startup lessons learned - 25 ways to make your startup suck (1-10)

25 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR STARTUP SUCKA.K.A 'How Not To Launch Your Startup / App / Service / Thing'

(IDEAS 1-10)

@culturengine / April 2010

NUMBER 1Create an app that you don't use

yourself, or worse:

NUMBER 2

Get frustrated when your friends don't really want to use your app.

NUMBER 3

Exaggerate the problem you solve so it doesn't feel marginal, and then hope that the magical Long Tail effect will

make you rich and famous.

NUMBER 4

Do a beta without any stated goals, and no notion of what you're trying

to learn from it.

NUMBER 5Expect people to spend more than 60

seconds to sign up to your service.

NUMBER 6

Be "freemium" because you don't dare to scare users away by charging for your awesome and indispensable

new service.

NUMBER 7

Try really really hard to get a little post about you in Techcrunch, Mashable et al because it will solve all of your

marketing problems.

NUMBER 8

Mail blogs and sites that you have no rapport with about featuring your app, and then not follow up on your initial

mails with a single phone call.

NUMBER 9

Pay for expensive online banner spots on other apps and blogs that

you like because all the other companies are doing it.

NUMBER 10

Search for web forums that mention the problem that you solve and post a one-off comment that mentions

your solution.

CHECK OUT

HTTP://J.MP/25WAYSTOSUCK FOR THE FULL LIST

This presentation was written as a bi-product of our ‘how not to launch’

ideas for www.elementalise.com

elementalise