I had 28 days to keep my startup from failing. Here’s what happened

Hi, my name is Vladimir Polo. Three years ago, I launched my first startup. We had everything a new company could want: a small team, initial funding, first clients, first partners, conferences, and trips. We happily received our first annual payment. We had traditions and inside jokes. For example, for every bug we found, we charged each other one slice of pizza. We endured stressful situations (One time, our servers went down due to a DDoS attack right as I was boarding a six-hour flight with no wifi).

Overall, it was an exciting but difficult time.

However, as it often turns out for first-time startup founders, after three years, I must admit that my startup didn’t reach the KPIs I’d planned for. Let me be more specific  about the main reasons for my failure:

1. I didn’t focus on one audience

I tried to grow my startup simultaneously in four countries while we were still a small company . We were targeting different audiences, from marketers to agencies and entrepreneurs.

My advice: While you are still small, focus on one target audience.

2. I didn’t choose my co-founders wisely

If you have doubts about your co-founders, don’t go into business with them. Remember, you’ll be spending hundreds and thousands of hours with these people. Think twice.

My advice: Be very wise when choosing your co-founder,  and get your agreements in writing.

3. I didn’t nail one niche

We started developing our first startup without doing any real research. We thought people would need it, so they would buy it. But we didn’t actually do our homework.

My advice: Don’t start development before you’ve spoken to dozens of potential clients and not just your friends.

I didn’t want to back out of this endeavor when I noticed it was failing. Nobody likes to admit that they didn’t reach their goals. No one likes defeat. But all attempts to decrease the customer acquisition cost (CAC) and build a pipeline for my previous startup, Q-page, were not successful. Every day was totally stressful and I felt confused and out of sorts. I even stopped listening to music (except for my favorite band, Pink Floyd).