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Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

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Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#41
So you know what the problem is - the solution is to find product market fit. Take a couple days off, relax, and then go back to work hungry to solve this problem.

Get in and talk with the Pilot companies - be straight up and honest, ask them if it’s really solving a problem for them or if it’s just a nice to have. Ask what their true pains are.

Monitor your run rates and have contingency plans for dealing with what happens if funds get low.

If you’re worried, talk to your cofounders and make sure you’re communicating properly. Express your concerns.

If you truly want to quit, then you can do that but it will have consequences as well.

Startups can be hard, but the rules are simple. Find a problem and solve it.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#43

I'm on year 2 of my startup, and around month 9, I felt similar to you, so I can relate. Real traction began around month 20, and its still modest. Here are a couple of issues I see: 1. 9 months isn't long enough, as others have said. There are exceptions, but those are the exceptions. I can't think of any startup in recent history truly reaching product/market fit within its first couple of years. Facebook, I guess.…

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Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is slightly off topic, but I have noticed that about half the time on HC when someone says contact me that they have no contact details in their profile.

I suspect that's because HN doesn't make it clear that your email isn't publicly visible on your profile.

I suspect you are right. If it were any other site I would send a suggestion off to YC, but there is no point as nothing about HC will change.

Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it makes you feel any better it took me 11 years to make any money with my startup.

Why did it take you 11 years? This doesn’t sound like a startup, more like a monetized hobby.

It is a long, long story [0].

0. https://www.tillett.info/2015/06/24/why-i-kept-my-startup-in...

Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#47

Do you think the new cofounder will substantially change your ability to have 5 successful pilots in the next 3 months? Are you excited about the space? Do you think you are uniquely able to contribute? Do you still think the market is there? If your answer are no to all or most of the above, it sounds like maybe you should close up shop. I think returning VC money is dumb. Returning friends & family might be worthwh…

>Do you think the new cofounder will substantially change your ability to have 5 successful pilots in the next 3 months? substantially? hard to tell. he is hungry, and smart enough (from what i can tell), but he's no magician (who is anyway?). >Are you excited about the space? no. we are not building tesla-spacex-oculus. it would be very hard to be excited about b2b tradeshows. i am excited about potentially building…

why do you think the market is there?

Re: Ask HN: My startup has basically failed. What now?

#50
>to last minute catastrophic product failures

You have to have a product that works. People are trusting part of their business to your software. Depending on your software, they also have to spend a lot of time and money with integrations, training and all that. It's a large commitment that isn't easy to reverse.

If your software was working perfectly and provided obvious, quantifiable value, do you think you would have reeled in those clients? If so, slow down the features and concentrate on stabilizing the software. To do this effectively you need to have both an eagle-eye QA person/team and an existing beta client. The more beta clients the better, because people will use (and break) your stuff in ways no one in your company imagined. While you are doing this, make sure the people who are demoing it know a happy path and are disciplined enough to stick to that and can explain away the problems. For them to be able to do that, you have to have a committed relationship with them, especially before demos. You also need to be in constant communication with your clients and make sure they know you are turning things around. You need to show them proof with quick releases on the most painful items and constant improvement. Proper triage is big in the beginning and majority of this phase.

You also might want to ask your investors who are bullish on the product if any of their other investment companies or connections have any need for your software. They usually have connections that you and I probably wouldn't.

That's the best advice I can give given my experience. There is a lot more in the details but that's the top points. I've been the head technical person in 2 turnarounds now, but they had existing (but angry and fleeing) clients. We had the software stabilized within a year, but it's a grueling process. Expect nights and weekends for the first 3-6 months, depending on where you are, then things will go more smoothly.

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