Starting a startup is hard. This thread will contain some key advice I think are particularly noteworthy:

1. “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” - @paulg The first version of my product was not great, but hey, it worked.

2. Don't build in a vacuum. You should build your product out in the open for the world to see. You will gain valuable feedback from users if you build publicly, and provide insights which ensure you are building a product users truly want. cc @rrhoover @sama
3. As a young founder, a massive weakness is age and the lack of credibility. Developing partnerships, trying to acquire customers. etc have all taken so much longer. In fact, when I mentioned my age, a few investors just walked away. cc @Jason
4. Work on what makes you feel excited. Working on something that you don't believe in will cause you to make rash product decisions, resulting in loss of user loyalty. @fredwilson
5. Take care of yourself. While doing the occasional code sprint can be incredibly useful, working 24/7 and disregarding your health just to build a great product is not a wise choice.
6. Move as fast as you can. As a startup you can build and ship things as fast as you can work, something that doesn't happen with larger companies. Also, the faster you ship, the more motivated your team will be. cc @KatManalac @gustaf
7. Talk to users. Email them for advice, jump on a call with them, or even create a Slack group for your beta. They can give you valuable advice your team cannot provide. cc @mwseibel @Suhail
Startup advice is everywhere on the internet. This thread just contained a few pieces of advice that have particularly resonated with me over the last few months. @sama has a great blog post about startup advice here: https://t.co/Y8XqFzPzvp.

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5 Micro Skills That Will Improve Your Life Drastically

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Even the small things compound over time... and become huge.

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This is the list of small skills that will improve your life A LOT over time, you can't even imagine how much... before you give it a try.

I'll present the skills in form of mini challenges.


1. Type with all ten fingers 10 days - 10 mins in the morning.

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Yet, not many people know how to write with all ten fingers —> drastically faster.

You can learn it for free here:
https://t.co/ow2WTHrXBJ


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Zappier allows you to make micro workflows between the applications you use.

Let's say you have to calendars (work and normal) and you want to sync them all the time —> Zappier


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You want an email notification every time someone edits a Google sheet —> Zappier

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1/“What would need to be true for you to….X”

Why is this the most powerful question you can ask when attempting to reach an agreement with another human being or organization?

A thread, co-written by @deanmbrody:


2/ First, “X” could be lots of things. Examples: What would need to be true for you to

- “Feel it's in our best interest for me to be CMO"
- “Feel that we’re in a good place as a company”
- “Feel that we’re on the same page”
- “Feel that we both got what we wanted from this deal

3/ Normally, we aren’t that direct. Example from startup/VC land:

Founders leave VC meetings thinking that every VC will invest, but they rarely do.

Worse over, the founders don’t know what they need to do in order to be fundable.

4/ So why should you ask the magic Q?

To get clarity.

You want to know where you stand, and what it takes to get what you want in a way that also gets them what they want.

It also holds them (mentally) accountable once the thing they need becomes true.

5/ Staying in the context of soliciting investors, the question is “what would need to be true for you to want to invest (or partner with us on this journey, etc)?”

Multiple responses to this question are likely to deliver a positive result.