Hey! I’m Eugene, and I’m a Lead System Analyst at Purrweb. I talk with startup founders a lot, and I realized one thing long ago — no matter how different their products are, their fears are always the same. Doubts hinder their work and sometimes don’t even let them release their products, although founders can turn those fears to their advantage or overcome them.
In this article, I will tell you what startups are often afraid of. Here is a list of common fears:
- “I’ll let down the investors.”
- “Someone will steal my idea.”
- “My product will change dramatically.”
- “Nobody is going to use my product if it’s not perfect.”
- “I will fail after the release.”
- “I’m done if the MVP doesn’t make it.”
Below, I’ll give you examples from Purrweb cases and tips on how to deal with your fears.
Fear 1. “I’ll let down the investors”
You may not believe it, but in 2024, startuppers still get money for their ideas. This, sure, happens 🙂 You don’t have users or an app — anything at all — but they still believe in you. As a rule, a person from a close circle becomes an investor — they know you, you share many friends, and you can’t escape anywhere. On top of that, any investor always has very specific requirements on the project management triangle (scope, cost, and time) — especially, on time.
As a result, startuppers dread letting down investors and not living up to their expectations. Fear may evolve into panic, and startuppers begin to throw at everything except for the necessary things.
Case from our practice. A client decided to create a project based on signing multiple partner agreements with Apple and dozens of other companies. The preparation took a lot of time, and Apple API proved to be that imperfect — the company couldn’t provide some data that was necessary for development.
Investors limit time and because of this pressure, the client promised to do everything quickly. Finally, his anxiety started to affect his team. For example, he criticized some trivial matters in project documents, although they should have invested efforts into discussing other issues.
Solution. It’s useful to fear an investor. If someone gives you money, you start doing your best not to let them down. The most important thing is consistency instead of getting torn between different tasks.
For example, another Purrweb client developed a dating app for busy people. There, they could organize a date. The startupper demonstrated their interest in all possible ways: they searched for respondents, conducted research, and planned marketing. Their investor saw that the startupper was hooked on the idea and this helped them create a trust-based relationship. As a result, it was easier for him to come to an agreement with the investor on matters such as time extension or reducing the number of features.
Now, the Monlove website suggests users take part in testing
⭐ The more you prepare for development and analyze demand, the sooner you’ll impress investors. We explained how to do this in another article.
Fear 2. ‘Someone will steal my idea’
A startupper totally invests themselves into developing an idea. And they are pretty much afraid that someone can steal it. One Purrweb client from the US had this fear. During the first call, she told us that she wanted to make a cooking app with recipes. And only when the NDA was signed, she confessed that she deliberately invented another concept to protect the true idea from leaking.
Solution. If a startupper thinks that someone can steal their idea, in most cases, they are wrong. It’s more likely that the market has a direct competitor that solves consumers’ issues in almost the same way.
Innovators are rare, and everyone usually follows trends. In this case, you should think not about stealing, but about separating from competitors: analyze users’ behavior, find hidden insights, and step aside from direct competition. Also, you can always sign an NDA with your contractors, so there is no need to be afraid.
On the other hand, some ideas are actually new, and there are no analogs on the market. In this case, don’t worry that someone will be faster, just get ready straight away. If you don’t hurry, someone will use this idea before you 🙂 Likely, the concept is already in the air, and other startuppers are working on it simultaneously.
⭐ Switch your focus from the “God forbid, someone will know” to the “God forbid, it’ll be too late” thoughts. And hurry up to be among the first startuppers to release the product and get an advantage.
One of our clients noticed the trend toward improving ecology — European laws demand businesses monitor their polluting emissions. The client released an app that allowed companies to track volumes of industrial gases. Later, competitors emerged, and our client had to keep their distance from those projects, but the fact that they got into the first wave, created the initial popularity of the app.
When a race for a place in the first wave starts, you can’t waste time — find developers and quickly make an MVP
Fear 3. “My product will change dramatically”
A startupper cherishes their idea for a long time and grows attached to it. If it starts to change during MVP development, they get anxious, it seems that they start losing control over their vision.
