Article · ~20 min read

The Top Reasons Startups Fail

CB Insights Free Beginner

Data from hundreds of startup post-mortems showing how often failure traces to no real market need or a trend that never materialized. It is a sober reality check on betting the company on a trend that stays a niche. Use it to stay honest about demand.

  • No market need is among the most common failure causes.
  • Trends that never materialize sink otherwise good teams.
  • Validate real demand before you scale spend.

The question it answers

  1. How do I know if a trend is big enough to build a company on, or just a small niche?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  3. The essay that put 'product-market fit' into the startup vocabulary. Read it for the gut-level description of what PMF feels... pmarchive.com Essay · ~15 min read The Only Thing That Matters Marc Andreessen
  4. The definitive short read on why disruptive ideas get dismissed as toys, and why that dismissal is your opening. It reframes... cdixon.org Article · ~5 min read The Next Big Thing Will Start Out Looking Like a Toy Chris Dixon
  5. Long-form, candid interviews with Indian founders and investors on how they actually grew, distributed and built brand, one of... The Neon Show / Neon Fund Podcast · 200+ episodes The Neon Show (100x Entrepreneur Podcast) Siddhartha Ahluwalia
  6. A leading early-stage Indian VC firm answering the questions founders wish they could ask a VC face-to-face, including how they... Prime Venture Partners Podcast Podcast · 30-50 min per episode Prime Venture Partners Podcast: Fundraising Masterclass for Founders Prime Venture Partners
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →