16 Ways to Kill Your Startup
The startup graveyard is full of smart people. Great ideas, talented teams, millions in funding, and completely avoidable mistakes. Learn from other people's spectacular failures before you make them your own.
NOW
Most startup books tell you what to do. This one tells you what not to.
Move fast, listen to customers, find product-market fit, raise money, scale. All good advice. But what you don't do can kill you faster than what you do.
Real crime scenes, real receipts
Visit the expensive wreckage of WeWork, Groupon, BlackBerry, Casper, Quibi and more. Real companies, real numbers, and the decisions that looked smart at the time.
Patterns you can actually spot
Startup failure isn't always mysterious. Once you know what to look for, the warning signs are surprisingly easy to see, including the ones you're ignoring right now.
The antidote, not just the autopsy
Every mistake comes with the right way to do it, red flags to watch for, and a survival checklist you can use this week.
Sixteen mistakes. Four ways to die.
Some kill you quickly. Some are slow poison. Every one is preventable if you know what to look for.
Every chapter is built the same way.
So you always know where you are, and you can jump straight to the mistake you're most worried about.
The Horror Story
A real company that made this exact mistake. Names have not been changed to protect the innocent.
Why This Kills Startups
Why the mistake is so seductive, and why intelligent, well-advised people keep making it.
The Right Way
What to do instead. Something you can act on this week.
Red Flags
How to recognise you're doing it right now, which is harder than it sounds.
The Survival Checklist
An actionable checklist to help you avoid the mistakes other founders have made.
The Final Nail
What to take away, in a page.
A few lines from the crime scenes.
Hiring experts and then ignoring them is the most expensive form of therapy available to a founder.
The rake isn't hidden. The rake isn't sneaky. The rake is just sitting there, waiting for the next overconfident entrepreneur to come along.
I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention.
Founders who smell smoke. Teams who've seen the fire.
Aspiring entrepreneurs who want to avoid becoming a cautionary tale, current founders who want to know where the fire is, and anyone who enjoys watching other people's expensive mistakes from the safety of the couch. No judgment. We all love a good trainwreck.
Available on Amazon, wherever you are.
Paperback and Kindle.
Buy on Amazon (Australia) →ISBN 9798188605117
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