10 Rules for Startups  

1: Be Narrow #

Focus on the smallest possible problem you could solve that would potentially be useful. Most companies start out trying to do too many things, which makes life difficult and turns you into a me-too. Focusing on a small niche has so many advantages: With much less work, you can be the best at what you do. Small things, like a microscopic world, almost always turn out to be bigger than you think when you zoom in…

Evan Williams’ (co-founder of Twitter) 10 Rules for Startups was written in 2005 but is still such a useful guide for today’s founders.

There’s an interesting rule in there though when you consider Twitter, which was created just a few months after Ev’s post.

7: Be Greedy #

…While it’s true that traffic is now again actually worth something, the give-everything-away-and-make-it-up-on-volume strategy stamps an expiration date on your company’s ass. In other words, design something to charge for into your product and start taking money within 6 months (and do it with PayPal). Done right, charging money can actually accelerate growth, not impede it, because then you have something to fuel marketing costs with…