, I'll just be able to say: number four! 1. Release Early. The thing I probably repeat most is this recipe for a startup: get a version 1 out fast, then improve it based on users' reactions. By "release early" I don't mean you should release something full of bugs, but that you should release something minimal. Users hate bugs, but they don't seem to mind a minima

The Hardest Lessons for Startups to Learn --> April 2006 (This essay is derived from a talk at the 2006 Startup School .) The startups we've funded so far are pretty quick, but they seem quicker to learn some lessons than others. I think it's because some things about startups are kind of counterintuitive. We've now invested in enough companies that I've learned a trick for determining which points are the counterintuitive ones: they're the ones I have to keep repeating. So I'm going to number these points, and maybe with future startups I'll be able to pull off a form of Huffman coding. I'll

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