28: The No.1 Reason Startups Fail and How to Avoid It with Dr. Georgios Christou

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In this episode, you'll learn the top mistakes founder engineers make when starting a business, why early technical decisions can have long-term business consequences, how to choose co-founders with complementary strengths, the importance of understanding business fundamentals as a technical founder, and strategies for picking the right tech stack for your startup's needs.

Dr. Georgios Christou graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a dual degree in Cognitive Science and Computer Science, he also has a Master’s and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Tufts University. Since 2003, he has worked at Cyprus College and holds the rank of Associate Professor. Dr. Christou founded and was the director of the Games Research Center of European University Cyprus, through which a computer game development start-up company emerged. Dr. Christou was also the coordinator of perhaps the only Microsoft-branded degree in the world, Microsoft's Bachelor in Information Systems.

Dr. Christou moved to the Cyprus International Institute of Management where he held a dual role, as the Chair Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Chief Technology Officer of eCREDO Ltd., a Fintech company in Cyprus. He was responsible for the Technology strategy of the company. Currently, Dr. Christou is a freelance consultant for Fintech companies.

Dr. Christou has many publications in scientific journals, as well as presentations at international conferences. His research examines the ways that video games can serve as social “third-places” and how this can be designed. He also examines the nature of player experience, the motivations that pull us towards playing video games, and the ways that we interact with them, as novices and as experienced players. The insights into these behaviours have been used towards creating entertaining e-Health experiences as well as novel interactions, such as playing video games through brain-computer interfaces.

Timestamps:

[04:06] Combining academia and industry experience

[05:26] The challenges of a failed startup

[07:04] Importance of product velocity

[08:26] Creating early income streams

[10:11] Choosing better co-founders

[12:20] Balancing communication styles

[13:46] Complementary knowledge in co-founders

[15:22] Common mistakes in startup presentations

[17:37] Learning from startup competition feedback

[19:29] Lessons from Amazon's business strategy

[21:00] The impact of early tech choices

[22:36] Matching the tech stack to the niche

[23:38] Overhauling poorly chosen technologies

[26:08] Planning for long-term scalability

[27:31] Managing decision-making complexity

[28:26] Avoiding the sunk cost fallacy

[30:01] The importance of asking the right questions

[33:09] Flexibility in choosing tech stacks

[34:40] Parallel tech stacks for different domains

[35:37] Learning the business side of startups

Follow Dr. Georgios Christou on LinkedIn to learn more.

Resources Mentioned:

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber | Book or Audiobook

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