Thread by @julien

THREAD.

Following up on a smart idea from @andrewchen, here is a good set of answers to "why startups fail," one of the most common startup questions on Quora:

1. Startups fail because the founders are bad.

If you are starting a company and you don't think you're exceptionally suited to solve the problem you're solving, stop. The likely conclusion is death.

Also, if you look around at your co-founders and you're like "meh," STOP NOW.

2. Startups die because they can't reach users. Likely this is caused by

a) users don't exist. Your thesis about the world was wrong. If you're starting to get clear about this, think carefully.

b) users aren't impressed enough.

c) users are too expensive to capture.

3. Your startup is going to die because you can't capture talent. If you look around you and your company isn't filled with people who impress the shit out of you, this may be slowly happening to you. Watch out for it. Stop the entropy.

(Another side of this is if the talent isn't dense enough in the geo you're in, you may need to switch your stress strategy altogether. MOVE. Or GO REMOTE.)

4. The most obvious reason why startups die is that they run out of money. But the real reason for this is that you're delusional.

Often, problems stare you in the face for months. You do nothing about them bc

a) "it's fine"

b) another crisis is taking up your attention.