7 Of The Top Things Founders Get Wrong When They Start a B2B Company

Dear SaaStr: What do startup founders typically get wrong when starting a business?

My list:

Not committing to 24 months upfront to getting to Real Revenues and a Minimum Sellable Product. It takes 7–10 years to build something real, and the first stage is the 18–24 months it takes to get real revenues and something off the ground. 8–12 months is almost never enough time.

Picking cofounders that aren’t as committed. If you are willing to commit for 2 years to get to MSP and 7–10 years to get to Something Big … but your co-founder isn’t. That’s tough. They will probably quit some time in Year 1.

Not doing enough potential customer interviews. Too many founders shoot from the hip on what they think customers want. At least go talk to 20–30 first. This can save you 6–9 months of product development time in the early days.

Trying to pursue a “Grass is Greener” business model. Enterprise folks want to do freemium because they think it is easier. B2B folks want to do B2C. SMB folks want to go upmarket because there is too much churn in SMB. 85 times out of 100 — do what you know. PLG does not magically make a business model work.

Thinking money is what makes the difference. No, a seed round is not what makes the difference. The team is. A great team that is insanely committed often will find a way. Money is an accelerant, not magic.

Not committing to building truly great software. There are probably 10–100 other startups with the same idea. Are you committed to building a truly great product? If you don’t know how to ship world-class software, you’ll be eclipsed.

Not having a true, viable go-to-market plan. How will you get anyone to know about your app? You need a real plan that matches your strengths (Outbound, SEO, Content, Partnerships, etc.). Apps don’t sell themselves.