Thirty-six lessons. Most founders learn them the hard way.
- Your first company probably won't succeed. That's fine.
- Pick co-founders carefully; most startups fail here.
- Talk to customers more than you want to.
- Build in public.
- Money isn't the scoreboard.
- Hire slowly; fire quickly.
- Default to "no" on new commitments.
- Deep work, protected, daily.
- Sleep isn't optional.
- Exercise isn't optional.
- Relationships outlast companies.
- Take real vacations.
- Don't confuse activity with progress.
- Growth hacking without fundamentals is theatre.
- Culture eats strategy.
- Your team reflects your behaviour.
- Admit when you're wrong, quickly.
- Learn to say "I don't know."
- Read outside your industry.
- Walk during hard decisions.
- Write thinking down.
- Meditate, even briefly.
- Don't optimise everything.
- Your spouse is the real CEO of the family.
- Children don't care about your valuation.
- Health debt compounds worse than financial debt.
- "No" protects "yes."
- Optimism without skepticism is naive; skepticism without optimism is paralysis.
- Compound interest works on skills too.
- Friendship requires maintenance.
- The board is not your friend.
- Fundraising is not the goal.
- Product-market fit is felt, not calculated.
- Most advice is wrong for your context.
- Trust your gut after filling it with data.
- Ten years from now, what will have mattered?
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