On Sins, Stages, and Staying on Path — Build3 Lessons

I would like to share my learnings and thoughts and collect them as blog posts. I am taking the learnings from the Build3 accelerator and combining them with the wisdom and work I am doing day-to-day on my startup — these posts are about that.

The hard truth

From the session: ~70-95% startups fail. Some failure is structural (uncertainty), some is avoidable (startup sins).

My take: I knew this number before. What matters is not the number, but keeping a live list of where you can fail — people, product, distribution, money, yourself — and checking it often. If you know maximum probability is failure and you still want to do it, staying informed about failure points is the real work.

The 4 startup sins

From the session:

1. Getting people fit wrong (co-founder/hires/market fit)
2. Building something no one wants
3. Overlooking distribution or business model
4. Scaling incorrectly

My take:

1. People — unavoidable if you want to expand. But there is no concrete formula for getting the right people, only advice (aligned aspirations, complementary skills, trust). I have not sorted this, most have not. A wrong person can kill the startup.
2. Building unwanted — workable. Talk to people, test before you build. Solvable if you are humble early. I agree.
3. Distribution — very important right now. In the AI era, building is easy — distribution is the hard half. A good product without a network is just a project. This is where I need to work the most.
4. Scaling — important. Scaling a broken thing breaks it faster. Hard to get right, but skipping it is not the answer either.

The 5 stages

From the session:

1. Foundation: You, Co-founders, Market
2. Pillars: Solution (UVP/Theory of Change), Distribution, Business Model
3. Test & Iterate: Experiments, Prototype, MVP
4. Launch & Build: Launch, build org, pursue PMF
5. Scale & Beyond: Scale, IPO/sell/grow

My take:

1. Foundation — start with WHY or life makes you forget. It is a years-long journey, you will get distracted. Clear WHY keeps you on path.
2. Pillars — how you stay for the long run. Not big strategy, just honest planning to last.
3. Test & Iterate — founders love their own ideas. Go test with real people as early as possible — that is how you de-risk. I want to test earlier than feels comfortable.
4. Launch & Build — launch as fast as possible, go public, take feedback fast. Retention beats applause.
5. Scale & Beyond — important, but not for day one. At the start I am not thinking IPO. It takes years — have some idea of scale, but do not overthink the endgame now.

3 things to understand about YOU

From the session: Your WHY (why startup over a job), your ASSETS (why you vs someone else), your INTEREST (what you like doing daily).

My take: This is an engine check before the car check. Before asking if the startup is perfect, ask if you are clear and ready. Not perfect as a person, but honest about why you are doing it and what you can sustain for years. That clarity prevents drift more than any canvas.

Co-founder or solo

From the session: Most cited as the most critical decision. Advice was: aligned aspirations, complementary skills (Builder + Operator), strong relationship. Where to find: network, accelerators, events, matchmaking platforms, building in public. How to select: 1:1 chat, collaborate & check references, then co-founder agreement. Caveat: a good relationship > single, but single >> bad relationship.

My take: I go against the popular opinion here. In the beginning, going solo is okay. A wrong co-founder can kill you, and finding the right one is tough with no guaranteed method. I believe if you start moving, the right people keep connecting on the way — motion attracts alignment. So I will go solo first, keep burn low and learning fast, and only add a co-founder later if there is real trust and fit over time.