Startups For the Rest of Us Episode 800 | The 12 Commandments of Startups for the Rest of Us
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Sep 30, 2025 Dive into the 12 essential commandments for successful startups. Discover why nuance beats absolutes and the importance of making decisions with limited information. Learn to avoid common pitfalls and validate your ideas before building. Rob emphasizes that marketing often trumps the product and highlights the value of fewer, high-quality customers. Building a strong network is crucial, and recognizing that overnight success usually takes years is key. Finally, understand that the toughest challenges are often mental, reminding us to prioritize our well-being.
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Nuance Over Absolutes
- Nuance beats absolutes; most startup rules are rules-of-thumb rather than iron laws.
- Thinking in spectrums improves decisions more than rigid binaries.
Decide With Incomplete Data
- Learn to make hard decisions with incomplete information and update as you learn.
- Use Bayesian updates: gather data, decide, then course-correct quickly.
Avoid Classic Startup Traps
- Avoid classic traps like bootstrapping two-sided marketplaces or B2C when you lack one side or scale.
- Don't translate, launch portfolios, or chase side projects with outside funding too early.
