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startup-wisdom

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Chinese

Startup Wisdom

创业智慧

Practical wisdom from building companies—what actually matters versus what feels important.
来自企业建设实践的实用智慧——区分真正重要的事与看似重要的事。

When to Use

适用场景

  • Evaluating whether to build a feature
  • Prioritizing what to work on next
  • Making build-vs-buy decisions
  • Reality-checking timelines and scope
  • Thinking about go-to-market
  • Hiring and team decisions
  • 评估是否要开发某功能
  • 确定下一步工作优先级
  • 制定自建vs采购决策
  • 验证时间线和范围的实际可行性
  • 规划上市策略
  • 招聘与团队决策

Output Contract

输出规范

For decisions, structure your analysis as:
markdown
undefined
对于决策类分析，请按以下结构呈现：
markdown
undefined

Decision: [The Question]

Decision: [The Question]

Recommendation

Recommendation

[1-2 sentences: what to do]
[1-2 sentences: what to do]

Reasoning

Reasoning

  • [Key factor 1]
  • [Key factor 2]
  • [Key factor 3]
  • [Key factor 1]
  • [Key factor 2]
  • [Key factor 3]

Risks

Risks

  • [Risk] → [Mitigation]
  • [Risk] → [Mitigation]

Framework Applied

Framework Applied

[Which principle from this skill guided the recommendation]
[Which principle from this skill guided the recommendation]

What Would Change This

What Would Change This

[Conditions that would flip the recommendation]

For feature prioritization:

```markdown
[Conditions that would flip the recommendation]

对于功能优先级排序：

```markdown

Feature: [Name]

Feature: [Name]

Verdict

Verdict

[Build now / Build later / Don't build / Needs validation]
[Build now / Build later / Don't build / Needs validation]

Prioritization Score

Prioritization Score

  1. Helps learn something critical? [Y/N]
  2. Helps retain existing users? [Y/N]
  3. Helps acquire new users? [Y/N]
  4. Reduces operational burden? [Y/N]
  1. Helps learn something critical? [Y/N]
  2. Helps retain existing users? [Y/N]
  3. Helps acquire new users? [Y/N]
  4. Reduces operational burden? [Y/N]

Reality Check

Reality Check

  • Estimated effort: [honest assessment]
  • PMF signal: [are users pulling for this?]
  • Reversibility: [can we undo/remove if wrong?]
undefined
  • Estimated effort: [honest assessment]
  • PMF signal: [are users pulling for this?]
  • Reversibility: [can we undo/remove if wrong?]
undefined

First Principles

核心原则

Speed Over Perfection

速度优先于完美

  • Shipping teaches you more than planning
  • Your first version will be wrong; optimize for learning velocity
  • The market doesn't care about your architecture
  • Perfect is the enemy of shipped
  • 上线交付比规划更能让你学到东西
  • 你的第一个版本肯定会有问题；优化学习速度
  • 市场并不关心你的架构设计
  • 完美是上线交付的敌人

Focus Is Everything

聚焦至上

  • Do one thing well before adding another
  • Every feature you add is a feature you maintain forever
  • Say no to good ideas to execute great ones
  • Startups die from indigestion, not starvation
  • 在添加新功能前先把一件事做好
  • 你添加的每一个功能都需要永久维护
  • 对好的想法说不，才能执行伟大的想法
  • 创业公司死于消化不良，而非饥饿

Cash Is Oxygen

现金流是氧气

  • Revenue > fundraising as validation
  • Extend runway before you need to
  • Every month of runway is optionality
  • Frugality compounds; burn rate is a choice
  • 收入比融资更能验证业务
  • 在需要之前就延长现金流跑道
  • 每多一个月的现金流就多一份选择权
  • 节俭会产生复利效应；burn rate（烧钱速度）是一种选择

Product Thinking

产品思维

Finding Product-Market Fit

寻找产品-市场契合度

  • PMF feels like pull, not push
  • If you have to convince users to use it, you don't have it
  • Retention > acquisition as a signal
  • Talk to churned users; they tell you the truth
  • PMF的感觉是用户主动追捧，而非你去推销
  • 如果你必须说服用户使用你的产品，说明你还没达到PMF
  • 用户留存比获客更能体现PMF信号
  • 和流失的用户交流；他们会告诉你真相

