What I learned from a startup incubator

I lost two years on my first failed SaaS.

Years later I crossed $61k MRR, solo.

In between those periods I worked within a start-up incubator.

Here’s what I learned:

• There are plenty of really smart people who never make it as an entrepreneur.

• Mindset is more often valuable here than brains.

• There are plenty of less-than-bright people that crush it as entrepreneurs.

• I promise you have what it takes, no matter how average you think you are.

• We all start out as impostors, and we remain impostors as long as we push ourselves out of our comfort zone.

• This should be viewed as a positive, as it is a huge motivator and growth driver.

• We are all just figuring it out as we go.

• Don’t let others fool you into thinking they have all the answers. There’s no right or wrong way to run a startup; there’s just what works and what doesn’t.

• What works to get traction in one startup is not necessarily going to work for another.

• Take tactical advice only as inspiration, not as gospel. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is invaluable. Learn them and pay attention to them.

• Just because someone else enjoys building in public or waking at 4 am doesn’t mean you need to force yourself to do the same if it doesn’t suit you.

• In many cases, raising money doesn’t make things any easier. Often it complicates things.

• Make sure you’re very clear on why you need to raise money, if you’re considering it.

• Within a startup, team dynamics are critical.

• Likability and determination matter more to individual success more than skillset.

• The more people involved in a startup, the less productive they each are.

• On a team of 3, you can’t slack off without it being noticed.

• One person says, “I don’t know how to do that,” while another says, “I’ll figure it out.” Who would you rather work with? Who would you rather be?

• Often the “best” engineers are the least effective in an early-stage start-up.

• You want scrappy and good enough - not polished and ready for scale.

• You don’t have to work 20 hour days, 7 days a week to be successful.

• Making smarter, faster decisions is better than working more hours.

• People perform better when they’re given ownership, especially in the early stages of a startup where they can have the biggest impact.

• Simple ideas are often better than big ideas.

• They’re easier to execute, easier to explain, and take less time to take to market.

• People spend a lot of time on things that don’t matter.

• Don’t fall into the busywork trap. Focus on what will move the needle. Eliminate the rest.

• If you know the right people, they can help you leap-frog years ahead of where you’d otherwise be.

• Be helpful, be kind, and make friends.

• Most startups fail, so chances are you’ll have some failures too. Now let’s stop calling them failures, because they aren’t. They’re typically a prerequisite to success.

Keep going.