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6 Traps to Avoid When Building a Startup
Dave White
December 04, 2024
6 Traps to Avoid When Building a Startup
The 6 Traps
📙 10 Traps Founders Should Avoid When Building…
đź“™ The 5 Deadly Innovation Traps and How to Avoid Them
And, How to Avoid Them
đź“™ 6 traps startups fall into and how to avoid them
3 Quick Tips - You Need a Mentor
đź“™ Why you should get a startup mentor
đź“™ Recommended Reading:
8 Corporate Traps That Startups Always Fall Into
Parting Thought
 From this… |  To this! |
“Done is better than perfect.”
Be Aware of These Traps
📙 Report: “10 Traps Founders Should Avoid When Building Early Stage Startup Teams” - By HCG Hagberg Consulting Group
1 Poor and rushed hiring decisions 2 Neglecting company culture, values, and team chemistry 3 Not focussing enough on customers and user feedback 4 Poor conflict management as your team grows 5 Scaling and hiring too quickly or at too high a level 6 Prioritizing short-term goals too often over long-term planning |  |
And, How To Avoid Them
1 Hiring:
Have a written staffing plan that looks 3 to 12 months out
Avoid hiring too high - do you really need that CTO of VP - or do you need hands-on workers?
Develop thorough interview processes including tests, challenges and samples
2 Company culture, values and team chemistry
Keep these factors in the foreground as you grow and ensure all new members are a fit
Develop your interview process to incorporate these factors
Do not hire people that do not fit
3 Focus on customers
Integrate real customer feedback into development processes from the start
Get in front of perspective customers often
Hire people that are proven to be customer-centric
4 Conflict management
Develop methodologies within the team for productive disagreement and resolution
Keep an eye out for nonproductive conflict and address it right away, do not let it fester
5 Scaling and hiring too quickly
Focus on growth with the resources you have if finances are tight
Expand skill sets within the team through training and role expansion
Expand capability through contractors, part-time, and overseas resources
6 Short-term goals versus long-term planning
Keep long-term strategy visible and communicate it to all team members
Crate an environment of openness that allows team members to challenge short-term and long-term decision making
Develop mentors that will help balance decision making
📙 Report: “6 traps startups fall into and how to avoid them” - By Candice Georgiadis for Fast Company
As A Startup Leader You Need Mentors
The right mentors
Help avoid traps and pitfalls before they happen
Gain perspective and obtain objective and unbiased (hard to hear) feedback
Build a trusted and expanded network of investors, potential partners, experts, customers, and potential tram members for the future.
Bonus Tip: Provide emotional support and be a confidential sounding board
📙 Report: “Why you should get a startup mentor”
By stone and CHALK
đź“™ Recommended Reading
By Joe Procopio for Inc.
Parting Thought
“When you’re surrounded by people who share a passionate commitment around a common purpose, anything is possible.”
You Can Help
Simply reply to this email and let me know what you think. What would you like to see in upcoming issues? Your feedback is appreciated. Dave
👉 Know someone?
Pass this along and they will receive my new ebook “Hiring Success for Early-Stage Startups” when they subscribe.
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