Ask HN: I'm quitting my job to start a company. What should be on my checklist?
For those who have gone this route, what are the things you forgot to do that came back to get you? What do you wish you'd done differently?
- Make a list of assumptions about your business: what has to be true for you to succeed. Then find ways to empirically test those assumptions. Then test them! You don't want to spend a lot of time going down dead end paths. Keep doing this until you have a repeatable business model.
- Identify your weaknesses (whether that is product development, marketing, sales, etc), and make sure you know how you are going to overcome those weaknesses (hiring, contracting, eliminating the need, etc). If you don't think you have any important weaknesses, you need to do more introspection.
- Have fun and take breaks. Your business can become all-consuming. Don't let it, or it will soon suck the fun out of it.
Savings will last a finite amount of time, so you need to figure out how to replenish in order to give yourself some runway.
If you already have this plan in place then the next thing you should be working on is increasing customer acquisition.
If no one will give you money or written commitment, but say that they will buy, they aren't a customer. It's their polite/non-confrontational way of saying no
a. Beg for my job back b. Find customers & build company c. then quit
Not being glib, I just subscribe to being careful while reaching for the gold ring! Good luck!