Steve B

lank told the world more than 4 years ago that a startup is not a smaller version of a large company.

With all the hype about the startup environment being high-speed, high-skills and quickly adaptive, the concept has yet to be fully understood and absorbed by the majority of the startuppers and this results in mortality rates that have remained flat in years.

There are a number of reasons for this:

- Startuppers seek support and experience on how to run the startup from mentors or consultants describing themselves as "startup experts".

- Mentors are usually very good managers with experience in established companies (the larger the company the higher the reputation of the mentor). Their "expertise" may come from the fact that they have supported several startups but that's not enough.

- Consultants typically work with companies and they rarely have the frame of mind required to look a the market with from the startup point of view. They suggest actions that they know worked well with their customers, e.g. established companies. Back to square one.

- While it's true that several successful startuppers started their multi-million dollar venture without a degree, very little attention is given to the skills of the team that helped them.

- The inflow of money is a good thing that can turn ugly if it makes the team think: "We got the money, it means we are good as we are and just need more sales." Sorry, it does not work in this way, quite the opposite. While it is true that 55% died before raising 1M, on average startups fail within 20 months from last funding.

Here are five life-tested tips to make your startup a success:

1. Seek advice from someone who has been or still is a startupper.

2. Ask your mentor or consultant how many of the startups they supported are still in business and check their performances.

3. You'll always get better advice from someone who failed at least once than someone who never did.

4. Focus on your customers and on your product. Work on a business canvas and keep it a live document but forget business plans and Excel® spreadsheet with forecasts until you have solid feedback that your product/service being needed and that people will be paying for it.

5. Make sure you have the right skill-set in your team. As Damian Scavo told to a flabbergasted audience several months ago "Live with it: the idea represents only 3% of the startup success, over 60% comes from the execution". To execute fast and effectively you need the proper skill-set and you must keep it honed with training and benchmarking.



If you have other tips to add or comments to the above feel free to submit them for discussion!