Launch Chat

Today's question comes from Tom. What are some things you hate about being a startup founder? What should new founders be aware of to get a real picture of what startup life is like or how the things you hate change as it grows?

Today's question comes from Permal. My co-founder and I are at an impasse. My co-founder thinks we should build our product fully and then seek customers and I think we need customers to sign up before we build it out. What's the best approach?

Today's question comes from Phillip. Would it affect a startup's ability to fundraise or sell the company if a co-founder with substantial equity leaves?

Today's question comes from Bernard. I found a co-founder who has hinted that a 60/40 equity split works for him. However, I will be self-funding the startup and I'm not sure that equity split covers my costs. How should I proceed?

Today's question comes from Lucien. I have a prototype built for a B2C app but I'm trying to decide what my focus should be in the MVP phase. How should I think about the next stages of my business development?

Today's question comes from Miguel. I have a great product in mind but I'm hung up on how I can fund the development in order to bring the product to investors. What do you recommend?

Today's question comes from Kristin. When should you pursue venture capital and when should you avoid it?

Today's question comes from Jim. We're launching a dating app, but our .com domain is taken. What is our next best option?

Today's question comes from Kristoff. I'm working with large manufacturers and I ensure that they sign an NDA. They almost always want me to use theirs, which I do - does this give me any protection?

Today's question comes from Bruce. What are the things I should be looking for when trying to bring on my first co-founder?

Today's question comes from Marcus. I'd like to move to Silicon Valley to build and launch my startup. I have the money to get things started, but do you think I should look for a co-founder in my current location, look for one somewhere else, or move to Silicon Valley to increase my chances of getting things off the ground faster?

Today's question comes from Will. What do you do when you get exciting new ideas when you're already deep into working on another product? How do you prioritize your ideas?

Today's question comes from Michael. What are your thoughts on monetization for social media startups? What should be the primary focus for an early-stage social media startup?

Today's question comes from Neil. How does compensation work in early team formation at a startup? I'm coming in as a partner so I want to make sure my value is compensated appropriately.

We're doing something a little different today. Instead of our normal Q&A, we're going to talk about the top two traits our most successful customers all have in common. And it's probably not what you think.

Today's question comes from an anonymous listener. I am a founder of a startup and I am planning to work 80 hour work weeks, but my co-founders think 40 hour work weeks are enough and if they do work more hours they want to be paid more. What should I do?

Today's question comes from Jim. It's taking me longer to build my app than I planned, and with only about half the features I wanted to build, I'm hesitant to launch. Most of my competitors have more features than I do and I can't seem to find a reason why a customer should use my app instead of my competitor's. What should I do?

Today's question comes from Carlos. What's the best practice for sharing an app with people? It seems like things change all the time, so I'm wondering if there are good examples of apps that make organic sharing easy but not too intrusive?

Today's question comes from an anonymous listener. We've been running our company for five years and we've been given three months to reverse our revenue trend or the money will stop flowing. Could other co-founders take the idea and start a new business? What should an exit strategy be for a technical co-founder?

Today's question comes from Joe. I don't have any marketable skills that would be attractive to a startup. What are skills that you need to work at any startup and how do you market yourself specifically to startups?