My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring Founders

Summary

In this video, entrepreneur Ash Moria shares his top 10 tips for aspiring startup founders. He emphasizes the importance of starting now, designing a clear business model, and taking the right actions at the right time. Moria advises founders to focus on understanding the problem before building a solution and to test the market by selling before building. He stresses the value of setting 90-day cycles to validate ideas and highlights the importance of traction, learning from failures, and being ruthless with ideas. Ultimately, he encourages founders to take the leap and start, regardless of imperfect circumstances.

Takeaways

• 😀 Starting a startup is an incredibly rewarding decision, offering learning, growth, and freedom, but it can be daunting.
• 😀 Today, there’s no better time to start a business due to the availability of free or low-cost resources like AI, remote work, and the internet.
• 😀 Design a business model blueprint before developing your product to ensure your idea is viable and solves a significant problem.
• 😀 Practice 'right action, right time' by focusing on the most critical activities that reduce risk and uncertainty early in your startup journey.
• 😀 Fall in love with the problem you're solving, not the solution. Understanding the problem deeply will lead to the right solution.
• 😀 Always sell your product idea before building it. Test customer interest and secure tangible commitments like pre-orders to validate your idea.
• 😀 Set a 90-day time box to test your idea with a demo-sell-build process. This short cycle maintains urgency and helps you assess the demand.
• 😀 Traction is key. It demonstrates that people beyond yourself are interested in your idea and serves as evidence of your startup's potential.
• 😀 Replace failing with learning. Use every failure or unexpected outcome as a learning opportunity to adjust and refine your business model.
• 😀 Have faith in yourself, but be ruthless with your ideas. Don’t tie your identity to any one idea, and pivot when necessary to find what works.
• 😀 Just start. Don’t wait for the perfect idea or circumstances; learn by doing and iterating. The market and technology are always evolving.

Q & A

What is the key reason why now is a great time to start a business?

The current era is referred to as the 'global entrepreneurial Renaissance' because technology, globalization, and AI tools have drastically reduced the costs and barriers traditionally associated with starting a business, making it easier to build a company from anywhere.

Why is designing a business model blueprint crucial before product development?

A business model blueprint helps ensure that the idea isn't just a product but a viable business. It forces clarity, helps identify risks, and ensures the product addresses a significant problem people care about before any investment in development.

What does 'right action, right time' mean for entrepreneurs?

It means focusing on the few key actions that will reduce risk and uncertainty at the earliest stages of a startup, rather than rushing into tasks like logo design or tech stack choices before confirming there's customer demand.

Why is it important for founders to 'love the problem and not the solution'?

Falling in love with the problem ensures that the solution developed addresses a real need, rather than forcing a solution onto a problem that might not exist. Understanding the problem deeply allows for a better, more relevant solution.

What does 'sell before you build' mean, and why is it important?

'Sell before you build' encourages founders to test customer interest by demonstrating a product concept or prototype before fully developing it. This validates demand and ensures you're not building something that won't sell.

Why is setting a 90-day time box crucial for a startup?

A 90-day cycle is long enough to test ideas, build demos, and gather real customer feedback, while still maintaining urgency. It's short enough to keep momentum and helps founders decide whether to continue or pivot.

What does traction mean for a startup, and why is it important?

Traction refers to evidence that customers (beyond the founder’s immediate circle) care about the product. It validates the idea, builds confidence, and helps attract customers, advisors, and even early co-founders.

How should founders handle failure or setbacks in their startup journey?

Founders should view failure as a learning opportunity. Rather than pivoting too quickly, they should analyze the reasons behind setbacks to gain insights that guide future decisions and improve the chances of success.

What is the importance of having faith in yourself but being ruthless with your ideas?

Having faith in yourself means believing you can succeed eventually, but being ruthless with your ideas means letting go of what doesn't work. It involves being willing to pivot or abandon ideas that aren’t gaining traction.

Why is starting a business now better than waiting for the perfect idea or timing?

The perfect idea or timing rarely exists. Startups evolve over time, and waiting for the ideal moment often leads to missed opportunities. The best way to learn and grow is to start now and adapt as you go.