My Top 10 startup learnings

Here are my key takeaways, my top 10 startup learnings, and lessons learned when building your own startup

01

Make Mistakes

Don't be afraid of making mistakes. Not knowing terms of references used by your VCs, board of directors, or anyone in your circle. You're not meant to know everything, you're meant to do what you do best, that is to lead your vision, lead your people, drive your product and understand your customers.

02

Be Supportive

When things get tough, be supportive and most importantly be positive. Negativity breeds negativity so although you feel like exploding or locking yourself in a dark room, you toughen up and lead others that feel the same way into positivity.

03

Planning is everything.

Plan for the best. Plan for the worst. Planning is the key to putting structure in your vision.

04

Don't try to please everyone

Don't strive for perfection, if you please everyone there will be others that you did not consider. Not everyone can be happy with what you have built or how you have handled a situation so don't bother. Maintain your focus and your loyalties on the current objectives of the business. You should only have 5 at each stage.

05

Seek out external mentors

They are the best people to give you unbiased, non-judgmental opinions of your business. Don't be afraid to ask and Seek out external mentors.

06

Listen to your gut.

Everyone's got an agenda, some are personal, remember that everyone has an agenda. You may not like the thought of it and knowing that there are two sides to every coin, but keep your head out of politics and focus on what you know best.

07

Be loyal.

Be loyal to your customers and your employees. There is nothing else. Without your customers. Without your employees, you are nothing.

08

Don't burn bridges.

Your network is everything. Don't burn bridges. Make the best first impression you can to anyone. It doesn't matter who. Even if it's the pizza guy or a tuk-tuk driver. People remember you. So how do you want them to remember you?

09

Control your temper.

At times it's expected that you let off steam, but maintain your composure, control your temper. You can be annoyed, irritated, frustrated, show disappointment. But you do not flare. Don't pay attention to swearing-in heated arguments. Heated arguments are unprofessional. Make it or break it attitude is not productive nor would it change anything.

10

Be frugal.

My ex-boss taught me the best lessons in being frugal. Don't spend if you don't need to and if you do, it's better to spend on solutions that would drive product, move the revenue meter or make your employees happy.