Startup Waste. The list.

I've boiled all of my decks and workshops into two slides. LEANSTARTUP is meant to

1) ELIMINATE WASTE.
2) BY RUNNING EXPERIMENTS.

End beginning of story.

The punchline to my opening slide at almost every event I do. This bird is ELIMINATING WASTE in true leanstartup fashion. 

Remember, reward the decision - not the outcome!

Here's a list of things that are wasteful, avoiding them (or at least being mindful of them, is a good decision)

1. building something no one wants
2. spending time writing copy that no one reads (FAQ, ABOUT US)
3. Spending more than 10 hours on a business plan (this is not a forum to debate business plans, the exercise itself has some intrinsic value)
4. Spending time trying to raise money before you really need to
5. Spending time trying to get press (if it comes to you organically, it is not always a waste EVEN if you are not ready for it - there is some intrinsic value like morale - which is not necessarily a total vanity metric - I've written more about press, HERE)
6. Deciding on what language to write your app in that is perfect for scale
7. Spending more than 5 hours on a name
8. Spending more than 5 hours on a domain name 
9. Confusing partners and distribution channels with the party for whom you are solving the problem. 

Here's a list of things that RESULT in waste

1. Not being on the same page with your founders (one wants a scaleable startup, one wants a lifestyle business)

This post is sponsored by, the #DEccelerator. The #DEccelerator holds workshops (like DEMOlish Day) and provides funding to teams that are willing to slow down in the beginning and waste less.