Has anyone started multiple startups at the same time?

Sergey Voynov
16 replies
Are you still alive? :)

Replies

Tarek Khalil
I kind of did/do, both are in the same field and solving the same problem but for different audiences. Yes, it is hard as advertised 😅 Chances of survival are more likely to be better if it is just one but sometimes it is a must, at least in our case.
Tarek Khalil
@julia_demyanchuk Thanks! I'd say so. We are bootstrapped, and we have a team of 6 full-time now including myself. Definitely a tough journey so far, but we got (and are getting) lucky!
Julia Doronina
@cmdkhalilov wow, you're a hero! And what results do you have for both your products? Are they both succesful?
Julia Doronina
@cmdkhalilov Good luck with your journey and I wish you great results!
Sergey Voynov
@cmdkhalilov I will take an example from you! I'm already on the one-step from a breakdown. So I thought, but what about the other founders :)
Tarek Khalil
@sergey_voynov Go for it man and best, best of luck to you!
Ruben Wolff
Most of the founders I interviewed told me it was a bad idea, but some did and managed to make it without burning out (others did not)
Sergey Voynov
@rubenwolff As one person told me, switching between projects is a great way to procrastinate :)
Ruben Wolff
@sergey_voynov hahaha that's a great way of explaining the issue of working on multiple projects at the same time
Imran Razak
I wouldn't. Focus on one thing and solve peoples problems by making something they want. Otherwise you'll be all over the place.
Sergey Voynov
@imran_razak What then to do with a new good idea, if it comes to mind?
Imran Razak
@sergey_voynov Well say no. The first rule would be to be committed to the problem because 1. You have the problem yourself and 2. Because you understand the problem really well (as in you will or Have started, but usually if the idea is really good you would've jumped right into learning everything you can). Then stay focused on releasing the Minimal experience possible for whatever it is and keep speaking to your community and keep iterating. If you have new ideas (which you will) do two things (1.Does it help the current vision of the startup? if yes, add it into the roadmap and get loads of user feedback on it by implementing the smallest experience you can of it to get the validation you need and the iterations you need for the problems your users have and 2. If it doesn't help then dump the idea, because not all ideas are worth chasing. I'd go as far as saying that Unless you have managed to solve peoples problems with your first solution (including through the hard work of repetitive iterations etc) then you should consider some learnings from your startup and focus on solving that problem identified. So stay laser focused. Amazon went from Books to CDs but stayed with books first, Apple stayed with Macs many many years before introducing another product line category... Just stay laser focused and solve the problems you have set out to do. Nothing else remotely matters. Don't jumble up ideas (snowballing them) or try to get unfocused by new ideas.
Sergey Voynov
@imran_razak Imran, thanks for the detailed answer!
Pallavi Jaisinghani
OGenie.app & GenieTalk.ai Both are founded by the same people working on artificial intelligence but OGenie is completely dedicated to travel booking & GenieTalk.ai provides AI-based solutions (chatbots & voicebots). They are also working on another startup dedicated to cryptocurrency.