Most Startup Advice is BS

Welcome to the Dave vs. Startups.

Today we’re diving into why I believe most startup advice is BS. I learned a TON over the course of building our company and eventually exiting at $30M.

My goal today is to pass along a few of those learnings, because it’s true…

Most startup advice is straight BS.

They’ll say things like:

• "Get funding ASAP"

• "Scale fast or die"

• "Hire big to grow big"

Trust me, conventional startup wisdom is mostly wrong.

After spending years bootstrapping a B2B SaaS company, here’s what actually works for startups:

First off, funding.

Everyone says you need it to compete.

But data shows 75% of venture-backed startups fail after year 4 when the money runs out.

Meanwhile, only 70% of startups fail in years 2-5.

Funding often creates more problems than it solves.

Secondly, "You need a massive team to grow."

Nope.

At AppArmor, we kept our team lean and focused on systems to scale efficiently.

And I had solid profit per employee and way less management overhead.

Your goal should be optimization, not headcount.

Customer service is seriously underrated when it comes to growing a business.

Because big companies can’t match the personal touch of a small, nimble team.

Many times, my best customers kept coming back because I gave them amazing support.

They'd even often ask, 'What else do you sell?'”

So what actually matters is these:

• Building systems that don't rely on you

• Focusing on profit per employee

• Turning customer service into a revenue center

• Staying lean and bootstrap if you can

I know this isn't the sexy Silicon Valley advice you hear.

But it works in the real world.

If you're bootstrapping a B2B startup to your first million, focus on these fundamentals.

The hype can wait.

Thanks for reading!
Dave