The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups
Author: Paul Graham Published: October 2006 URL: https://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html
Summary
Graham’s comprehensive list of the 18 most common startup-killing mistakes, from single-founder risk to half-hearted effort. Covers people problems (single founder, bad programmers, cofounder fights), strategic errors (marginal niche, derivative ideas, obstinacy), timing mistakes (launching too early/late), and financial missteps (raising too much/too little, spending too much).
Key Claims
- Starting alone is too hard — you need cofounders
- You can only avoid competition by avoiding good ideas
- Most successful startups end up doing something different than planned (obstinacy kills)
- Nothing is truly finished till it’s released — launch sooner
- Making something people want is harder than monetizing it
- Most founders of failed startups don’t quit their day jobs (half-hearted effort)
- Founder fights are about people, not situations — choose cofounders carefully
- Both too much and too little funding are dangerous