Everything I wish I knew before becoming a founder

I wrote a list of all the things I learnt by becoming a first-time founder and leaving a role in big tech. It’s more than I had when I started, so I hope it finds you at the right time:

Here we go:

• Getting going: Make sure you have a clear reason and those in your life are on same page. It is consuming!

• Unfair advantage: Founders aren’t special, they just optimize to what makes them different (becomes important when raising too). It can be as simple as "worked in big company, saw firsthand the XXX problem"

• Getting started isn’t easy: Make sure you consider the financial impact if leaving a job to get going Consider 12-18 months of no revenue or funding and if you can manage that

• Full-time or nothing: You can’t do both a job and a startup. Investors won’t back part-time conviction

• The pitch doc: Forces clarity, the problem, the customer, the market, and why you should solve it

• Raising money: Start with belief and momentum. An idea, a plan, and an MVP are enough to find your first backers

• Accelerators: Early programs like YC or Techstars can help refine your product and give you fuel to move faster. I have a longer list of Accelerators in case anyone needs it...?

• Foundations: Lock down your domain, name, trademarks, and structure early - future you will thank you

• Advisors: Find people who open doors and offer perspective, not control, ideally top % in their domain

• SaaS reality: You’ll spend more on tools than you expect, it’s part of building

• Building: Nothing’s real until users touch it. Ship early, get feedback, iterate. It was extremely painful to hear users complain about our early bugs, but without that, we wouldn't be more reliable now...

• Co-founder: Pick someone with complementary skills and shared energy. You’ll need each other

• Runway: Track every cost. I have a spreadsheet with every single one, also helps with tax reporting. Burn awareness is survival

• Energy: In a startup, you are the momentum. Working Saturday isn’t “working Saturday”, it’s pushing your dream forward

• Loved ones: Communicate early. The work will consume you; don’t let it quietly consume them too

• Attention: Building is one thing. Getting noticed is harder. You’ll code-switch between product, marketing, finance, and sanity

• What if you fail: Most startups do. But you’ll come out sharper, braver, and more ready than ever

Still debate often if the ride is worth it, today it feels like it is :-)

Am I missing anything?