First of all, there are people with more experience and success than me, like: levelsio, Marc Lou, or Greg Isenberg. These are just my learnings from founding companies.
Second, company size matters. It’s different if you want to create a solo company, a company of 20-50 people, or a fast-growing startup. Each of these cases is unique. I’ll focus more on the second: a small to medium-sized company backed by VCs.
Third, team will be remote because I live in a small village.
Fourth, it will be a tech company.
So,
Ordered steps:
- Choose the right partner. Ensure you have the same objectives, cultural fit, and a shared vision of success.
- Some people will tell you to create a community around your company topic before doing anything else. When you launch a new product, you’ll be seen as a reference in the field, and people will be willing to use it and provide feedback. I completely agree if your company is B2C. If it’s B2B, it can be harder depending on the company’s field.
- Create a detailed landing with a waitlist and drive traffic to it. If no one cares, pivot.
- Solo founders: create an MVP that can attract free users and at least one paid customer. If it’s not happening, pivot.
- Raise money.
- Create a team:
- The team must cover product, engineering, marketing, and sales. They should also handle customer success and support.
- Remote work is fine, but ensure at least 3-4 hours of overlap each day.
- Don’t hire new people until you really need them.
- Believe in your team and always be transparent. Share the journey and don’t push them too much.
- Focus on the main feature and make it shine, the rest can be just good enough. If you’re not growing, pivot.
- If you still want a bigger rocket: add features and increase prices. Again, if you’re not growing, pivot.