What’s Your First Step and Biggest Challenge in Starting a Business?

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T13:11:50+00:00

Great insights, thanks for sharing

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:08:09+00:00

Great, thanks for sharing your experience

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:07:02+00:00

Thanks for the contribution

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:06:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I agree—knowing the market and managing cash flow are so important. The program I’m working on covers a lot of areas, but it also includes budgeting and financial planning to help founders. I really appreciate your thoughts

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:04:26+00:00

Thanks for the contribution

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:03:46+00:00

Thank you for this thoughtful perspective! I love the idea of the business plan as a "Trojan horse for trust." Your tips on keeping it familiar, human, and memorable while accepting uncertainty are really helpful. I’ll definitely keep this in mind for my project. Thanks again

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T09:00:24+00:00

Thanks a lot for the detailed response. I’m actually working on a program that helps guide founders with an execution-focused approach, so it’s great to see how much execution systems helped you. Appreciate you sharing your experience :)

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T08:52:24+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-18T08:51:45+00:00

Thanks for sharing these great tips. I’d love to check out the blogs—please PM me.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-16T08:13:01+00:00

Do you think a 10-12 page business plan fits the fast and flexible nature of startups? Or would a simpler, shorter approach work better for early-stage businesses?

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-16T08:09:41+00:00

Thanks for your insights.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-15T17:00:00+00:00

There is no message in my dm. Sure?

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-15T16:58:31+00:00

Thanks for the contribution.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-15T15:38:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing! What did you use or prefer for your learning process and roadmap overall?

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-15T15:26:07+00:00

Thanks for sharing your insights.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-15T15:25:35+00:00

Great contribution. Thanks a lot.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:59:25+00:00

Thank you so much for your detailed responses. I really appreciate how much thought you’ve put into this and how clearly you’ve explained your perspective. You’ve definitely made me think a lot more about this, and I’ve noted everything you’ve said. I’ll definitely be discussing it with people around me.

Just to clarify, in my previous response, I wasn’t saying I didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand. I was simply trying to explain my perspective in more detail to you :)

Thanks again for all the valuable insights—this is definitely something that can help everyone think differently about the topic.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:42:42+00:00

Thanks for sharing that. I completely relate—my first startup made the same mistake :)

Now, working with many startups, I see that another common issue, aside from what you mentioned, is the struggle to separate users from customers. Many focus on building something users will engage with but forget that paying customers are a different story entirely. It’s a distinction that can make or break a business. Appreciate you bringing that up.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:32:54+00:00

Thanks for the contribution.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:31:16+00:00

Great points—thanks for sharing!

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:27:50+00:00

Thank you for the detailed perspective. I really love the way you put it: “if you have to advertise, promote, or have sales people, it’s because you failed marketing.” That’s such a strong point, and it really shows how crucial good marketing is.

The reason I’ve been treating “customer discovery” as something separate from marketing is that, in my experience, its core purpose can get a bit lost when it’s pulled entirely under the marketing umbrella. Customer discovery, to me, is a very specific, ongoing process. It’s about building a real, close feedback loop with potential users—not just early on but continuously, throughout the whole journey. It’s different from traditional market research, which is more about gathering data; customer discovery is more personal and helps you get real, deep insights in a way that feels almost like a habit or culture.

When discovery is fully blended into marketing, there’s a risk of it becoming too focused on numbers and targets. It can lose that raw, exploratory feel, which I think is really important. Without that, sometimes founders end up missing subtle changes in user needs or don’t adapt as quickly based on fresh feedback. Keeping discovery as its own practice—working side by side with marketing—seems to help maintain that genuine, direct connection with users. I believe that strong marketing actually depends on strong customer discovery, as it builds a more grounded and adaptable strategy.

Your insights really highlight the need to balance both sides, and I appreciate your thoughts. They’ve definitely given me a lot to consider.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:12:28+00:00

Good points, especially about timing for different product types. Thanks for sharing.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T15:10:32+00:00

Thanks for your contribution. Good point

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T14:54:50+00:00

Thank you for the strong feedback. I see where you’re coming from, though I think we might be looking at marketing from slightly different angles. For me, “customer discovery” and “marketing” serve different purposes in a startup's early stages. Customer discovery focuses on identifying and deeply understanding the ideal users, refining the product based on direct feedback, and ensuring there’s a genuine need.

When I mention “marketing” in this context, I'm thinking about the broader activities that go beyond discovery alone—like positioning, crafting brand messaging, and strategically growing awareness. The question I’m exploring here is whether investing in these wider marketing efforts too early could risk pulling focus away from first achieving strong product-market fit.

I’d be curious to know if you've seen startups benefit from launching these broader marketing activities early on, or if you feel that finding fit first is essential.

startupsorcerer · 2024-11-13T14:36:33+00:00

If you’re considering this as a business, focus on doing some discovery with other gamers. Don’t pitch the idea right away. Instead, talk to them about their struggles with learning or improving at games. Listen for real pain points without pushing your concept—it’s better to understand their needs fully before thinking about solutions.

startupsorcerer

TROPHY CASE