It maybe worked for him but I found it hard that it can be applied to every startups 1. Invite-Only Access. Depending the service your startup offer ( Storage

It maybe worked for him but I found it hard that it can be applied to every startups 1. Invite-Only Access. Depending the service your startup offer ( Storage & bandwidth heavy ), you will have to offer to do invite only because you can't just spend all the money you don't have on this. Invites will allow you to control the cost of it all. 2. & 3. Real-time traffic measurement & User admin dashboard Those are the only one I agree :) 4. Experimenting with ads too early. Using ads early can be a really asset. For example, It can allow you to A/B test some new messages or value proposition. It can also help you see if you product can appeal to a certain niche by hyper targeting your ads ( Does 20-25 old people living in New jersey and who likes Soccer and BBQ will be interested in my product? ) 5. Amazon Affiliate links I think its great he took the time to try it out. The goal is not to make loads of $$ with "a few thousands uniques/day" It's to see the conversion rate. It didn't work out in his case so that "business model idea" he can write off of his list. 6. Techcrunch TC offer you so much more than traffic & SEO. It will be let the world you exist to important people ( angels, VC, etc ) 7. One-off partnership projects. His experience isn't a good one. Probably didn't negotiate hard enough with his partner. BizDev / Partnership can bring tremendous traction to your startup if done right. Just don't get screwed up by the other guy and don't waste time "building a prototype" for him without a signed contract. 8. coffee Meetings Sure the productivity can take a hit if you do it "too much". But think about the social aspect of it. Wether it with coworker or external people to network. it will help build a strong relationship. 9.Excessive side projects As a manager you have the duty to keep everyone happy and productive. The coders will always have side project. Better to have them work on a side project for your company and under your supervision than to pissed them off and make them work on the side project during the Weekend. 10. Working from home Working in an open space can be a pain in the ass for some people. Because people will interrupt them all the time because of a bugs / ideas / whatever. If they are to introvert to say no, their productivity will go down the drain. So better for them to work some times from home to be truly focus on their work. Cheers,