What Makes A Start Up Successful?
We've been involved in multiple start ups down the years and we know that many CTO Academy users (and subscribers) are going through the different gears and uncertainties involved with start ups and early stage companies. Involved in that process of probing, experimenting and validating the product:market fit that will unlock the path to exponential growth, success and exit.
What makes a start up successful is a recurring theme and popped up this week in my Quora feed .... what is the magic sauce required to make it work?
There is no secret sauce, if there was we'd have bottled it. The Levi Roots of start up success!
Indeed many do try and bottle what success looks like, within a legion of often risible self help books where the success of some, is promoted as the secret for others.
What this type of survivor bias fails to illustrate are the massed ranks of failed start ups who followed exactly the same and often cliched path.
There are clearly some consistent themes ... great idea, resilience, luck, team, timing - all play a crucial part in start up success but from my experience - and I've been through a serious roller coaster of start up journeys - one of the most important pillars for success, is self awareness and picking a path that suits you.
The start up scene suffers badly from a 'fake it to make it' and 'smoke and mirrors' culture - both in terms of the corporate and the individual. Too many founders are delusional about their chances of success and what success should look like.
Key for any individual embarking on their start up journey is to 'know thyself'. Without that core ingredient, you're at risk of picking the wrong concept, co-founder, lifestyle ... Becoming more self aware, understanding what really matters, immersing yourself in that world will provide a much greater chance of finding happiness, fulfilment and personal success.
Be it start up or otherwise.
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