White Flag
Running a start-up is like eating glass. You just start to like the taste of your own blood. - Sean Parker
It’s disappointing to realize that the idea I started Azurro with, might never become a sustainable business model. However, I’m grateful to have recognized this early on, allowing me to pivot my focus toward solving a more impactful problem. Here’s a breakdown of the process I followed while building the first product:
- Identify a product I wished existed and built it.
- Conduct competitor analysis and develop a better pricing model.
- Find potential customers, pitch the product, and acquire them.
The issue with this approach is that nowhere in these steps was I solving a real problem. And that’s the essence of a startup, solve a real problem and get paid for it. That’s how you generate revenue and build a sustainable business model.
Building something cool is inspiring, but it doesn’t guarantee success. What many forget is that “building something cool” won’t necessarily bring in the money. The key is to find a pain point, solve it, get paid, and repeat the cycle. Achieving product-market fit requires a business model capable of thriving in the long term within a specific market.
Here’s what I’ve learned from this experience:
- Sell before building, demo before building. These are two rules I’ll now follow. I’ve lined up meetings with several enterprise owners to understand the market and identify problems or opportunities they face. The goal is to build and test a demo product based on their feedback before moving forward.
- If you want to be a top player, sell to the top players. This advice came from someone close to my father, who strongly disagreed with my “bottom-up” strategy of starting with smaller enterprises and working my way up. The reasoning? Avoid less ambitious people—and in business, avoid less ambitious companies. As a B2B company, targeting ambitious, growth-driven businesses is crucial.
This journey has been a learning curve, but it’s shaping a clearer, more focused path forward.