Survive.
Startups want to thrive, but first they need to survive.
All startups want to thrive. But first they need to survive. The S curve is very real and many founders I work with are on the brink. They are on the brink of failure and the brink of success and it’s a very fine line. I can’t come up with a single startup that became successful that didn’t have a near death experience somewhere along the way.
The number 1 reason startups fail is that they run out of money.
This is such an obvious statement I sometimes forget it, so this is a reminder to myself and anyone else who needs to hear it.
There are a number of other reasons too - but none has as big of an impact. Once you run out cash and hit the wall, that’s it. Everything else stops.
Here are other reasons you might shutdown - but probably just excuses against the main reason above - the wrong team, the wrong product, the wrong execution, the wrong timing, the wrong technology, the lack of sales, the lack of shipping, the lack of alignment, the lack of the right people, the lack of the right hardware, the lack of the right software, the wrong strategy doc., the impact of a external event outside your control, the lack of next [excuse].
You need this list of things, but without cash you die anyway. You can either get more cash from customers or you can get more cash from investors.
Without either you are dead.
This brings me to the phrase I find myself harping on lately; SURVIVE. Thats it, thats the tweet. Survive.
To bring in cash to continue to take swings affords you the unique state of building and shipping that others yearn for. The situation or context will never be perfect. You may spend the rest of your career crawling back to this place.
Getting to a place of being able to experiment, to build, and ship is priceless.
Right now its Q4’2024 - its extremely hard out there for founders and startups. Anyone fundraising is either openly or privately commiserating about it.
Every fundraising or event, whether for startups, VCs, or other unique situations is first met with a moment of “awe” for “Getting it done in this environment” followed by the congratulatory praise.
For anyone experiencing this existential dread right now please keep going if it makes sense for you. You never know what is going to work. Again, there is not a single company I can think of that hasn’t had MULTIPLE near death experiences. Every company I have ever been a part of or invested in has gone through massive periods of existential threats that seem like they could not get any worse.
Keep listening to customers. Keep shipping. Keep going. You have to survive to thrive.
For anyone who is thinking about throwing in the towel, returning capital, or packing up and going home - please don’t squander the ability to experiment, to build, and ship in trade for the perfect situation. The time and energy it takes to get back to a position of working with a great team, shipping things, and having runway is very high.
Marc Andreessen is credited with saying one of my favorite quotes:
Startup founders…
“You only ever experience two emotions: euphoria and terror. And I find that lack of sleep enhances them both.”
If you do find yourself driving enough cash to thrive, you will find that you control your own destiny and you have the unique ability to transition from Startup to Company.
If you want more resources then drive more revenue (revenue = resources after all), just don’t run out of cash.