Startups For the Rest of Us

Episode 781 | A Founder's Regret List: 12 Mistakes I’ll Never Make Again

Listen Later

Are you repeating any of these mistakes in your business? 

In this episode, Rob Walling walks through his ‘founder regret list’, detailing 12 key mistakes from his 20-year entrepreneurial journey. In this very personal episode, he tells some stories he’s never shared publicly before.

Topics we cover: 
  • (4:17) – Thinking venture capital was the only path
  • (6:12) – Launching without validating the idea
  • (9:26) – Choosing ideas that couldn’t be bootstrapped
  • (12:48) – Relying too much on books
  • (16:36) – Trying to do everything solo
  • (21:10) – The arrival fallacy
  • (23:19) – Delaying email list growth
  • (25:51) – Taking random advice too seriously
  • (28:43) – Overestimating skills after early wins
  • (30:29) – Letting anxiety steal the joy from success
  • (32:34) – Not letting wins build confidence
  • (33:50) – Holding onto a scarcity mindset
    • Links from the Show: 
    • TinySeed Institute
    • Sponsor the Podcast or MicroConf
    • Start Small, Stay Small
    • The SaaS Playbook
    • Zero to Sold by Arvid Kahl

      • If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you!

      Subscribe & Review: iTunes | Spotify

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      Startups For the Rest of UsBy Rob Walling
      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9

      4.9

      686 ratings

      More shows like Startups For the Rest of Us

      View all
      This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

      This Week in Startups

      1,269 Listeners

      The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship by Omer Khan

      The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship

      184 Listeners

      The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

      The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

      519 Listeners

      The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors by SaaStr

      The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

      174 Listeners

      Noah Kagan Presents by Noah Kagan

      Noah Kagan Presents

      901 Listeners

      Y Combinator Startup Podcast by Y Combinator

      Y Combinator Startup Podcast

      225 Listeners

      Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats by Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski - Full Stack JavaScript Web Developers

      Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

      987 Listeners

      REWORK by 37signals

      REWORK

      211 Listeners

      My First Million by Hubspot Media

      My First Million

      2,636 Listeners

      The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

      The Startup Ideas Podcast

      198 Listeners

      Marketing Against The Grain by Hubspot Media

      Marketing Against The Grain

      353 Listeners

      Moneywise by Hampton

      Moneywise

      649 Listeners

      AI + a16z by a16z

      AI + a16z

      32 Listeners

      Never Enough by Andrew Wilkinson

      Never Enough

      58 Listeners

      Lightcone Podcast by Y Combinator

      Lightcone Podcast

      19 Listeners