Introducing Startup Mistakes

TL;DR

I built a deep-tech startup from scratch. Coming from a tech background with no formal business training or any knowledge about running a company, I made a ton of mistakes and learned many startup lessons the hard way. I started Startup Mistakes to share what I learned with other founders so that they wouldn't have to make the same mistakes I did.

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How It All Started

On a bright and sunny day in Singapore in May 2016, after months of procrastination, I finally had to make a tough decision. I had just finished my PhD at the National University of Singapore and needed to decide what I wanted to do next.

On the one hand, I had a very attractive opportunity to join Microsoft as a Software Engineer at their headquarters in Seattle, USA. The offer included a salary that would provide for a very cushy life, a complete relocation package for my entire family, and many other benefits.

On the other hand, I was offered entry into the inaugural Singapore batch of UK-based Entrepreneur First's 6-month startup programme that helps founders start startup companies from scratch.

The choice was tough. The former provided a lucrative opportunity to work at one of the world's most iconic firms, which I have looked up to ever since I got my first computer. The latter provided an exciting and a could-be-life-changing opportunity to start my own company, be my own boss, and bestow the world with a brand-new tech company.

I chose the latter.

My parents thought I had gone crazy. They tried to change my mind, but that didn't work. So, they asked my sister to do it, but that didn't work either. Finally, they tried their luck with my wife, Dili, which also didn't work as Dili supported my decision without the tiniest of reservations. So, finally, my parents got on board and wished me luck.

Enter Ackcio

Startups are ridiculously romanticised. Only a few companies become highly successful, and most die along the way. However, if a startup succeeds, it often provides life-changing outcomes to the founders and employees and handsome returns to its investors. So, although the odds are heavily stacked against founders, we take a deep breath, jump right into the deep end, and try not to drown.

After entering the Entrepreneur First EFSG1 programme, I founded Ackcio with my co-founder, Mobashir. (I will write about how we came up with the idea and Ackcio's birth story in a separate post.)

Mobashir and me at our very first Ackcio office - a single desk

Little did I know what I was getting into. Startups are incredibly exciting but extremely stressful at the same time (luckily, I have no more hair left to lose!). They involve so much hard work. Reid Hoffman equates startups to jumping off a cliff and assembling a plane on the way down, and I agree entirely with him.

Ackcio is no different. Mobashir and I collected some plane parts, said a few prayers, and jumped off the cliff. Seven years later, we are still assembling and flying our plane, but fortunately, we didn't crash. The same can't be said about many other planes assembled and flying beside us. Their debris is all around us.

Why I Started Startup Mistakes

Although we managed to get our plane to fly, we made many mistakes along the way. We got the wrong parts, didn't get enough parts, chose poor parts, hired the wrong mechanics, and the list goes on. If we can return to the clifftop, we can do a 10x better job assembling the plane and even making it a rocket aimed straight for outer space.

Most startups begin with really good ideas. It's poor execution that kills them. That's why Reid Hoffman's analogy is quite apt. Putting together a plane is quite detail-oriented, and worse, many founders might not have prior plane assembly experience. So any mistakes made would bring the plane crashing down.

Enough with the analogies.

There is a lot of startup-building advice out there, but not much on operational-level issues that founders encounter. So, I thought of writing these down to benefit other founders who have taken a leap of faith and need all the help they can get.

The mistakes I will write about will include (in no particular order):

• Product idea validation

• Fundraising

• Managing investor relations

• Finding advisors

• Hiring and retaining talent

• Business development

• Co-founder relationships

• Brand marketing

• Tracking relevant key performance metrics

• and many more

Some of the posts will be co-authored with other experienced folks in the startup ecosystem to provide you with more valuable content. Since I believe in quality over quantity, I am currently aiming to publish 1 post every month. Every post will be based on my own experiences (or other founders' experiences that I have first-hand accounts of). So rest assured that the posts are not going to be based on generic Chat-GPT advice.

Enough said. Let's get down to work then! I will be back with the first post soon. In the meantime, if you have any topics that you would like me to write about, please drop me a line using the contact form. If you would like to stay tuned, please do subscribe. If you think this blog will be helpful for someone you know, please share it. Let's help one another.

Onwards and upwards...