From spark to scale.
Eight steps. No fluff. The framework I wish someone had handed me before I founded my first company.
- 01
Find the real problem
Stop falling in love with solutions. Spend two weeks interviewing 25 people in your target segment. Write down the exact words they use about their pain. Your idea is a hypothesis until then.
- 02
Define the wedge
Pick the narrowest, most acute slice of the market you can credibly win in 12 months. A wedge beats a vision in year one. Vision earns the right to a wedge — not the other way around.
- 03
Build the smallest thing that proves it
Your MVP isn't a feature list. It's the smallest experiment that yields a clear yes/no on the riskiest assumption. If you can't articulate the assumption, you can't build the MVP.
- 04
Get to first ten customers
Sell it yourself. Don't hire sales. Don't run ads. The texture of those first ten conversations is the single most valuable data you'll ever collect. Document every objection.
- 05
Find your unit economics
Before raising a round, know your CAC, payback period, gross margin, and retention curves cold. Investors back founders who can answer 'how does this become a great business' in three sentences.
- 06
Build the team
Hire for slope, not intercept. First ten hires set the cultural DNA — and 80% of your problems will come from misalignment, not capability. Reference checks beat interviews.
- 07
Raise on your terms
Raise when the marginal dollar produces a step-change, not when your runway is shrinking. The best round is the one you didn't need. Optimize for partner, not valuation.
- 08
Scale without losing the plot
What got you to $1M ARR will kill you at $10M. Re-found the company every 12 months: revisit positioning, ICP, org design, and your own role. Stay close to the customer or you'll drift.
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