Founders

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Random founder tips from 1 yr of running vc-backed @paragraph:

- stay lean and hire/spend carefully
- ship very, very fast and very, very frequently
- disregard competition and naysayers
- PMs, designers, other non-eng roles generally not valuable in early stages
- good customer support is underrated

cma.xyz. Founder /paragraph, ceo /mirror, previously at Google & Coinbase 

- everything is a tradeoff. Time spent in meetings instead of coding, time spent shipping feature X instead of Y, focusing on testing suite instead of infra, etc. Need to relentlessly prioritize and aggressively focus on things that move the needle / get closer to PMF

- be critical / cynical and take things with a grain of salt: lots of folks (investors, partners, etc) tell you what you want to hear to get what they want
- talk to users constantly, but learn to categorize/organize feedback
- inbox zero, calendar management, knowledge management (eg Notion) very helpful

I agree on everything but the designer point. 

It is very easy to underrate the compounding returns of a distinct and simple design language. A great one should help you build less.

agree with some of the other folks saying ux designers would have a significant impact early on in the development 

i’m biased bc i’m a product designer but it’s also pretty obvious when a platform has been built only by engineers 

a good founding design system can do wonders

+1

from my side i would also add: prioritize finding something that people pay for and focus relentlessly on that, very easy to fall into a trap of building something without an actual demand for very long

Frame Specialist. Music is everything. Building @cooprecs 

I think it'll take a while before a dedicated CSR role is needed.

Here's what works for me:
- respond quickly & considerately to outreach
- follow up when bugs are fixed or features are implemented; users will feel listened to
- have open channels of communication (we use Discord + FC + email) and encourage outreach

How should a founder aim for as good of a customer support experience as possible without hiring for it?

PhD in aviation ∩ climate science | Aviator, diver, ETH maxi, nexialist | Host of /diving /ethfinance /eth-staker /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

I spent far too much time worrying about competitors early on. When a competitor launched an identical feature I was convinced I’d fail. 

Not productive thinking nor good for my mental health and ultimately didn’t matter in the end. Just need to focus on your own users and your own solution

Can you expand on “disregard competition”?

I’m not a founder personally but experienced a few early stage startups. I would add: 

Create processes for running company early such as internal docs, onboarding team members etc
Setup good communication channels within the team 
Build internal culture

++ ignore competition ++

my favorite yet so hard for most

Thanks for insighful tips. 
And how important is it for you to choose the right ideal customer persona?

Solid list, and mostly agree.

imo, product designers might be the only non-eng role that could make a significant difference. Good product/ux is pretty important when building more than just an MVP/beta. 

A technical PD could also double as front-end – helping with some code, building a website, etc.

It's amazing what you can build with a little capital and 2-3 people.

I think it all depends on the business / product you are building and the skill set that the founding team bring to the table. 

For example; Founders with a heavy-tech background building a consumer product will need a great UX/UI designer early on.