"Abandoned" might be a better term than "failed" in my case. I founded two bootstrapped startups. In both cases, I had an idea for a product that didn't exist

"Abandoned" might be a better term than "failed" in my case. I founded two bootstrapped startups. In both cases, I had an idea for a product that didn't exist yet and that I was confident I could build. In both cases, I failed to appreciate how quickly other well-funded startups would show up and beat me to market with products that were more robust than anything I could build on my own in my free time. (To be clear: I'm not saying they stole my idea. I'm saying good ideas have a tendency to be arrived at independently by many.) I've also been involved with many clients and employers who have looked to cash-in on startup ideas. For some, the ideas were just bad (oops). But for every good idea, someone else did it better and faster. Lessons I've learned: 1) Not every idea is a good one. (Learned this very early on, thankfully, but everyone thinks their ideas are awesome... and they're not.) 2) If I have a truly good idea for a new product that does not exist yet, the odds are exceptionally high that lots of other people have that idea too. So time is not on my side. 3) This is where the VC value is. VCs can get you the resources to build a team, launch an MVP, and scale. If there are no VCs at my table, the odds are they're funding someone else that I'll eventually see as a competitor. All of which is to say: If I were to do it again, I'd focus all of my initial energies on getting funded and building a team. Going it alone is just a terrible idea, unless it's a passion project that I don't mind seeing "fail".