This happened to one of our clients, they were eager to make social media for athletes. The guys were excited about the idea because they liked seeing themselves in the project and they totally didn’t want to throw it aside. Spoiler: we managed to change their minds and switch focus to the actual pain of their audience.
It seems that if you agree to changes, the initial idea will turn into dust
Solution. Accept the fact that your product is a living thing. Every other startupper’s idea dramatically changes during development and design, and that’s ok. You have to be flexible with your product and adapt to the needs of your target audience.
In the case of social media for athletes, we conducted research and found that the audience already had a solution for the communication issue. We showed the actual pain of the audience to our client — it was hard for athletes to achieve results, lose weight, and build on muscles. The client could focus on earning money, instead of fantasies, and with our help, they transformed the concept into a marketplace for coaches.
Fear 4. “Nobody is going to use my product if it’s not perfect”
Startups often think that the product must be perfect at the MVP stage. Once, our client worked on a CRM for builders, and during every call, they tried to add new features, like a planner for personal finances — anything, just to be as different from their competitors as possible. But we estimated the cost and proved that, in this case, the development would not fit in the budget. The client ignored our warning, spent all their money, tried to attract new investments, had no success, and never released the product.
It turns out that if a startupper is uncertain about the demand for the basic product features, they start to add extra ones. This ruins the project management triangle: the more features you add, the later the release happens, and the more money you spend. And the audience doesn’t necessarily need these additional features — you may release a product that doesn’t meet the audience’s needs.
Solution. Instead of hunting for technical solutions, look for uncovered needs. Users don’t care about extra features if their main pain isn’t resolved.
If an app doesn’t cover a user’s basic needs, extra features won’t fix this
Fear 5. “I will fail after the release”
Some startuppers deliberately postpone MVP release. Facing reality is frightening: what if you get negative feedback or worse — no feedback at all? For this reason, many of our clients’ projects weren’t released. For example, we helped make a CRM for ticket selling. The clients liked the project, but after two years of work, they never released it. They were looking for insignificant bugs or defects and constantly delaying the market launch.
This is what a startupper can feel: it seems that the release will fail anyway
Solution. You should understand that an MVP can never fail. An MVP is supposed to test an idea and demand a technical solution. Even if no one is online, you will understand the market better and be able to change your course. Besides, if you already have invested your resources into the product and are determined to make a profit, why postpone it by delaying its release?
I recommend you keep in touch with your audience as much as possible. If you have some flow already, show it, launch a test advertising campaign, demonstrate a demo to the audience, and watch their reaction. The more feedback you get, the easier it will be to release your product without major defects.
Fear 6. “I’m done if the MVP doesn’t make it”
When a startupper works on their project, they have a strong bond with it and feel that they are some kind of Zuckerberg or Durov. They think that, if their MVP doesn’t make it, they will fail as an entrepreneur. Some of them even deliberately avoid feedback so as not to face negative reactions. This was what one of our clients did, he refused to check his idea and consciously started development without research.
Solution. Treat your MVP like a hypothesis, not like a child. If you fail, launch another startup and test another hypothesis. Netflix itself started with DVD delivery, but it didn’t hold onto the initial idea as the Internet evolved and switched to streaming services.
Conclusion
Here is a summary of tips on dealing with fears 👇
🔹 “I’ll let down the investors.” You should be consistent and show that you are working toward the result.
🔹 “Someone will steal my idea.” If this trend already exists, you should separate it from your competitors, and if it doesn’t, hurry up to be the first.
🔹 “My product will change dramatically.” Switch focus from the initial idea to the value for the final user.
🔹 “Nobody is going to use my product if it’s not perfect.” Concentrate on your audience’s needs, instead of features.
🔹 “I will fail after the release.” Get ready for the release, test your hypothesis, and ask for feedback on the demo version of your product. AND YOU MUST RELEASE 👺
🔹 “I’m done if the MVP doesn’t make it.” Relax, treat your MVP like a hypothesis, and test a new one.
