You can surf the Internet and find endless articles on why startups fail. Most of these articles focus on finding the right market opportunity and some place undue attention on the “DNA” aspects of getting a startup … well ... up and running. By “DNA,” I’m referring to getting the right team together, infusing a level of agility into the structure and process, and so on. It's definitely important to go after the right market opportunity and invest in great, smart people. But, that's kinda like saying you need to be healthy and on the right course to win a marathon.
I want to talk about an area that deserves its own focused coverage – startup myths. Plenty of myths exist at startups. Ping pong tables and free meals. Unfortunately, those are becoming myths.
Much of what you learned or picked up through years of experience working at large(r) corporations are often rendered useless at most startups. This is a hard pill to swallow for some people. Taking the baggage of conventional thinking into a startup leads to frustration or, worse, lengthy paralysis or inaction.
Let’s breakdown a few of these myths …