[…] Here you can find 76037 additional Information on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Read More Information here on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Read More here on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Read More on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Read More Info here to that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] There you will find 94824 additional Information on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Information on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Find More on to that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Info on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Find More here on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] There you will find 6862 additional Info to that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

[…] Find More here on that Topic: startupsanonymous.com/story/my-startup-failed-fk/ […]

“So we talked to a few artists who said they thought it was a cool idea. BOOM! Our idea had been validated! After that moment we basically stopped talking to artists for a year and built (and rebuilt) the software until we thought it was acceptable.”

Without actually validating your idea, you went ahead and wasted a year coding the site. All you had to do was throw up a simple page and test it with one artist to see if people would actually want to buy music this way.

I’m not trying to put you down or anything like that, just pointing out how we entrepreneurs usually end up wasting more time than we need to, in order to validate an idea.

A good example of validating an idea quickly is the Zappos story. They didn’t spend months coding the site and building up hype, or making purchase orders for large quantities of shoes.

Instead, they threw up a simple page, listed some shoes that they knew were for sale at FootLocker, and watched to see if people would buy those shoes.

When customers would buy a shoe, they would go to Footlocker, purchase it, and ship it to the customer.

It seems primitive now, but that was the fastest and cheapest way to validate their idea.

* Getting paying customers is really hard. You think to yourself I’ll mail some bloggers and send out a press release or something and get a bunch of media coverage. That never materializes and you’re left with the reality of trying to pitch a product. There’s display ads and search ads and social media, but it’s hard to create content and work it and get some traction on a budget. Even on social media, while there’s a lot of options listed at http://www.buyfacebookfansreviews.com to get more likes you still have to work at it and create content and engage with your visitors. All of this takes time and energy and many small startups don’t have this in large supply.

* The right business model isn’t easy to find. Finding out how to charge for something to maximize customer satisfaction and income isn’t hard. Many people expect stuff online to be free, so its sometimes hard to charge for stuff.

I love how you explained it as “Coming out of the closet”. I had never thought about it that way, but that is exactly how I felt. The same fear and embarrassment with the up sided potential of mental relief as someone that is deciding to come out of the closet.

Our moment was at CES 2014 a few weeks back now. I was there with my co-founder representing our company. In a moment of absolute clarity, we saw something together, and left the booth, both turned to each other and almost simultaneously we finally both said the same thing. Essentially its time to take our gig out back and shoot it. It was sort of relieving to find out that he had been feeling the same and was going through the same emotions as i was with declaring defeat.

Just like coming out of the closet must be, the rest of that same day was a moment of bliss. There was no sad mourning period. We were both relieved and now since we were no longer worried about keeping up appearances with our previous business, we could mentally move forward to “what’s next”. What better place to do that then CES. We had millions of new business ideas by the end of the conference and we have already moved on to start a new venture. That moment can be very relieving and doesn’t have to be negative one bit. We are co-founders in a new business now. Still wrapping up the legal documentation to close down the previous one. But we both feel incredible about the future.

This is the most important concept to keep reminding yourself of. My 3.5 year old startup failed about 4 months ago. It totally sucked. I knew at least nine months before shutting it down we were doomed though.

One fact I keep reminding myself of is that my current position, which totally rocks, is the ultimate results of working my ass for over three years, refining my skills and learning how to be relentlessly resourceful.

Behind every overnight success is 10 years of failures, learning, and determination. You’re just starting out on your journey, so don’t give up and you’ll eventually pull out a big win. People will think “That guy’s an overnight success”, and you and I will both know the real truth.

Good luck on whatever comes next and thanks for sharing your story.