advice Archives - Startup Economist

The Unfair Advantage: 10 Books Every Founder Needs Because Marketing, Teams, and Persuasion Matter Most

Monday, 18 November 2024 by Paul O'Brien

Success in startups, initial funding, and traction, don’t come from ideas and MVPs — it’s built on the pillars of marketing, team-building, and persuasion. These three areas consistently prove to be the leading causes of success — or failure — for founders. Yet, despite the endless lists of “must-read” startup books, founders continue to stumble

Published in Startups

5 Comments

Startups Solving Founders’ Problems are Failing

Monday, 30 September 2024 by Paul O'Brien

Here’s a problem that you might address as a startup founder: other startup founders struggle to find problems to take on, to come up with ideas to address, and to expose issues in industries, so that they might launch a successful venture presenting a solution to that problem. How do I know this is a

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Published in Industry, Insights / Research, Startups

25 Comments

“I have an Idea but lack Experience or Startup Capital…”

Monday, 09 September 2024 by Paul O'Brien

This is one of those frequently heard statements that helps a startup ecosystem recognize that gaps remain. Last week, I pushed founders and economists to recognize the distinction between innovation and technology (between startups and businesses), and from that, I was asked for advice too frequently asked, “How can I capitalize on an app idea

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Published in Raising Capital, Startups

27 Comments

Founders, VCs Might Not Like My Sharing This, But They Should

Thursday, 21 September 2023 by Paul O'Brien

One of the more challenging skills to help develop in a founder, is being able to discern b.s. from experienced and valid advice. As you might imagine (and I hope you can relate from the all too prolific frequency with which this happens), it’s particularly difficult to know how to put questions back on a

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

13 Comments

Startup Founders, a Good Idea Solves a Problem, A Great Idea Creates Value

Thursday, 29 June 2023 by Paul O'Brien

We have a huge problem in the startup ecosystem; that’s that most founders have been misled by a lot of people to think in terms of Problem / Solution. That a solution to a problem is what matters foremost in a startup. And that has led to the notion that validation is a simple matter

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

27 Comments

25 Startup Lessons from Serial Startup Executives

Friday, 29 January 2016 by Paul O'Brien

Advice about startups is prolific as grains of sand on a beach. Heck, here I am, sharing advice and implying I have the answers. In truth though, classically trained and experienced as a marketer, I hope I also convey more than most that there are no answers, only insight, opportunity, experience, and potential. Everyone wants

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

9 Comments

Startup Advisors vs. Mentors

Tuesday, 01 July 2014 by Paul O'Brien

Words tossed about so frequently in startup communities, it is easy to conclude they mean the same thing; that it doesn’t matter what such people are called, as long as you have some, you’re in good shape. But is that really so? Over the years, I’ve come to notice that startup communities collect mentors as though they are

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Published in Startups

18 Comments