If only someone told me this before my 1st startup: 1. Validate. I...
John Rush@johnrush
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Feb 12, 2025
~3 min read
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If only someone told me this before my 1st startup:
1. Validate.
I wasted at least 5 years building stuff nobody needed.
2. Kill your EGO.
Make your users happy instead of yourself.
3. Don’t chaise investors; chase users, and then investors will chase you.
4...
1. Validate.
I wasted at least 5 years building stuff nobody needed.
2. Kill your EGO.
Make your users happy instead of yourself.
3. Don’t chaise investors; chase users, and then investors will chase you.
4...
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4. Never hire managers. Only hire doers until PMF.
5. Landing page isn't important.
Go for an average template and edit texts, and that’s it.
The sale happens outside of the website anyway (in the early stages).
5. Landing page isn't important.
Go for an average template and edit texts, and that’s it.
The sale happens outside of the website anyway (in the early stages).
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6. Hire only fullstack devs.
There is nothing less productive in this world than a team of developers.
One full stack dev building the whole product. That’s it.
There is nothing less productive in this world than a team of developers.
One full stack dev building the whole product. That’s it.
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7. Chase global market from day 1.
If the product and marketing are good, it will work on the global market too, if it’s bad, it won’t work on the local market too. So better go global from day 1, so that if it works, the upside is 100x bigger.
If the product and marketing are good, it will work on the global market too, if it’s bad, it won’t work on the local market too. So better go global from day 1, so that if it works, the upside is 100x bigger.
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8. Do SEO from day 2.
As early as you can. I ignored this for 14 years. It’s my biggest regret.
As early as you can. I ignored this for 14 years. It’s my biggest regret.
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9. Sell features, before building them.
Ask existing users if they want this feature. I run DMs with 10-20 users every day, where I chat about all my ideas and features I wanna add. I clearly see what resonates with me most and only go build those.
Ask existing users if they want this feature. I run DMs with 10-20 users every day, where I chat about all my ideas and features I wanna add. I clearly see what resonates with me most and only go build those.
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10. Hire only people you'd wanna hug.
My mentor said this to me in 2015. And it was a big shift. I realized that if I don’t wanna hug the person, it means I dislike them.
Sooner or later, we would have a conflict and eventually break up.
My mentor said this to me in 2015. And it was a big shift. I realized that if I don’t wanna hug the person, it means I dislike them.
Sooner or later, we would have a conflict and eventually break up.
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11. Invest all your money into yourself and your friends.
I did some math; if I kept investing all my money into all my friends’ startups, I'd be worth $100M+ by now.
I did some math; if I kept investing all my money into all my friends’ startups, I'd be worth $100M+ by now.
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12. Post on Twitter daily.
I started posting here in 2023. I wish I started earlier.
It’s my primary source of new connections, news, marketing, and networking.
I started posting here in 2023. I wish I started earlier.
It’s my primary source of new connections, news, marketing, and networking.
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13. Don’t work/partner with corporates.
They seem like a fantastic opportunity; they promise millions of users, etc. But none of this happens. Cuz you talk to a regular employees there. They waste your time, destroy focus, shift priorities, and eventually bring in no users/money.
They seem like a fantastic opportunity; they promise millions of users, etc. But none of this happens. Cuz you talk to a regular employees there. They waste your time, destroy focus, shift priorities, and eventually bring in no users/money.
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14. Don’t get ever distracted by hype, e.g. crypt0.
I lost years of my life this way.
I met the worst people along the way. Fricks, scammers, thieves. Some of my close friends turned into thieves along the way.
I lost years of my life this way.
I met the worst people along the way. Fricks, scammers, thieves. Some of my close friends turned into thieves along the way.
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15. Don’t build consumer apps. Only b2b.
Consumer apps are so hard, like a lottery. It’s just 0.00001% who make it big. The rest don’t.
Most never get users. The very few who got users never manage to monetize them. I've been in both boats myself.
Consumer apps are so hard, like a lottery. It’s just 0.00001% who make it big. The rest don’t.
Most never get users. The very few who got users never manage to monetize them. I've been in both boats myself.
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16. Don’t hold on the bad project for too long.
Some projects just don’t work. In most cases, it’s either the idea that’s so wrong that you can’t even pivot it or it’s a team that is good one by one but can’t make it as a team. Don’t drag this out for years.
Some projects just don’t work. In most cases, it’s either the idea that’s so wrong that you can’t even pivot it or it’s a team that is good one by one but can’t make it as a team. Don’t drag this out for years.
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17. Tech conferences are a waste of time.
They cost money, take energy, and time and you never really meet anyone there. Most people there are the “good” employees of corporations who were sent there as a perk for being loyal to the corporation. Very few fellow makers.
They cost money, take energy, and time and you never really meet anyone there. Most people there are the “good” employees of corporations who were sent there as a perk for being loyal to the corporation. Very few fellow makers.
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18. Scrum is a Scam.
If I had a team that had to be nagged every morning with questions as if they were children in kindergarten, then things would eventually fail.
Once I killed scrum, things changed; lazy folks left, grownups entered my team & we've been concurring the world
If I had a team that had to be nagged every morning with questions as if they were children in kindergarten, then things would eventually fail.
Once I killed scrum, things changed; lazy folks left, grownups entered my team & we've been concurring the world
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19. Outsource nothing until PMF.
When outsourcing, the external members have no love and no care for the product. It’s just yet another assignment in their boring 9-to-5 job.
When outsourcing, the external members have no love and no care for the product. It’s just yet another assignment in their boring 9-to-5 job.
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20. Bootstrap.
I raised over 10 times, preseed, seed, and series A.
Today I bootstrap all my startups.
The difference is huge. I'm totally obsessed with products & users now, while in the past, I was obsessed with funding rounds, events, news coverage.
I raised over 10 times, preseed, seed, and series A.
Today I bootstrap all my startups.
The difference is huge. I'm totally obsessed with products & users now, while in the past, I was obsessed with funding rounds, events, news coverage.
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21. Some of my bootstrapped startups:
↳ unicornplatform.com nocode web builder
↳ listingbott.com list on directories
↳ seobotai.com AI Agent for Blog SEO
More about me: johnrush.me
↳ unicornplatform.com nocode web builder
↳ listingbott.com list on directories
↳ seobotai.com AI Agent for Blog SEO
More about me: johnrush.me