

Things we did wrong as a startup - njoglekar
http://neiljoglekar.com/3-things-we-did-wrong

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unreal37
I was hoping for more meat here. These tips seem so vague and generic, its
hard to see how they affected you at all.

For the hiring tip, you say "don't hire friends" and then immediately after
"in some cases it worked out great". Perhaps could use an example of how this
was #1 on your list of 3 worst mistakes.

#2, don't raise money too early. And then you say you actually backed out of
the deal and didn't raise money after all. So this #2 greatest mistake didn't
happen to you but almost did?

I guess things are going so great you are having trouble finding some things
that went wrong?

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pla3rhat3r
Same here. Seemed to be a little light. It was a well intentioned article but
one that could've used more info. A startup is a very complicated animal and
I'm sure there is a much bigger list of things not to do than this. However,
still enjoyed the light reading. :)

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ilamont
_People say you should hire the smartest people you know_

One observation of small teams with smart people: It's easy to get sucked into
lengthy analysis/strategy sessions, which can lead the team down false paths
and inaction on product.

~~~
bcasey
I remember a quote from Tom Preston-Werner that went something like this:
'there are plenty of brilliant people that I would never hire'.

I think the author is basically saying the same thing.

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monsterix
Splendid post Neil. In essence a lot depends on where in the world and how in
life one is.

Paul's essay [1] on 18 mistakes (be known that these may be challenges for
some, not really mistakes) that can kill a start-up discussed these issues
very nicely.

[1] <http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html>

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Offler
Be careful about A/B tests, from what I understand Amazon relies on the
extensively and they have helped it produce its Amazon website.

Enough said.

If you have two choices one bad and another less bad you will chose the less
bad, when instead you may just want to step back and ask is either choice the
correct one.

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eclipxe
This is the strangest warning against A/B tests I've heard. "Be careful
because you might end up producing something that is #1 internet retailer".
The Amazon home page might not be as sexy as the latest whizz-bang startup,
but success doesn't lie.

~~~
hmbg
Thank you. I can't count the times I've tried to explain this to people. The
purpose of amazon's site is not that visitors think it's pretty, or even easy
to use. It's to get you to buy as much as possible. And there's convincing
evidence that it's quite successful in fulfilling that purpose.

Why do supermarkets put the most frequently sold items at the back, when it
would be so much easier for customers if they were right by the entrance?

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herval
In case anyone's interest on more stories, I've been writing some if mine
here: [http://hervalicio.us/post/33446435432/a-post-mortem-of-
post-...](http://hervalicio.us/post/33446435432/a-post-mortem-of-post-mortems)

Three so far, a few more to go...

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2arrs2ells
I love how this post, in addition to having great content, subtly demonstrates
a use case for ReelSurfer.