What to Build First

先开发什么

  • Solve a hair-on-fire problem for a specific person
  • Build for the user who will pay, not the one who will use for free
  • Start with the workflow, not the feature
  • 10x better on one dimension beats 2x better on five
  • 为特定人群解决他们迫切需要解决的问题
  • 为愿意付费的用户开发，而非免费使用的用户
  • 从工作流入手，而非功能
  • 在一个维度上做到10倍好，胜过在五个维度上做到2倍好

Feature Prioritization

功能优先级排序

Ask in order:
  1. Does this help us learn something critical?
  2. Does this help us retain existing users?
  3. Does this help us acquire new users?
  4. Does this reduce our operational burden?
按以下顺序提问：
  1. 这能帮我们学到关键信息吗？
  2. 这能帮我们留存现有用户吗？
  3. 这能帮我们获取新用户吗？
  4. 这能降低运营负担吗？

When to Add Features

何时添加新功能

  • Only after current features are working and retained
  • When users are asking for the same thing repeatedly
  • When it unlocks a new segment without fragmenting focus
  • Never because a competitor has it
  • 只有在现有功能运转良好且用户留存稳定后
  • 当用户反复提出同一个需求时
  • 当它能开拓新用户群体且不会分散聚焦时
  • 永远不要因为竞争对手有这个功能就去做

The Build Decision

自建决策

Build When

选择自建的场景

  • It's your core differentiation
  • No existing solution fits your specific need
  • You need deep control for product experience
  • The build cost is low relative to ongoing licensing
  • 这是你的核心差异化优势
  • 没有现有解决方案能满足你的特定需求
  • 你需要对产品体验进行深度控制
  • 自建成本远低于持续的授权费用

Buy/Use Existing When

选择采购/使用现有方案的场景

  • It's not your core value proposition
  • Proven solutions exist and integrate well
  • Your team lacks domain expertise
  • Time-to-market matters more than customization
  • 这不是你的核心价值主张
  • 已有成熟解决方案且易于集成
  • 你的团队缺乏该领域的专业知识
  • 上市时间比定制化更重要

The Integration Tax

集成成本

  • Every third-party dependency is a liability
  • APIs change, companies pivot, pricing increases
  • Build abstractions around external services
  • Have a migration path, even if you never use it
  • 每一个第三方依赖都是一种负债
  • API会变更，公司会转型，定价会上涨
  • 为外部服务构建抽象层
  • 要有迁移方案，哪怕你永远用不上

Go-to-Market Reality

上市实际情况

Distribution > Product

渠道大于产品

  • The best product often loses to better distribution
  • Build distribution into the product (viral loops, network effects)
  • Channels get saturated; early movers win
  • Your unfair advantage is often not the product
  • 最好的产品往往输给渠道更好的产品
  • 将渠道构建到产品中（病毒循环、网络效应）
  • 渠道会饱和；先行者获胜
  • 你的不公平优势往往不是产品本身

Pricing

定价

  • Charge more than you're comfortable with
  • Price on value delivered, not cost to build
  • Free users are not customers; they're a liability
  • Willingness to pay is the ultimate validation
  • 收费要比你觉得舒服的价格更高
  • 基于交付的价值定价，而非构建成本
  • 免费用户不是客户；他们是一种负债
  • 用户的付费意愿是最终的验证

Early Customers

早期客户

  • First 10 customers should come from your network
  • If you can't sell to people who know you, strangers won't buy
  • Design partners > beta users
  • Get commitments before building custom features
  • 前10个客户应该来自你的人脉网络
  • 如果你连认识的人都卖不动，陌生人更不会买
  • 设计合作伙伴优于beta测试用户
  • 在开发定制功能前先获得承诺

Team & Hiring

团队与招聘

Who to Hire First

先招聘谁

  • Hire for the stage, not the destination
  • Early hires: generalists who ship
  • Later hires: specialists who scale
  • Culture carriers matter more than credentials
  • 根据当前阶段招聘，而非未来目标
  • 早期员工：能交付成果的多面手
  • 后期员工：能支撑规模化的专家
  • 文化传递者比学历背景更重要

Hiring Signals

招聘信号

  • Strong signal: they've built something (anything)
  • Strong signal: they ask good questions about the problem
  • Weak signal: pedigree, credentials, brand-name employers
  • Red flag: more interested in title than impact
  • 强信号：他们实际做过一些东西（任何东西）
  • 强信号：他们会针对问题提出好的问题
  • 弱信号：学历、证书、知名雇主背景
  • 危险信号：更关心头衔而非影响力

