Based on Paul Graham's legendary 2006 post "18 mistakes that kill startups", this overview of 18 mistakes and personal lessons learned in my own startup experience takes founders through each mistake with examples, war stories, and suggestions on how not to make the same mistakes in the same way.

1. Max Gurvits
CCC Startups

2. @MxGur

3. Do you know who this is?

4. Paul Graham, founder of YC
http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html

6. Every successful entrepreneur does
THREE things right
• Hires best people, usually smarter than
themselves
• Works harder than everyone else
• Is vulnerable
Why co-founders are important?

7. You know these guys

8. How about these?

9. And these?

10. You have to sell to someone first

12. GEOGRAPHY is VERY important

14. Wow, no one is doing this
except us!!

15. Seriously!

16. No competition = NO DEMAND

18. Don’t get featuritis

21. How to find mentors to learn from?

22. Figure Out Who is Who

23. Build relationships

25. Don’t hire these guys

26. Actually, don’t hire anyone at all.
Get a tech co-founder

30. Everyone needs to iterate

31. Measure week by week, month by
month

33. Actually, you don’t need to launch
at all!

35. Always research your user’s needs

36. Great resource for this:

38. You probably need $$ from investors

39. Do you know what an ELEVATOR
PITCH is?

40. Persuade someone to TAKE
ACTION in 30 seconds

41. This is
ALL you
need to
be able
to do

42. Remember, the point of the PITCH is
to get a MEETING

43. In the MEETING, you tell the FULL
story

58. My first office (oops)

59. You can always be more LEAN

61. This is what happens

62. Ever heard of Clinkle?

63. Or Color?

65. The Investor’s Decision Process

66. The PERFECT Entrepreneur passes
all 4 with flying colors

68. Learn to say no to possible
clients, don’t become this guy

70. Learning entrepreneurship is like

71. It is EXPERIENTIAL

72. My favorite quote on
entrepreneurship

74. Remember the movie?

75. ALWAYS know your numbers

78. Overcoming your weaknesses

79. BULGARIA – Emailio (YC)

80. SERBIA– VetCloud (Techstars)

81. Croatia – Farmeron (500)

82. BULGARIA–
MammothDB (3TS)

83. max@cccstartups.com
@MxGur
@CCCStartups
Thank you!
Max Gurvits
CCC Startups