What was the biggest risk you took in your startup, and what did you learn from it?

Question

Alexis Khvatov · Accepted Answer

When I started my own business, I decided to take a big leap of faith and launch an expensive, technology-heavy product. This was a huge risk, as the startup capital was finite and if it failed to catch the market, our resources would be utterly depleted. Luckily for us, this product ended up being extremely successful and we were able to expand operations exponentially! I learned from that experience that looking at the risks involved can give you an idea of what might work or not work when launching in a new market, but sometimes, a calculated risk can pay off huge in the long run.

Saul Fleischman · Answer

We divided a bloated RiteTag into four products, so customers could pay for only what they needed. We lost many very conservative, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" types, but built up to a faster growing MRR than we had before. Was worth it, thus.

Aftab Khokar · Answer

Hi such a good question, while starting our Tahiti superyacht business the biggest threat was management because it wasn't easy to manage such a huge team. From that situation we learnt workers division with a head is better than managing all workers under supervision of a single manager, and yes it was a good move.

Carmen Mccarthy · Answer

For a recent project, I took a significant risk by creating a new feature to be implemented on our client's app. Since the alteration was unlike any of their other characteristics, we wondered how others would react. We took into account the feature's intended users and the app's overarching purpose as we developed it for our client. Our client provided very positive feedback when we implemented the new functionality, prompting us to receive requests to implement it in several of their other apps as well. More info: geometry dash lite

Ballu Tiwari · Answer

Launching too late

Edward Cederlund · Answer

Pivoting. Because nobody was using it ;)

Answer

@alekswatch It's very cool that your product still managed to lead you to the success you expected from it! But sometimes, many aspiring startups, hoping for luck and not considering all the risks, launch expensive products and then rush about in search of loans and financial companies in order to stay afloat at least a little. As a result, they remain in debt; the product wasn't launched; and the business idea didn't work out. Therefore, you are absolutely right. If you launch a project, the risks must be fully calculated, and several scenarios should exist. And if you take loans from financial companies, do it from trusted firms such as www.georgia-ssbci.org only, which at least have a good reputation and transparent terms & conditions. Otherwise, you can create problems for yourself out of the blue and not even start your business

Answer

Building in the dark

Sean P. · Answer

The biggest risk I took in my startup was not having a CMS for the first 4 weeks until the beta testing build was completed. We wanted to prioritize user experience features first and build the CMS somewhere in the long run. Although it was a risky move (we poke directly to DB in case need to change things), we learned that focusing on user needs and experience first can provide valuable feedback and help improve the product in the long run. We later implemented a CMS, but the early focus on users first helped shape our priorities and approach towards product development.

charles shiro · Answer

To focus on the user, focus on one area, or one user, and slowly make the product bigger.

What was the biggest risk you took in your startup, and what did you learn from it?

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