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I agree, but I think 7) a great team, is missing from that list. It really helps avoid problems with 1, 2, 4 and 5. For some markets, 3 media vitality, isn't re

I agree, but I think 7) a great team, is missing from that list. It really helps avoid problems with 1, 2, 4 and 5. For some markets, 3 media vitality, isn't required and if you get the other things right you need less luck.

softdev12 12y ago
right. 7) a great team is probably even more important than luck.
- tjradcliffe 12y ago
  I've managed great teams in companies that have failed because they built a product for a market that turned out to mature at about 1% of the level it had been predicted to grow to. It was a great product, delivered on time. It fulfilled a genuine need and it did it better than anything the competition had to offer. But the market wasn't there to sustain the company, and there was no reasonable way to know that far enough in advance to do anything difference. This is the essence of luck. People hate that, but it's the truth.
  - semerda 12y ago
    Cash rich companies can afford these experiments. A startup cannot. A poorly planned investment with great execution is a disaster waiting to happen. So basically to your point. Market fit is pivotal to the health of a startup.
LiweiZ 12y ago
Great team is one's multi-entry ticket. Just like the non-zero digit before a number of zeros. Unfortunately, it's not easy to have a great team.
dushonok 12y ago
How would a great team help you to make money out of a product nobody wants? Market fit (#1) is the most important thing
- epa 12y ago
  They have the knowledge, collaboration, and commitment to change the concept and push on.
  - semerda 12y ago
    That's assuming the cofounder/s are not dictators. More common issue than you think. Ego issue of Power. Hence why I dislike titles (labels) when one is a small team. Market fit should be worked out ahead of the team by the cofounders. The great team will contribute to it and over time everything evolves. Should the market shift fruit when you have the team, team transparency will help everyone steer the ship in a different direction. Otherwise the company will run out of cash chasing the founders fixed mindset.

softdev12 12y ago

right. 7) a great team is probably even more important than luck.

tjradcliffe 12y ago
I've managed great teams in companies that have failed because they built a product for a market that turned out to mature at about 1% of the level it had been predicted to grow to. It was a great product, delivered on time. It fulfilled a genuine need and it did it better than anything the competition had to offer. But the market wasn't there to sustain the company, and there was no reasonable way to know that far enough in advance to do anything difference. This is the essence of luck. People hate that, but it's the truth.
- semerda 12y ago
  Cash rich companies can afford these experiments. A startup cannot. A poorly planned investment with great execution is a disaster waiting to happen. So basically to your point. Market fit is pivotal to the health of a startup.

LiweiZ 12y ago

Great team is one's multi-entry ticket. Just like the non-zero digit before a number of zeros. Unfortunately, it's not easy to have a great team.

dushonok 12y ago

How would a great team help you to make money out of a product nobody wants? Market fit (#1) is the most important thing

epa 12y ago
They have the knowledge, collaboration, and commitment to change the concept and push on.
- semerda 12y ago
  That's assuming the cofounder/s are not dictators. More common issue than you think. Ego issue of Power. Hence why I dislike titles (labels) when one is a small team. Market fit should be worked out ahead of the team by the cofounders. The great team will contribute to it and over time everything evolves. Should the market shift fruit when you have the team, team transparency will help everyone steer the ship in a different direction. Otherwise the company will run out of cash chasing the founders fixed mindset.