When to Hire

何时招聘

  • When the work is clearly outpacing the team
  • When a specific skill gap is blocking progress
  • When you have 12+ months of runway
  • Not because you raised money
  • 当工作明显超出团队承载能力时
  • 当特定技能缺口阻碍了进展时
  • 当你有12个月以上的现金流跑道时
  • 不要因为融到钱就招聘

Firing

解雇

  • Slow to hire, fast to fire (once you know)
  • The team always knows before you act
  • Keeping poor performers demoralizes high performers
  • Kindness is a quick, clear, generous exit
  • 慢招聘，快解雇（一旦你确定）
  • 团队总是比你更早知道问题所在
  • 留住表现差的员工会打击高绩效员工的积极性
  • 善意的解雇是快速、明确且慷慨的离职安排

Fundraising

融资

When to Raise

何时融资

  • When you have leverage (traction, alternatives)
  • When you know exactly what the money unlocks
  • Before you need to (6+ months of runway remaining)
  • Not because others are raising
  • 当你有谈判筹码时（有业务traction、有其他选择）
  • 当你明确知道资金能带来什么时
  • 在你需要之前（剩余6个月以上的现金流跑道）
  • 不要因为别人在融资就跟着融

Investor Selection

投资者选择

  • The best investors make you better, not just richer
  • References from founders who failed with them
  • Ask: "How do you help when things go wrong?"
  • Optimize for partner, not firm
  • 最好的投资者能让你变得更好，而不只是给你钱
  • 向那些和他们合作过但失败的创始人打听
  • 问他们：“当事情出问题时，你会怎么帮忙？”
  • 优先选择合伙人，而非投资机构

What Investors Actually Care About

投资者真正关心的

  • Market size (can this be huge?)
  • Team (can these people execute?)
  • Traction (is this working?)
  • Why now (what changed in the world?)
  • 市场规模（这个业务能做到多大？）
  • 团队（这些人能执行吗？）
  • Traction（业务已经跑通了吗？）
  • 为什么是现在（世界发生了什么变化？）

Term Sheet Reality

条款清单实际情况

  • Valuation matters less than you think
  • Control matters more than you think
  • Pro-rata rights, board seats, and protective provisions
  • Your lawyer should have done 50+ of these
  • 估值没有你想的那么重要
  • 控制权比你想的更重要
  • 优先认购权、董事会席位和保护性条款
  • 你的律师应该处理过50+份这样的条款清单

Execution Principles

执行原则

Meetings

会议

  • Default to no meeting
  • Every meeting needs an owner and an outcome
  • 30 minutes unless proven otherwise
  • Async by default, sync for conflict resolution
  • 默认不召开会议
  • 每一场会议都需要有负责人和明确目标
  • 除非有特殊情况，会议时长控制在30分钟内
  • 默认异步沟通，同步沟通仅用于解决冲突

Decisions

决策

  • Most decisions are reversible; make them fast
  • Irreversible decisions deserve deliberation
  • Disagree and commit beats consensus
  • The person closest to the problem decides
  • 大多数决策是可逆的；快速做出决定
  • 不可逆的决策需要深思熟虑
  • 保留异议但坚决执行，胜过追求共识
  • 离问题最近的人做决定

Communication

沟通

  • Overcommunicate context, not instructions
  • Write it down; shared understanding is fragile
  • Bad news should travel faster than good news
  • Transparency builds trust; trust enables speed
  • 过度沟通背景信息，而非指令
  • 把内容写下来；共同理解是脆弱的
  • 坏消息应该比好消息传播得更快
  • 透明建立信任；信任提升速度

Metrics

指标

  • One north star metric at a time
  • Leading indicators > lagging indicators
  • If you can't measure it, you can't improve it
  • Metrics can be gamed; culture can't
  • 同一时间只聚焦一个北极星指标
  • 领先指标优于滞后指标
  • 无法衡量的东西，你也无法改进
  • 指标可能被操纵；但文化不会

Common Founder Mistakes

创始人常见错误

Early Stage

早期阶段

  • Building before validating demand
  • Hiring before finding product-market fit
  • Spending on brand/marketing before retention works
  • Optimizing for vanity metrics (users, downloads)
  • 在验证需求之前就开始开发
  • 在找到PMF之前就招聘
  • 在用户留存稳定之前就投入品牌/营销
  • 优化虚荣指标（用户数、下载量）

