19 rules for early stage founders

There’s no real playbook for building a company. No, not even with my best efforts.

Your journey as a founder will always be unique. Things are going to happen to you that I couldn’t have imagined (and I have stories that would make your eyes bulge).

To compensate for the gaps in the how-to plan, it is helpful to have a fundamental rulebook. Below are hard-earned rules that I think every founder should keep in mind as they dig in to found their company. 

If I could choose to give my past self the how-to book, or the rule book, I’d take this set of rules all day long. 

1) The only sacred cow is effort

Just because you’re pouring your heart and soul into a product, doesn’t mean it’s good. Know when to cut a project, but never cut back on effort.

2) Fewer legal contracts, more revenue

Attorneys cost money you don’t have in the early days. Focus on building revenue streams first, then you’ll have something to protect. 

3) Talk to customers before investors

So many first-time founders chase investors before they’ve done the work. I raised too early, too. Don’t do it—spend that time talking to potential customers and listen for pains.

4) Make a pain killer not a vitamin

People will pay for a pain killer, but everyone forgets to take their vitamins. 

5) Be your own influencer

You are your company’s best marketer. Talk early and often about what you’re building. I don’t care if you’re not a marketer by trade, just start sharing. 

6) Keep your burn low

Nothing shortens your runway like bills. Every expense should have to fight its way into your life. 

7) Low costs are more important than high ROI

Early stage startups can’t take big expensive gambles creating complicated products. If the choice is between high expense/high ROI and low expense and slow growth, choose slow growth. One too many big expensive bets can kill you quickly, and you can usually get lower expense products to market faster.

8) No single intro is more valuable than your own time

First-time founders often chase golden intros, thinking the next one is all they need. These pursuits are time consuming and often futile. Take easy intros, and put the rest of your time into your product. The intros will come. 

9) Do not hire anyone you can’t fire

I don’t hire family or friends because I don’t want to fire family or friends. If firing someone would make my personal life awkward, I won’t even consider hiring them. 

10) Obsess over your market

You should know more about this audience than anyone. Read all the studies. Subscribe to all the newsletters. Know the trends so you can predict the future.

11) DIY > Delegate

No task should be delegated in the first year until you’ve done it yourself. This keeps costs low, and helps you understand the cogs that makeup your machine.

12) Hire people who will tell you when you’re wrong

Do not be threatened by talent. You’ll build a better company if you have a team who is invested in the product and is willing to speak up when they disagree with you. 

13) Do not lower your expectations to meet the job candidate 

If you can’t find the right candidate, keep going. Lowering your expectations on hiring means lowering the quality of the product. 

14) Hire slow, fire fast

Do not over hire, it only slows you down. Keep a small, nimble team. Have strict 90 day probation periods for new employees—fire anyone who clearly isn’t an A+ performer at the 90 day mark.

15) Choose ROI over slick products

Build products for function, not fancy. Often slick designs and changes will not lead to ROI. Find what’s working, and iterate on that. 

16) Launch ugly products

Do not build for perfection, build for iterative testing. It’s best to get a product live and start learning than to hold onto a project for months. You’ll learn best through customers and users.

17) Remember, everyone will have an opinion, only you have a decision

You’ll meet a ton of people who have been there, done that. Some will be credible, some won’t, but they’ll all have an opinion. Remember to trust your gut, not theirs.

18) Don’t waste time or energy on bad customers 

The early days of a product will pull your first 1,000 fans. If just 5% of them are insane or a-holes, that still means you’ll have 50 pain in the rear fanatics causing heart burn. It’s OK to put your energy into the 95% and ignore your bad apples.

19) Compare yourself to yesterday’s version of you, not other founders

You’re always going to see founders who raised more, grew faster, exited for more and so on. Their journey isn’t yours, and the world is big enough for your success, too. 

I’m past the seven year mark with GoWild. I’ve checked a lot of my goals for GoWild—raised some cash, grown a company to seven figures in revenue, landed big partnerships, and so on. It doesn’t mean I’m an expert. I just have my journey to reflect on, but looking back, these rules are strong guidelines for any founder to keep in mind as you get started.

Free LinkedIn post idea: 

Share your thoughts on rules for founders or leaders in your field. Give me an @ if you do so I can see it. 

This post was inspired by a LinkedIn post from nearly a year ago. That post had some great rules that I agreed with, but was way too long and redundant. I hope you enjoyed this version with my Silicon Holler twist. 

Who I’m listening to: Bella White

What I’m reading: “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver

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