Comment by its_so_on | Hacker News Reader

Comment by its_so_on | Hacker News Reader

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Interesting article! Of course, it does begin with: "Once you have built your product and it’s in the market..."

What are your thoughts here on top three priorities BEFORE this stage?

(I would say,

1. Don't give up equity, keep your credibility, don't be full of hot air. (If a dozen people think you're kind of cofounding this with them and your paperwork is a mess, you're dead on arrival!)

2. Keep dedicated and always do SOMETHING that moves you closer to "Once you have built your product and it’s in the market..." (I say this as a technical single founder, obviously it goes double if you CAN'T do the technical side.)

3. Reach out and network, even well ahead of product or need for money or in the case of talent, for this particular talent. No one will look down on you for saying, "You know I'm nowhere near the normal time to seek funding (or to bring you on board, or whatever), but I thought I would mention that I'm working on this..." Do welcome any feedback. The fact that you're putting feelers out even while it's too early can't bite you (unless you're always full of hot air, see #1), as if nothing else (I expect) you can refer back to this contact instead of taking up contact totally 'cold', when the time does come.

What do you guys think? Of course, these days #2 can be "Move your team to the Bay Area. Get funded. Funded for what? We'll cross that road when we get there, sheesh!"

Not that there's anything wrong with that...)

It depends on what you're building. In our particular case. When I started with the idea of building a startup for the first time, I did all of those things. Built a network, looked for mentors, investors etc. While trying to keep our equity with us.

After a few months I concluded it was all a waste of time. Having a good product overshadows everything else by a huge margin. If you have a great product, you'll have better leverage for negotiating equity, you'll find it easier to find partners, mentors and networking. Everything magically gets easier.

Now I understand that, for our product, our priority should be 99% to build something awesome. Everything else is so little it's insignificant. We don't even waste our energy with those anymore. If we do build a great product, then the other ones will come.

But of course, it depends on what you're building. Not everyone is trying to build something complex. Maybe your product relies on getting a few key clients you depend on, then go after them. Maybe you didn't even validate your idea yet, so go make sure you're building the right thing before wasting time with it. There are too many "ifs" and I don't anyone will give you a good generic idea without knowing exactly what you're doing. So if you are on that stage where you're not sure what to do and you need help. I'd say networking and look for mentorship that will guide your team. Then just build something awesome.

Before you have built product (and after you have determined that you are building something like the right product), your top 3 priorities are:

    1. Build product
    2. Build Product
    3. Build Product

This is really the top priority: determine that you are building something like the right product.

In many cases, you don't even need to build much/any product to figure this out sufficiently.

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