10. Align your expectations Finally, it’s all about aligning your expectations. The interesting thing about startup is not you can get to work on something that really interests you. You can achieve the same thing by doing any old hobbies, or simply lying on a couch. The really exciting thing about startup from a business…

9. Find partners, not enemies Another common issue among startups. Because everyone believe their ideas are so unique, inevitably they have this ‘me against the world’ mindset gradually ingrained in their thinking. No, you need partners. Even Google, Facebook and Apple need partners. If you look at the left side of the business model canvas,…

8. Sell, sell, sell Because this is so important, we have to make this point again. Too many startups focus on building what they like to build but forget (or unwilling) to sell. That’s really one of the biggest problems with startups. There is no one really to push you to do what you don’t…

7. Figure out what you are trying to do Yes, it’s really up to this point you will have a clearer picture of what you are really trying to achieve. A lot of people get confused and believe by building an app, they are in the technology business. No! Building an app is getting simpler…

6. Update yourself This seems similar to the previous point but this is so important it needs to be a separate one.  You have to have a learn and adapt habit: for yourself and therefore for your startup. The startup world is changing very quickly. One year, something is hot and now it is not. One season,…

5. Learn As you slowly grow into the field, similar to any other industry, you will get exposed to all these crazy lingo and acronyms. Business model/lean canvas, content marketing, pre-money, term sheets, SEO, SEM, CTR, GMV, MVP – you get the idea. But don’t worry, there are a lot of free resources on the…

4. Join the startup community There are many of these events these days. Startup weekend™, many incubation or accelerator programs, co-working space functions, government, university or local community backed events. Join them. If you are lucky, you may win and get some ‘pat on the back’ monetary rewards. But much more importantly, you will get…