Startup Stuff
🚀 Startup Wisdom: Patterns & Synergies
🌱 1. Startups Are About Growth, Not Just Ideas
Growth is the defining trait of a startup—not tech, funding, or even novelty. If it's not growing, it's not a startup.
Use growth as a compass: every decision should be filtered through its impact on growth.
Compounding matters: 5–10% weekly growth is exceptional; even small wins early can snowball.
🤝 2. Do Things That Don't Scale
Early-stage success comes from manual, personal, and unscalable efforts: hand-written notes, onboarding users one by one, acting like a consultant.
These actions build deep user insight, loyalty, and product-market fit.
Stripe, Airbnb, and Viaweb all started this way—founder-led engagement is a superpower.
🧠 3. Founder Mode: Stay Close to the Work
Great founders don't delegate too early—they stay obsessed with product, users, and outcomes.
Founder Mode is about visionary involvement, not micromanagement.
It's gritty, emotional, and often chaotic—but it's where real innovation and culture are forged.
💡 4. Ideas Are Vectors, Not Just Concepts
The best startup ideas are curious explorations, not just clever hacks.
They often come from personal pain points or underserved niches.
Curiosity is the seed—execution and insight are the soil and sunlight.
🎯 5. Be Good: No Growth Hack Beats a Loved Product
A product people love is the ultimate growth engine.
Focus on user delight, not just acquisition.
Growth hacks can amplify success, but they can't substitute for it.
🧱 6. Build Relentlessly: Talk Less, Ship More
Execution beats theory. Shipping builds momentum, credibility, and feedback loops.
Billionaire founders are builders first—they iterate, test, and refine constantly.
⚠️ 7. Avoid the Silent Killers
Distractions (conferences, vanity metrics, over-polished launches) quietly erode focus.
The hardest lessons are often counterintuitive: release early, stay lean, and avoid overthinking.
18 startup-killing mistakes include poor cofounder dynamics, ignoring feedback, scaling too soon, and losing sight of the user.
💬 8. Pitching Is About Trust, Not Just Slides
Before sending a deck, build credibility through clarity and curiosity.
Investors want to see traction, resilience, and insight—not just polish.
The best pitches are conversations, not performances.
🔗 Synergies with Your Work in Branding & Media
Personalization at scale: Just as startups win by doing unscalable things early, B2B sales wins by treating prospects like people, not pipelines.
Founder Mode = Thought Leadership: Your clients can embody this by staying close to their message and audience, especially in presentations and media.
Curiosity-driven content: The best branding starts with asking better questions—what does the audience truly care about? What's missing in the conversation?
Growth as a narrative: Media and branding should reflect momentum, not just identity. Show evolution, not just polish.
Source articles:
1. Do Things That Don't ScaleYour first 10 users should feel like clients, not clicks.https://lnkd.in/dcKYH9M5
2. Startup = GrowthIf it's not growing, it's not a startup.https://lnkd.in/djQBDN_8
3. Startup in 13 SentencesThe closest thing to a YC cheat sheet.https://lnkd.in/dT5JKfzC
4. 4. Founder ModeWhat it actually feels like to be a startup founder.https://lnkd.in/dXmPTcus
5. 5. Be GoodNo growth hack beats a product people love.https://lnkd.in/dB3xThCG
6. 6. Billionaires BuildTalk less, ship more.https://lnkd.in/dUW4w3RZ
7. 7. The Hardest Lessons for Startups to LearnThe distractions that quietly kill great companies.https://lnkd.in/d26g2uAf
8. 8. 18 Mistakes That Kill StartupsAvoid these and you're ahead of 90% of teams.https://lnkd.in/d38XQE4M
9. 9. How to Convince InvestorsWhat to say before you ever send a deck.https://lnkd.in/dQZkxjjW
10. 10. Ideas for StartupsCuriosity is the seed of every great company.https://lnkd.in/dSi6QhwV
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David@DavidCutler.net
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