This really echoes with me - I see too many startups focusing on the wrong things or more importantly forgetting that they need to do everything...
1) You still have to do the things that you're bad at
You're a developer/designer/architect/[insert profession] so that's what you do. You build great apps or you design beautiful pixels. That's probably what people have paid you to do and that's also what you're good at. It's also highly likely that you enjoy it. The problem is that you focus too hard on what you can do and not on things you can't do. This means that you launch products that are half-baked. Most people launch without focus on customers or marketing but sometimes it's a lack of focus on design or user interaction. The point here is that you need to start looking at things that you don't enjoy because that's probably the area that needs the most attention. Now, this doesn't mean you have to learn how to be something you're not. You can outsource it, hire someone, partner with someone... but you do need to do it if you want to be successful.
2) Do the unscalable things
This is of course copied from pg's essay [1] but it is so relevant to startups. Early in the life of a startup, you need to make sure you have excellent customer service and a thirst for growth. 'Moving the needle' is what counts - you need to do it quickly. When you're bootstrapping this can often mean cold calling or 'shoe leather'. Many first-timers brush this aside as 'old marketing' and 'it'll never work'. It does work. However, it's hard work. Focus on the things that move the needle early on, however troublesome and manual, because you then you will learn what's important enough to build. You can then automate much of what you already know and move on to the next challenge.
I always thought the idea was that the LTV is in getting a lot of users and you do that by making as good an impression as possible on your first users. Even if you are spend several times what your initial users bring in supporting them, if that creates enough traction to get a lot of users down the line you come out ahead.
I think the main point about doing things that don't scale is so you can really understand what's going on in your market. No point in scaling a system that doesn't work.
1) You still have to do the things that you're bad at
You're a developer/designer/architect/[insert profession] so that's what you do. You build great apps or you design beautiful pixels. That's probably what people have paid you to do and that's also what you're good at. It's also highly likely that you enjoy it. The problem is that you focus too hard on what you can do and not on things you can't do. This means that you launch products that are half-baked. Most people launch without focus on customers or marketing but sometimes it's a lack of focus on design or user interaction. The point here is that you need to start looking at things that you don't enjoy because that's probably the area that needs the most attention. Now, this doesn't mean you have to learn how to be something you're not. You can outsource it, hire someone, partner with someone... but you do need to do it if you want to be successful.
2) Do the unscalable things
This is of course copied from pg's essay [1] but it is so relevant to startups. Early in the life of a startup, you need to make sure you have excellent customer service and a thirst for growth. 'Moving the needle' is what counts - you need to do it quickly. When you're bootstrapping this can often mean cold calling or 'shoe leather'. Many first-timers brush this aside as 'old marketing' and 'it'll never work'. It does work. However, it's hard work. Focus on the things that move the needle early on, however troublesome and manual, because you then you will learn what's important enough to build. You can then automate much of what you already know and move on to the next challenge.
[1] http://paulgraham.com/ds.html