failure Archives - Startup Economist

Seeking Better Startup Founder Agreements

Monday, 28 October 2024 by Paul O'Brien

Ever see a pie chart like this, or can you at least envision one, wherein a partner of yours (or God-forbid, you), expect a majority control of a startup? I get asked all the time, about how to handle retaining control when it was my idea or how to deal with a cofounder who wants

Published in Insights / Research, Startups

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A Competition Slide that Closes Capital

Wednesday, 25 November 2020 by Paul O'Brien

I was asked recently if Facebook and Google are competitors, and the question being asked, struck me with as much alarm as hearing a startup founder say they don’t have competitors. What most frequently gives an investor pause is a slide in a pitch deck that communicates that you’re not paying attention to your market and

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Published in Raising Capital

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How, not just Why, Startups Fail

Friday, 06 April 2018 by Paul O'Brien

Article after article, study after study, offers Buzzfeed style insight to why startups fail. It’s such a popular and frequently recurring tweet that I’ve started chewing on WHY the question of why keeps coming up. As founders, perhaps we’re asking the wrong question and shouldn’t be seeking to know why but rather how (or, how

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Published in Featured, Insights / Research, Startups

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Why Startups Fail – Bosses vs. Founders

Monday, 19 January 2015 by Paul O'Brien

Almost every list of reasons startups fail, point out near the top that they run out of capital. Lists created by founders abound and it’s not unreasonable to conclude that they’ll cite that they ran out money. It’s not wrong, startups most often succeed through perseverance, tenacity, and patience, but I’m intrigued by what you probably

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Published in Insights / Research, Startups

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