Dear SaaStr: What Are Some Common Mistakes Made by Less Successful Entrepreneurs?
Mistakes less successful (but not total failure) entrepreneurs make:
- They can’t control the burn rate. You can slow down time if you raise a bunch of VC money, but you can’t stop it.
- They hide from tougher metrics. High churn, lower-than-hoped margins, low NRR, low CSAT, high burn, etc. The best founders run toward the tougher metrics, and improve them. The rest sort of hide them, or hide from them, or ignore them.
- They settle on mediocre VP and other key hires. We all make hiring mistakes. But the best founders don’t settle when they hire a mediocre VP etc. The rest settle and move on.
A great VP: velocity increases in their area
A good VP: velocity stays constant in their area (still hard)
A mediocre VIP: velocity declines
A bad VP: velocity falls off a cliff within a quarterYou’ll know in a quarter which you just hired
— Jason ✨Be Kind✨ Lemkin 🇮🇱 (@jasonlk) January 10, 2024
- They settle for slower growth. Almost everyone has a tough phase. But the question is: do you fight your way out of it? Or do you sort of accept it?
- They let better-funded competition pass them by. Capital does not always = the winner in a category. Less successful founders use the fact their competitor has raised more as an excuse.
- They let themselves get burnt out. I do have empathy here, but the best founders recruit the help they need so they don’t get truly broken and burnt out.
- They don’t hire a truly great CTO and dev team. Sometimes, in SaaS, you can get decently far with a good-but-not-great engineering lead and team if the CEO can really sell. But it catches up with you. If that’s you, go fix it.
- SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
- PlatoData.Network Vertical Generative Ai. Empower Yourself. Access Here.
- PlatoAiStream. Web3 Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
- PlatoESG. Carbon, CleanTech, Energy, Environment, Solar, Waste Management. Access Here.
- PlatoHealth. Biotech and Clinical Trials Intelligence. Access Here.
- Source: https://www.saastr.com/things-that-separate-the-best-founders-from-the-less-successful-ones/
- :has
- :is
- :not
- $UP
- 10
- 7
- a
- Accept
- All
- almost
- always
- an
- and
- ARE
- AREA
- AS
- Bad
- BEST
- Broken
- Bunch
- burn
- burnt
- but
- by
- CAN
- Can Get
- capital
- Category
- ceo
- Common
- competition
- competitor
- constant
- content
- control
- csat
- CTO
- data
- Dev
- do
- does
- Dont
- down
- embedded
- Empathy
- Engineering
- entrepreneurs
- etc
- everyone
- fact
- Failure
- Falls
- far
- fight
- Fix
- For
- founders
- from
- get
- Go
- good
- great
- Hard
- Have
- help
- here
- Hide
- High
- hire
- Hiring
- HTTPS
- i
- if
- ignore
- improve
- in
- Increases
- IT
- jason
- just
- Key
- Know
- lead
- less
- let
- Low
- made
- make
- margins
- Metrics
- mistakes
- money
- more
- move
- Need
- of
- off
- on
- ones
- or
- Other
- out
- pass
- phase
- plato
- Plato Data Intelligence
- PlatoData
- Quarter
- question
- raise
- raised
- really
- recruit
- REST
- Run
- SaaS
- sell
- separate
- settle
- slow
- slower
- So
- some
- sometimes
- sort
- stays
- Still
- Stop
- successful
- team
- that
- The
- their
- Them
- themselves
- they
- things
- time
- Total
- tough
- toward
- true
- truly
- use
- VC
- VeloCity
- VIP
- vp
- Way..
- we
- What
- when
- which
- winner
- with
- within
- you
- Your
- youtube
- zephyrnet
More from SaaStr
Dear SaaStr: What’s the Ideal Ratio of Equity in a Startup Among Co-Founders?
Source Node: 2000730
Time Stamp: Mar 7, 2023
How To Still Hire a Great VP of Sales Even If You Are Struggling
Source Node: 1966683
Time Stamp: Feb 19, 2023
Be Honest: How Easy Is It To Really Switch to Your App? (Updated) | SaaStr
Source Node: 2286306
Time Stamp: Sep 22, 2023
A Few Types of Senior Hires You’d Think Would Work Out … That Don’t
Source Node: 1952300
Time Stamp: Feb 11, 2023
71% of You Are Doing More Outbound in 2023. Often, A Lot More.
Source Node: 1995856
Time Stamp: Mar 6, 2023
At About $2m in ARR, Every Great Hire Will Be Accretive. | SaaStr
Source Node: 2278267
Time Stamp: Sep 18, 2023
The 3 Financial Plans You Need for Next Year: C-90, C-60 and C-10
Source Node: 1538504
Time Stamp: Nov 15, 2021
What If There Are No Natural Acquirers (For Your Company)?
Source Node: 1883014
Time Stamp: Jan 13, 2022
Dear SaaStr: What Do Most People Not Know About Acqusitions?
Source Node: 1896899
Time Stamp: Jan 14, 2023
You Have to Train Reps 3-100+ They Won’t Train Themselves. (Updated)
Source Node: 1898354
Time Stamp: Jan 15, 2023