10. Debating isn't time wasted unless the participants are closed minded. When working with others I respect, I have always found that both sides are willing to defect to the other side, they just want to make sure their side is considered first.
9. This is equally avoidable by finding mature people to work with.
8. I often fall into the trap of thinking others are not keeping up with me, but it usually is just me being arrogant. If you can't take advantage of someone, its usually a management issue. Some people are not worth managing though (too little benefit for time invested), again emphasizing the importance of choosing a good co-founder... obviously not always easy to do.
7. The "go at it alone" approach doesn't scale. We can look at examples like the founder of PlentyOfFish who appears to have done it alone, but what he did was to essentially ignore certain areas he didn't feel like dealing with, and things worked out well, but they could have very easily gone the other direction.
6. You can indeed take advantage of other people and use them without any payment, but you are still taking advantage of them (you're getting something, they are not). Because they won't be fully invested in your company, your practices, or your product (and they won't be, because they are just being used), the quality of their advice will suffer because they will be talking about generic situations instead of your specific one.
5. So can founders with partners. For free.
4. But woah, watch out for those taxis.
3. Look honey, I know I have been busy recently, and I'm still too busy to spend time with you, but you're going to be have a lot of money soon. No, no, no, I don't think you're a prostitute. Wait, no, wait, no, NOT THE CAT...
2. This is really important, and one of the reasons people like working for startups in general, but not really single founder specific.
1. And it may eventually be worth something :)
0. Good list, you put up some interesting things to think about.
Thanks for the feedback. This list was made partially in jest, but 100% from experience.
In my first startup with 3 co-founders, I wasted (yes, wasted!) 50% of my time on numbers 9 and 10. It got so bad, I was afraid of what our customers would witness. And these were seasoned business people in their 20's, 30's and 40's.
8. Good point.
7. I disagree. I am still stunned at what I can accomplish with today's tools vs. 10 years ago. With time and money. And the more I code, the better I get. Every new project I write takes half the code of the previous one.
6. Really disagree. My experience is that the provider of the advice THANKS ME for the opportunity to advise. There are people out there dying for the opportunity to mentor for free; they just don't find many chances. Their payback is watching you succeed with their advice. They can't buy that.
4. I hate this one. I really do. People come to me looking to invest and then tell me my biggest problem is that I may get hit by a bus. Funny thing, I have never had a customer bring this one up. The next time I hear the bus remark, I'll just jump out a 6 story window. That'll show them.
9. This is equally avoidable by finding mature people to work with.
8. I often fall into the trap of thinking others are not keeping up with me, but it usually is just me being arrogant. If you can't take advantage of someone, its usually a management issue. Some people are not worth managing though (too little benefit for time invested), again emphasizing the importance of choosing a good co-founder... obviously not always easy to do.
7. The "go at it alone" approach doesn't scale. We can look at examples like the founder of PlentyOfFish who appears to have done it alone, but what he did was to essentially ignore certain areas he didn't feel like dealing with, and things worked out well, but they could have very easily gone the other direction.
6. You can indeed take advantage of other people and use them without any payment, but you are still taking advantage of them (you're getting something, they are not). Because they won't be fully invested in your company, your practices, or your product (and they won't be, because they are just being used), the quality of their advice will suffer because they will be talking about generic situations instead of your specific one.
5. So can founders with partners. For free.
4. But woah, watch out for those taxis.
3. Look honey, I know I have been busy recently, and I'm still too busy to spend time with you, but you're going to be have a lot of money soon. No, no, no, I don't think you're a prostitute. Wait, no, wait, no, NOT THE CAT...
2. This is really important, and one of the reasons people like working for startups in general, but not really single founder specific.
1. And it may eventually be worth something :)
0. Good list, you put up some interesting things to think about.