What you DON'T NEED to run a business/startup/side hustle

Businesses not startup. And you should've sold your product to customers not VCs. Saw a recent post of a guy who did same raised $5M and his startup failed but I am sure he took out 10L pm salary. Anyways I won't criticise him for burning someone's money because people who funded him have IQ and EQ equivalent to peanuts. I am starting out alone cuz I couldn't find a co-founder for myself. Realised this is the best route, still didn't have a technical co-founder since all tech guys are busy looking for a job or PG. And remaining of my batchmates are "idea" guys. Who I consider equal to product managers. They're like basil leaves on poha. It doesn't add anything to it's taste nor the looks. I am right now on a solo route. Any tips or tricks is welcome even psychological. Actually psychological is more helpful since I am in the industry where doing a job is considered as a "hobby" now imagine making your own product. Even tips on taxes and personal finance is welcome from men and women here. P.s the industry is gaming industry and I make mobile games. So only comment if you have something to add cuz I am already done with "find a job" ones from everyone in my life. Btw I made some games and 1 of them is doing good and making me decent money.

Im working as a developer in a unicorn startup with good salary for my age. But from college time I was interested in entrepreneurship trying different thing and later after completing college I joined this unicorn and worked hard, shifted to their new stealth startup and worked there with for 1yr, tried to work in every possible opportunity that I got with design team, product managers and learnt how to build a startup from scratch, but later due to creative issues in top level management and less revenue than the competitors the startup was shutdown and I was moved back to the unicorn and again started working as an developer. Tried different things from then 1. Tried joining top B schools but couldn’t afford 2. Tired pitching ideas to friends, seems like no one interested in taking risk leaving the life they have now 3. Tried starting few things on my own but always end up failing with no support 4. Tried attending conferences but that too never led me anywhere Now don’t have as many friends interested in entrepreneurship or mentors to guide me. Just passing the days doing the same work again and again please suggest me what to do next or give me any kind of advice

Background: I completed my engineering degree from a tier 3 college in India and have been working as a software engineer in multiple early-stage startups in India and UAE for the past 7 years. I have always had a desire to start my own company, and though I attempted it twice in the past, unfortunately, those endeavors didn't succeed. I don't have any prestigious affiliations or connections. Neither have I worked for a renowned company nor attended a prestigious college. Consequently, I also lack a strong professional network. This makes me wonder if pursuing an MBA from a reputable college would be beneficial for my entrepreneurial aspirations.

I am told that to start a company I need to stop thinking like an engineer but I feel that I need to perfect the features and do research on what will work. What am I doing wrong?

I've a great idea and it's validated after talking to more than 50 founders/head of sales. Questions - 1. What's the process of getting a domain/and checking if the domain/product name is not a brand name globally anywhere? 2. Wrt raising funding, any founders here who can throw some light on how much salaries you used to take? I am not very inclined towards bootstrapping rn. 3. What were the challenges wrt starting your website, getting it validated by running ads etc? Maybe some D2C founders can help me out here. 4. What tools did you use for your first MVP launch? Thanks

Alright folks, time for some real talk. I fucked up. Big time. And I'm here to share my story so you don't make the same mistakes I did. Back in 2021, I co-founded a web3 startup. Yeah, you know where this is going. I was caught up in the hype, the FOMO, the promise of changing the world through DAOs. Spoiler alert: We raised more than $5M in seed funding, burned through half of it, never hit product-market fit, and ended up shutting down and returning the remaining capital to our investors. Here's how it went down: It all started when I fell down the web3 rabbit hole. I read a few whitepapers, watched some YouTube videos, and suddenly thought I was the next Vitalik Buterin. I had this "revolutionary" idea for a DAO that would democratize venture capital. Sounds cool, right? I thought so too. Now, here's the thing - I'm a great pitcher. Give me a deck and 30 minutes, and I can make almost anything sound like the next unicorn. So, armed with buzzwords and a slick presentation, I hit the VC circuit. And holy shit, did it work. We were a great team, stellar credentials so were able to close the fundraise pretty quick. I still remember the day we closed the round. Popping champagne, dreaming of TechCrunch headlines once we did our Series A, all the jazz. But here's what I didn't realize at the time: I had zero conviction in what we were building. I was so caught up in the excitement of raising money and being part of the "next big thing" that I never stopped to ask myself if I truly believed in what we were doing. Reality hit hard and fast. As we started building, I realized I didn't really understand the problem we were solving. Our target users weren't as excited about the product as we were. We pivoted, then pivoted again. But nothing stuck. Eighteen months in, we had burned through $3M, had no clear path to revenue, and my co-founder and I were at each other's throats. That's when it hit me - we needed to shut this down before we wasted any more of our investors' money. Making that call was the hardest thing I've ever done. Telling our team, our investors, our families - it sucked. But it was the right thing to do. Here's what I learned from this expensive and humbling experience: 1.⁠ ⁠Hype is not a business model: Just because something is trending doesn't mean it's a good business opportunity. Do your own research, understand the market deeply. 2.⁠ ⁠Raising money ≠ Success: It's easy to get caught up in the vanity of a big round. But money just buys you runway, not success. 3.⁠ ⁠If you can't explain it to your grandma, you don't understand it well enough: I couldn't clearly explain our value proposition without resorting to buzzwords. Red flag. 4.⁠ ⁠Team alignment is everything: Make sure you and your co-founders are on the same page about the vision, not just the potential payout. 5.⁠ ⁠Listen to the market, not your ego: We ignored early signs that users weren't as excited about our product as we were. But the biggest lesson? You need 100% conviction to run a startup. Not 90%, not 99%. 100%. Building a company is hard. Really fucking hard. There will be days when everything seems to be falling apart. If you don't have absolute conviction in what you're building, you won't have the resilience to push through those times. Looking back, I realize I was more in love with the idea of being a founder than with the problem we were solving. I was chasing clout, not impact. To anyone out there thinking of starting a company: Please, please, please make sure you have unwavering conviction in your idea. Make sure you're solving a real problem that you deeply understand and care about. Don't do it for the hype, the money, or the status. Do it because you can't imagine doing anything else. As for me? I'm taking some time off to reflect. Next time (if there is a next time), I'll make damn sure I believe in what I'm building with every fiber of my being. I sort of see this happening now with AI, please take a pause. Let's learn from each other. Because trust me, learning this lesson the hard way? It ain't fun. Keep building!

Which skillsets one should work upon before being a entrepreneur

I am 34, BU Head at mid size startup, 1Cr+ CTC and 3Cr ESOP. Tier 1 MBA+Engg. Still 5yrs away from financial freedom. Startup founders who have taken similar jump what would say? Was it worth it? If yes, any tips on finding start up ideas.

I understand if someone is asking this question, the person isn't ready. But would like to know from founders, what was your motivation ? What pushed you over from a 9-5? Is it just taking a bet on yourself and working towards solving the problem?