Growth Stage

增长阶段

  • Losing focus chasing multiple markets
  • Hiring ahead of revenue
  • Ignoring unit economics
  • Assuming what worked will keep working
  • 为了追逐多个市场而失去聚焦
  • 招聘速度超过收入增长
  • 忽略单位经济效益
  • 假设过去有效的方法未来依然有效

Mindset Traps

思维陷阱

  • Falling in love with your solution, not the problem
  • Comparing your inside to others' outside
  • Overweighting competitor moves
  • Believing your own press
  • 爱上你的解决方案，而非问题本身
  • 拿你的内部情况和别人的外部表现比较
  • 过度关注竞争对手的动作
  • 相信自己的宣传

Hard Truths

残酷真相

About Your Idea

关于你的想法

  • Ideas are worthless; execution is everything
  • Your first idea is probably wrong
  • Pivots aren't failure; stubbornness is
  • The best ideas look bad at first
  • 想法毫无价值；执行才是一切
  • 你的第一个想法很可能是错的
  • 转型不是失败；固执才是
  • 最好的想法一开始看起来都不怎么样

About Yourself

关于你自己

  • You're not as objective as you think
  • Your strengths become weaknesses at scale
  • Founder-CEO isn't always the right role for you
  • Burnout is real and compounds
  • 你并没有自己想象的那么客观
  • 你的优势在规模化阶段会变成劣势
  • 创始人CEO并不总是适合你的角色
  • 倦怠是真实存在的，且会不断加剧

About the Market

关于市场

  • Timing matters more than most things
  • Being early is the same as being wrong
  • Competition validates the market
  • Most markets are smaller than they appear
  • 时机比大多数因素都重要
  • 太早进入市场和进入错误市场没区别
  • 竞争验证了市场的存在
  • 大多数市场比你想象的要小

About Success

关于成功

  • Luck plays a larger role than anyone admits
  • Success has many parents; failure is an orphan
  • The goal is to stay in the game long enough to get lucky
  • Most overnight successes took 7-10 years
  • 运气的作用比任何人承认的都大
  • 成功有很多“父母”；失败是“孤儿”
  • 目标是在游戏中坚持足够久，直到好运降临
  • 大多数“一夜成名”其实用了7-10年

Decision Frameworks

决策框架

Should We Build This?

我们应该开发这个功能吗？

  1. Does it serve our core user's core job?
  2. Can we ship v1 in 2-4 weeks?
  3. Will we learn something we can't learn otherwise?
  4. Can we kill it if it doesn't work?
  1. 这是否服务于我们核心用户的核心需求？
  2. 我们能在2-4周内推出第一个版本吗？
  3. 这能让我们学到其他方式学不到的东西吗？
  4. 如果行不通，我们能放弃它吗？

Should We Pursue This Market?

我们应该进入这个市场吗？

  1. Is the problem urgent and frequent?
  2. Are buyers easy to identify and reach?
  3. Do they have budget and authority?
  4. Can we win without being 10x better?
  1. 这个问题是否紧急且频繁出现？
  2. 买家是否容易识别和触达？
  3. 他们是否有预算和决策权？
  4. 我们不需要做到10倍好就能获胜吗？

Should We Take This Meeting?

我们应该参加这次会议吗？

  1. Will this person help us in the next 90 days?
  2. Is there a specific ask or outcome?
  3. Could this be an email instead?
  4. What's the opportunity cost?
  1. 这个人能在未来90天内帮到我们吗？
  2. 有没有明确的诉求或目标？
  3. 这件事能用邮件解决吗？
  4. 机会成本是什么？

What Actually Matters

真正重要的事

Early (Pre-PMF)

早期阶段（Pre-PMF）

  • Talking to users weekly
  • Shipping weekly
  • Measuring retention honestly
  • Staying alive
  • 每周和用户交流
  • 每周上线交付
  • 诚实地衡量用户留存
  • 活下去

Growth (Post-PMF)

增长阶段（Post-PMF）

  • Repeatable acquisition channels
  • Scalable unit economics
  • Team that can operate without you
  • Systems over heroics
  • 可复制的获客渠道
  • 可规模化的单位经济效益
  • 能独立运作的团队
  • 体系化运作而非英雄主义

Always

始终重要的事

  • Integrity (reputation is your only durable asset)
  • Velocity (speed is a competitive advantage)
  • Focus (do less, better)
  • Resilience (you will want to quit; don't)
  • 诚信（声誉是你唯一持久的资产）
  • 速度（速度是一种竞争优势）
  • 聚焦（少做，做好）
  • 韧性（你会想放弃；别放弃）