The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups

Paul Graham’s essay The 18 Mistakes That Kill Startups identifies common pitfalls, organized around a central principle: “if you make something users want, you’ll probably be fine.”

Team & Leadership Issues

Single Founder: Lack of collaborators for brainstorming and emotional support creates vulnerability
Fights Between Founders: Often stems from poor initial partner selection
Half-Hearted Effort: Most failures result from founders maintaining day jobs

Product Development

Marginal Niche: Selecting obscure markets to avoid competition prevents building genuinely valuable products
Derivative Ideas: Copying existing companies rarely succeeds
Obstinacy: Excessive attachment to original plans prevents adaptation
No Specific User in Mind: Vague audiences doom products
Slowness in Launching: Perfectionism delays critical user feedback
Launching Too Early: Premature releases damage reputation

Resources & Money

Bad Location: Geographic concentration in tech hubs creates measurable advantages
Hiring Bad Programmers: Non-technical founders struggle identifying quality engineers
Raising Too Little: Insufficient runway prevents reaching milestones
Raising Too Much: Creates pressure, bloat, and reduced flexibility
Spending Too Much: Excessive hiring increases costs and slows progress

Execution Problems

Sacrificing Users for Profit: Premature monetization overshadows building demand
Not Getting Hands Dirty: Avoiding business development misses user acquisition
Poor Investor Management: Either ignoring or surrendering control to investors

The Fundamental Truth

The ultimate cause of failure is “not making something users want.” Most failures trace to insufficient effort rather than circumstances.