TL;DR Summary of Popular Startup & Business books I have read. This Guideis for anyone who wants to turn a side project into a profitable and sustainable startup.
Idea
- Ideas should stem from your own life experiences. Consider problems you've experienced and use them as inspiration to create original content.
- Don't build products that aren't tailored to specific tasks and interests. If you're not confident in your idea, don't launch a product. There are lots of ways to create content without building a product.
- If someone rejects you, it doesn't mean they don't like your idea or concept; it just means that they may have different needs than you.
Build
- Learn to use the tools you know best. Don't spend 12 months trying to learn a language that you will never get work in.
- Don't outsource the development of your idea; that's a competitive disadvantage when it comes to attracting new business. Build only the most important features, adding other features later.
Launch
- If you have a product that is launching, be sure to unveil it to the world early and often. The more people know about your product the better.
- Reach out to bloggers, writers, and influencers in the tech industry who might want to review your product or write about it. The more exposure you get early on, the more likely you'll be able to raise funding or sell your product.
- If you're thinking of launching a new blog, it's important to know where your audience hangs out on the internet. Perhaps they're more active on Twitter and Facebook than they are on blogs.
- The best way to find this is through social media listening tools and by doing some research on where your target audience is gathering in real life as well.
Grow
- Always make sure to Grow organically. Remember that great products and services which are really useful and helpful to people will attract a lot of users. Never think that you will need a lot of advertisements for that.
- One of the most important things while growing is hiring people. Remember that you should only hire people which are needed, don't overhire. At the start always try to do things yourself, and avoid hiring as much as possible.
Monetize
- When it comes to monetizing, the best thing you can do is ask your users for money. Don't sell their data or put ads everywhere.
- The only way to get revenue is by having a sustainable business model that doesn't rely on harvesting and selling your user's data. And if you don't have that, be honest with them and they'll be more than happy to pay!
- Automate by writing programs that conduct repetitive tasks. Only automate if the time saved is worth it. Hire contractors for tasks that are too difficult or expensive to automate.