Permanent link for Why Startups Fail (and what you can do about it) on January 19, 2024

New product and service launches fail for many reasons. When the company is a startup, it's not just the product or service that fails, but the whole company. If you know what to watch out for, though, you can greatly increase your chances of success.

One of the main reasons that founders give is insufficient funding; that they run out of cash. This is often the last problem that a startup faces before shuttering, but it's almost always a symptom of deeper problems.

There have been multiple studies on this, such as this Harvard study, published in 2021, and CB Insights' separate study, also published in 2021. Both studies found that the top reasons for failure include

1. No market need, also described as insufficient customer discovery and demand validation;
2. Not having the right team, generally as a result of lacking industry experience;
3. Poor planning and execution, usually encountered as either over-optimistic plans or as the adoption of strategies that lead to higher cash burn rates than can be absorbed by available funding.

What can you do to bolster your chances of success

1. Study and understand your target customers;
2. Clearly define the problem you are solving for them in terms they have expressed;
3. Validate demand for a solution;
4. Build a founding team with both the right attitudes (the willingness to learn and to work in multiple rolls) and the right experience;
5. Know your financials and plan for sustainable both development and growth.

StartupGrind has more good advice.

Categories: entrepreneurship management
Posted by Thomas Hopper on Permanent link for Why Startups Fail (and what you can do about it) on January 19, 2024.