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Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

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Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#71

Post by elric »

cosmodisk wrote: post #61

1) You almost certainly can charge more 2) No matter what business relationships you have with other companies, but they will always save them first 3) Being known for paying on time can do wonders when the going gets tough. 4) Get rid of toxic assholes asap no matter how valuable 5) You aren't aware of the tech that exists and can help your business, do seeks for advise 6) Better service is only possible when the en…

As someone who has been an arsehole and has worked with a fair share of them, I've come to realize that arseholes in a workplace are often a product of their environment. Anyone who is sufficiently overworked, undercompensated, interrupted, or mismanaged, is likely to become an arsehole given enough time.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#72

Post by u2077 »

1. Know when to listen to criticism

2. Know when to ignore criticism

3. Communicate directly to your users (Your users know what they want more than you do, it’s easy to control the project based on your preferences, but it’s not always the best idea.)

4. Stay organized Having emails, files, spreadsheets, financials, etc with a solid organizational structure will save you later.

5. Keep backups.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#74

Post by [deleted] »

jasfi wrote: post #68
anyfactor wrote: post #59

I haven’t seen success at all. That's because people is super hard. Selling to people and managing people. Selling is super hard. Ideas are worthless if you can't sell. My thesis is that make sure you have the connections to make the initial sells and you have the personality trait to ask for referral and grow from the initial sales. If you haven’t figured out a way to guaranteed sales yet, don’t hope for a miracle w…

It seems like a good reason to have a marketing co-founder if you're a tech/product person.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#75

Post by u2077 »

cosmodisk wrote: post #61

1) You almost certainly can charge more 2) No matter what business relationships you have with other companies, but they will always save them first 3) Being known for paying on time can do wonders when the going gets tough. 4) Get rid of toxic assholes asap no matter how valuable 5) You aren't aware of the tech that exists and can help your business, do seeks for advise 6) Better service is only possible when the en…

7 & 8 are excellent points!

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#76

Post by lasereyes136 »

armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

Good sales people are critical to success. Most sales people aren't good, pick them with care.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#77

Post by lasereyes136 »

nickfromseattle wrote: post #30

- The decreasing barrier to ship products means sales & marketing is what differentiates successful products versus products with 0 users. - After building a high growth / high churn product, I am OK sacrificing decreased growth for a significantly decreased churn rate. Great product with high churn is a hard business to build, even when customers love the product. - One of the highest leverage decisions you'll make…

Good technical people are critical to success. Most technical people aren't good so pick them with care.

Re: Ask HN: Important nonobvious startup/business lessons you've learned?

#79

Post by dsr_ »

lasereyes136 wrote: post #76
armc wrote: post #33

Here's 30 years of experience for you: 1. Few business problems can't be solved by more sales. 2. Cut expenses when the storm is approaching, not when you're soaking wet. 3. You can't eat assets or inventory. Don't get emotional about what you own, only about your cash balances. 4. Banks are your friend only when you don't need them. Corollary: One bank for borrowing, one for cash balance accounts. 5. 70 completed ca…

Good sales people are critical to success. Most sales people aren't good, pick them with care.

The goodness of salespeople is measured on two orthogonal axes. The one that everyone pays attention to is "money brought in". The one that is hard to evaluate is "lies to customers".

"money brought in" is air that your company breathes. "lies to customers" is poison that your company drinks.

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