Why a Competitive Analysis is a First Step as a Founder

There is a trick to entrepreneurship, to starting a venture, that no one really ever talks about. Not sure why they don’t talk about it… perhaps because they don’t understand how to do it… perhaps because everyone is selling something… perhaps because they’ve hired help and it sucked… regardless, I’m going to let you in a little secret about building a successful startup; the trick is…

Don’t fail.

There are so many articles about the fact that 90% of startups fail (I bolded that in case you haven’t heard it enough yet and still didn’t know), that it’s personally aggravating as I get grayer and become that grumpy get-off-my-lawn old man, that there is still all this encouragement to be an entrepreneur and almost no one is writing about, talking about, nor teaching just how to NOT FAIL.

There are even websites dedicated to failed startups!

So here’s the bottom line reality about being an entrepreneur or founder of a startup.

You are going to fail.

Seriously, there is no more sure bet in the world. Think about it… on what else can you possibly actually gamble where you know the likelihood of winning is only 10%??