Whether you are on your first startup or your sixth the main challenges don’t change. Those of us who have seen hundreds of startups, and also worked in more than one of them, know the pattern. Every story is unique but the main things that determine success are well known and have been written about. We’ve captured this knowledge in Cocality, so that you can apply it to your unique situation and particular challenge.

For a short, if condense, explanation of how to dramatically increase your chances of success read on. Then act.

If you just want a checklist here it is:

1. Launch early
2. Talk to customers
3. Iterate based on feedback
4. Choose valuable customers
5. Stay focused on core problem
6. Fundraising is not the goal
7. Competition doesn’t matter
8. Take care of yourself

Ship Early and Iterate with Customers

Get your product out there as soon as possible, even if it’s not perfect yet. Customers would rather see something, anything, than wait forever for the perfect product. Launch with a minimum viable product which should be just enough to solve a basic customer problem and get feedback.

Look for simple solutions first before making things complicated. Consider how you can achieve 80% of the goal with only 20% of the work. It is vital to focus on what really matters to customers now rather than extra features.

Talk to your earliest customers personally. Don’t hesitate to get your hands dirty helping them. This will teach you more than building a polished product prematurely. You should not try to scale until you understand the problem and solution from customer experiences. If you do, you will take the wrong route and burn up your cash.

Stay focused on yor product and customers above all else. Keep the feedback loop with customers short, updating your product based on learnings from people who need or will benefit from your product.

Choose customers who really need your solution, not ones who are just curious. Nuture the customers who spread the word and draw others in through their enthusiasm.

Concentrate on What’s Important Now

Don’t grow your team until you have built something people want.

Startups can only solve one problem well at any given time, so avoid the temptation to offer something else.

Growth depends on customers wanting what you offer, so don’t chase numbers too soon. Make sure the value you provide outweighs the price before expanding.

Concentrate on your core strength instead of taking on too many things. Big deals may seem exciting but often don’t work out for eary-stage startups. It’s best to focus on initial customers first before seeking big clients or partnerships.

Don’t stress over competition. Differentiation is important but so is execution. You’re more likely to fail due to internal issues than outside competition starting out. Often that competition has big internal problems behind their propaganda.

Don’t get distracted by conferences, press, social media or other outside things. Those things are for later. If you network, do it effectively. You will likely need to do that for equity fundraising, but don’t halt progress to raise money endlessly. Youmight better served developing and shipping your product plus doing customer discovery and sales closing. Better valuations and money can come later if you solve problems and deliver.

Cash rules, so know where it’s coming from and where it’s spent.

Look after Yourself

You will have problems. Every startup has them, and at least one near death experience. The published stories on startups are not the whole real story.

Startup life is a marathon, though it feels like you are always in a sprint, so take breaks. Share wins and difficulties with trusted people. Lastly your personal health drives your work quality so make sure you sleep, eat and exercise.

The only certainty is uncertainty, so deal with it. Few can so that will make you a winner.