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Back to Ryan Hoover — Products of our Environment, with Ryan Hoover.

What Makes Self-funded Startups So Attractive to a VC-backed Founder

Control. Your cash flow, your ambitions, and the expectations set for your company's success, that's something you don't have much control over while running a VC-funded startup.

Transcript

Ryan Hoover — Products of our Environment ·

Below the Line with James Beshara

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  1. Where There Any Big Failures at Product HuntThere have not been any failure to the Product Hunt as we know it, but they have tried to introduce different categories to be hunted (books,gaming,podcasts)…
  2. What Makes a Good Product IdeaSuccessful product is a combination of a good idea, and how quickly you can figure out that it is in fact a good idea.
  3. What Is SuccessThe goal post is always moving and success criteria is getting more and more ambitious.
  4. How Can I Validate My Startup IdeaThe best VCs will invest into a great idea, but there is no better validation that getting actual users.
  5. What Should Be the First Thing to Validate About My Startup IdeaTest the most difficult and riskiest part of your business first.
  6. Can Anyone Be a Founder"Social Network," the movie, has inspired a lot of people to be founders, and although we should continue encouraging entrepreneurship, we should also be more…
  7. How Do Startup Founders Sacrifice Their Mental HealthFounder cannot quit their job, unlike their employees. You have to weather through the challenges whether or not you want to.
  8. How Can a Startup Founder Remain Mentally HealthyFounder's emotional state often reflects the state of their company.
  9. How Do Startup Founders Keep Big Goals Motivating Daily?The bigger your goals, the longer it takes to achieve them, and ambitious goals should not be easy, by definition.
  10. Can Goal-setting Be Destructive to Your Long-term PerformanceThere is a psychology study that suggest you can attain better performance by either being in a lead, or a first follower, when the distance between the 1st…
  11. Should Product Hunt Founder Ryan Hoover Ignore the Haters?On Below the Line, Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover tells James Beshara about a Hacker News post that called Product Hunt a circle of insiders pushing…
  12. What Is One of the Big Challenges With StartupsThe biggest challenge is also one of the biggest appeals. You are never done building a startup, and there is always something else to be done.
  13. What Is One Great Way to Reduce StressWake up at the same time every day. Setting a rhythm for your body sounds so trivial, so how could it be worth it?

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Featured in: Startup Fundraising: Raise, Bootstrap, or Both? Lessons from Founders and Investors

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