Chapters

Launch Now

Launching is not a reward for finishing. It's the fastest way to find out what you actually need to build.

Do Things That Don't Scale

Every startup's early growth comes from something manual, unglamorous, and temporary. Do that thing on purpose.

Write Code, Talk to Users

The two activities that actually move a pre-PMF startup forward. Everything else is a distraction dressed up as work.

Find the 90/10 Solution

Solve 90% of the customer's problem with 10% of the effort a 'complete' solution would take — then ship it.

10-100 Customers Who Love You

It's better to have a small number of people who would be devastated to lose you than a large number who are lukewarm.

Growth Follows Product, Not the Other Way Around

Growth is the result of building something people want — not a marketing problem to solve before the product is ready.

Fundraising Hygiene

Raising money is not the goal, and it's not your money once you have it. Run the process cleanly and spend the cash like it belongs to someone else — because it does.

Founder Sanity & Being Nice

Most startups don't die from a bad idea. They die from a demoralized founder, a broken founder relationship, or a body that stopped cooperating.