No Plan Survives First Contact With Customers

The company that consistently makes and implements decisions rapidly gains a tremendous, often decisive, competitive advantage.

Using the Product Development Waterfall diagram for Customer Development activities is like using a clock to tell the temperature. They both measure something, but not the thing you wanted.

Startups are painful, stressful and at times demoralizing. You need to be a true believer in the vision of what you are doing. You need to passionate about it and love what you’re doing. If you don’t, there is no way you can sustain the hours, stress and disappointment. There’s no way you’re going to be able to convince investors, customers and most importantly recruit a world-class team if you not building something you think is going to change the world.

You need to ask yourself, ‘Where do you want to work: startups, mid-size or large companies?’ If you find yourself debating the ‘startup versus large company’ choice you’ve already chosen the big company. Entrepreneurship isn’t a career choice it’s a passion and obsession.

Business plans are the tool existing companies use for execution. They are the wrong tool to search for a business model.

Unless you have tested the assumptions in your business model first, outside the building, your business plan is just creative writing.