Nice piece in Forbes from last week, called Your “Cool” Startup Sucks, by Brent Beshore. Great put-down for cool startups:
Newsflash: your cool startup sucks. Cool doesn’t address a market need. Cool doesn’t solve a problem. Cool doesn’t generate revenue. Cool doesn’t allow you to see your deficiencies. Cool isn’t valuable. Cool is just, well, cool.
I really like his advice on this:
If you aim to move beyond cool, focus on what matters. Find a niche that is ripe for disruption. Seek transparent feedback from potential customers, not friends or family. Determine the key elements that must be accomplished to drive revenue and repeat customers. Focus on testing your hypothesis and tweaking your approach. Do those things and forget trying to be cool.
Well said. And especially his final put-down:
P.S. If you’d like to see the downfall of “coolness,” check out Bravo’s new show “Start-Ups: Silicon Valley.” It’s packed with cool.
Ouch.