One Order of Operations for Starting a Startup

Seibel recommends beginning with a problem you care about, then judging how often it occurs and how painful it is. He contrasts a mother’s occasional difficulty finding stroller-friendly routes with affordable child care, a more frequent and intense problem in her life. Problems from work can be useful starting points too.

Treat an initial solution as a hypothesis to test, rather than an answer you need to get right upfront. Seibel advises discussing the problem with people whose judgment you respect, especially potential co-founders, and noticing whether they build on each other’s ideas. Developing an idea together can also give the group a sense of ownership.

Seibel says to work together on the simplest version of the product, which could even be an Excel spreadsheet. He recommends trying to get one or two customers before focusing on incorporation or fundraising. That early work can test how well the team works together, build excitement, and make the company more compelling to investors.

Seibel identifies pitching investors with only an idea and proceeding without anyone able to build as two common failed paths. He argues that a deck alone is less persuasive when teams can build and reach users more easily than in the 1990s. Outsourcing can also consume savings through repeated revisions before the founders have learned what customers need; a technical co-founder may be a cheaper route.