Ask HN: let's build a list of reasons why startups fail
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4932202I am writing a business plan for a new idea of mine. After all the reasons why this is the best idea ever and countless industries are going to be disrupted I am now writing "what could go wrong". This is the sad part but it has to be done. I have already several reasons in my list and I'd like to ask you here for some more. In the process let's build a list useful for all of us in the future. For this reason I won't even bother you with my "great idea" so we avoid "idea specific" failure reasons. I'll start with some obvious ones in my list:
* Nobody (or too few) need it
* Somebody needs it but won't pay/pay enough for it
* Budget underestimated (you needed more than that and you did not know it)
* Unproved assumptions ("we were sure it would go viral" / "critical mass is at X")
* Critical mass was higher than expected
* Somebody else is doing that already, better than you
* The big players see what you do, like it, and replicate it very fast. You're out
...and I am sure there's many more.
If we build this list properly it may be quite useful!