How to Reduce Mortality Rate of Start-ups

​There is so much glamour and excitement around the unimportant elements of start-ups - business plans, pitches, funding; that the real hero of the story - the customer - gets buried under the carpet. That is why mortality rate of start-ups is so high.

The only money that can sustain a start-up is the customer's money, which is an indication of value created. External funding at the wrong time will necessarily lead to pre-mature death of the start-up. External investments should be brought in only for scaling-up; after the business model has been tested for profitability, repeatability and scalability with data drawn from real customer engagements.

Olympic gold medals are not won with the excitement of the athlete, running around to get sponsorships but by unglamourous disciplined sweating on a daily basis as part of a rigorous structure of success under the hawk-eye of a coach.

Founders need to leave the comfort of their air-conditioned office and be foot-soldiers engaging with customers day-in, day-out to make a difference to them; rather than waste time fine-tuning their elevator pitches and business plan presentations.

Love, Jyoti.