Post-Mortem (noun): a discussion of an event after it has occurred.
This is where hindsight becomes conventional wisdom. Before writing this I looked for a few examples of other Start-up Post-Mortems to see if there was a particular pattern or commonality in the termination of new ventures. Our friends over at ChubbyBrain did a great job of compiling a list of 25 startup failures in which the founders reflected back on the decisions and regrets. Good read.
So here’s my attempt at a few lessons learned.
Spec before you jump
Back when I decided to take a jump from working for someone else to just myself I had been working on it for a few months with my partners. The concept had been kicked around, we created a logo, got a domain name with accompanying YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts. We had server space ready and available. We just needed to get our website up and going.
Little did I or my partners realize how much that would take to complete. Some of that had to do with our team being semi virtual and the rest had to do with my limited experience of development. I had been spoiled working at a company in which a small, talented team could dedicate their full attention to a quick turnaround.
Read more: Brain huddle
This is where hindsight becomes conventional wisdom. Before writing this I looked for a few examples of other Start-up Post-Mortems to see if there was a particular pattern or commonality in the termination of new ventures. Our friends over at ChubbyBrain did a great job of compiling a list of 25 startup failures in which the founders reflected back on the decisions and regrets. Good read.
So here’s my attempt at a few lessons learned.
Spec before you jump
Back when I decided to take a jump from working for someone else to just myself I had been working on it for a few months with my partners. The concept had been kicked around, we created a logo, got a domain name with accompanying YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts. We had server space ready and available. We just needed to get our website up and going.
Little did I or my partners realize how much that would take to complete. Some of that had to do with our team being semi virtual and the rest had to do with my limited experience of development. I had been spoiled working at a company in which a small, talented team could dedicate their full attention to a quick turnaround.
Read more: Brain huddle