Top 10 Startup Tips

These are the Top 10 #ExplosiveGrowthTips for Startups that consistently helped my startup’s apps grow to 1 million users.  You can get all 79 #ExplosiveGrowthTips, including detailed case-studies on the tips below, in my book, Explosive Growth:  A Few Things I Learned Growing To 100 Million Users & Losing $78 Million, which was recently ranked as one of the Best Startup Books Of All-Time.

Tweet or share your favorite Startup Tips @CliffLerner.

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  1. BE AT LEAST 10X BETTER: A marginally better product is worthless. It needs to be at least ten times better. Have you quantified how much better your product’s core offering is than the competition? #startupsClick To Tweet
  2. HIRE FOR CULTURE FIT OVER TALENT: Your first few hires will set the tone for your culture. And your culture will have an outsized impact on your success. Do your co-workers have the same values as you? #startupsClick To Tweet
  3. MOVE FAST AND BREAK THINGS: Facebook’s motto means that you should take lots of chances and focus on getting quick results instead of building the perfect feature. Failing = Learning. Do you have a plan to validate several quickly? #startupsClick To Tweet
  4. GET QUALITY USERS OVER QUANTITY: At first, focus on quality users. Early adopters (true fans) will provide the necessary feedback to improve your product, and also tell their friends. Do you have a plan to get at least 20 fanatical users? #startupsClick To Tweet
  5. KNOW YOUR A-HA MOMENT: Your A-ha moment is the instant a user recognizes the massive value your product delivers to the user. Identifying and then optimizing it is vital to your success. What is your product’s A-ha moment? #startupsClick To Tweet
  6. HAVE A REAL-TIME DASHBOARD: Building products and testing features without robust analytics is like driving blindfolded – it won’t end well. Do you have an effective real-time dashboard with your key metrics? #startupsClick To Tweet
  7. TEST INTEGRATIONS ON PLATFORMS: Many of today’s billion-dollar companies succeeded by growing on top of other platforms. All you need is one value-enhancing integration, and your product will grow explosively Are you testing platform integrations? #startupsClick To Tweet
  8. MAKE SOMETHING REMARKABLE: Being remarkable is not subjective. People are either spreading the word, or your product probably sucks. Don’t waste time and money marketing an ordinary product, you’ll fail. Is your product truly remarkable? #startupsClick To Tweet
  9. FOCUS ON RETENTION, NOT GROWTH: Growth without retention is worthless. However, retention without growth is a problem any entrepreneur should love to have, because it means users love the product (verified by the Net Promoter Score – NPS). Don’t spend money marketing a shitty product. Do you know your NPS and 30-day retention rates? #startupsClick To Tweet
  10. HAVE AWESOME MENTORS: You’ll become the average of the people you spend the most time with. A high-quality inner circle is crucial for success. If you became the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with, will you be OK with that result? #startupsClick To Tweet
  11. FOCUS ON THE ONE GOAL SOLVES MOST OF YOUR PROBLEMS. Be obsessive about achieving it. #startupsClick To Tweet

 Want more #ExplosiveGrowth tips?  Get the Explosive Growth Book  on Amazon or Audiobook


More Resources:
Best Marketing Books
Best Startup Books Of All-Time
Best Growth-Hacking Business Books
Best Books For Startup Entrepreneurs
Explosive Growth Audiobook

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