I’ve been doing startup advisory for a long while now. Over that time, I’ve noticed a lot of common founder behaviors that really hurt their companies. Here are just a few…
1. Lack of quality, consistent action over time
Some combination of: They jump from idea to idea. They burn out quickly. They waste time on stuff that doesn’t matter. They don’t follow up. They don’t finish what they start. They don’t adjust and adapt quickly enough.
2. Small business syndrome
They say they’re running a startup; but they are actually making decisions like it’s a small business. Race to revenue. Not raising capital. Not raising enough capital. Partnering with incumbents. Etc
3. Lack of experience
They don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what the right steps are or what great work product and outcomes look like. They are lost on the next steps or the best way to execute but they’re not asking for help from the right people.
4. Too focused on strategy
They spend too much time on strategy. They keep re-writing it and imagining a huge future. But they don’t pay attention to the details or understand how important the day-to-day details are. They think once the strategy is done then the rest is just busy work that doesn’t require constant strategic oversight and high-quality management.
5. Too focused on tactics
They spend too much time on tactics. They get uncomfortable when asked to take a step back and figure out the big picture. They don’t understand the value of saying no. They don’t take responsibility for providing a strategy that creates clarity and context for their team.
6. Not focused enough
They change their mind all the time. Every new customer, opportunity or thought can derail their strategy and even the tactic they’re in the middle of executing. They fail to create a stable space inside which their team can do high-quality work.
Sometimes this comes from too much conviction about the cleverness of their own ideas. Sometimes it comes from bad advice they’re getting from scared/small minded people around them.