7:03The Biggest Mistakes First-Time Founders Make - Michael Seibel
From Y Combinator · Published Jul 21, 2020 · Watch on YouTube
TL;DR
Michael Seibel outlines eight common mistakes first-time founders make: solving a problem they don’t care about, helping users they don’t care about, choosing unknown cofounders, lacking transparent cofounder conversations, not launching, not using analytics, having no plan for first users, and prioritizing press/hiring over product and user feedback.
Key insights
- Founders who lose motivation often chose a problem they lacked a deep personal connection to, making it unsustainable for the 5+ years required.
- Twitch succeeded only after refocusing on video game streaming because Emmett (a gamer) genuinely loved the user base; being indifferent to early users is a liability.
- A preexisting relationship with a cofounder (friend, coworker, school project) provides a track record for navigating hard times together.
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