In this episode we talk about giving up. Startup companies are hard, and at some point you need to ask whether it's worth grinding or just moving onto something new. When do you stay the course, and when do you give up? We are here to help! In this episode we answer questions including:

• Should you keep pursuing a goal that is out of reach?
• How long should you keep trying if the business is flat?
• What happens when co-founders can't work together anymore?

All of these questions were submitted by listeners just like you. You can submit questions for us to answer on our website TheStartupHelpdesk.com or on X/Twitter @thestartuphd - we'd love to hear from you!

Your hosts:

• Sean Byrnes: General Partner, Near Horizon www.nearhorizon.vc
• Ash Rust: Managing Partner, Sterling Road www.sterlingroad.com
• Nic Meliones: CEO, Navi www.heynavi.com

Reminder: this is not legal advice or investment advice.

Q1. Should you keep pursuing a goal that is out of reach?
We shared varied perspectives on this one!

Goals are meant to guide progress. Sometimes it is necessary to adjust them to stay relevant and motivating. Adjusting a goal can ensure that you keep your team’s focus on achievable and impactful results, rather than unattainable targets that may demotivate your team.

However, is is important to not create a culture where you habitually lower goals. This can incentivize the wrong behaviors. People will realize that it takes less effort to campaign to reduce the target when compared to the amount of work it takes to reach the goal. Thus, there are plenty of reasons to leave an ambitious goal unchanged – there are benefits to falling short of a goal.

If you fall short of a goal, conduct a retrospective on what went wrong and implement changes to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Q2. How long should you keep trying if the business is flat?
Deciding to give up on your startup is a personal and often emotional choice, but there are key signals to consider:
- Team members or co-founders are leaving.
- Customers are disengaged and growth has plateaued.
- You feel increasing opportunity costs for staying with the venture.
- The company is running out of cash without a clear path to sustainability.
- There are no viable options to sell the business.

Founders often face the question of whether to persevere or pivot. While icons of persistence may inspire founders to keep going, not all startups are destined to succeed. If critical signals point to insurmountable challenges, it may be time to move on and apply lessons learned to the next venture.

Q3. What happens when co-founders can't work together anymore?
Disagreements or misalignment with a co-founder can harm the company’s growth and morale. Before making the decisions to separate, attempt to address the root causes of conflict and realign expectations.

However, if the relationship has been toxic for an extended period of time and is unresolvable, parting ways may be the best choice for your company’s future. We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice, so please consult your attorneys when parting ways with your co-founder. Ensure the separation process is clean and legal to avoid future disputes. A parting co-founder that retains large amounts of equity or board rights could impede the company’s long-term success, so consult with legal experts to protect the business.

In this episode we dive into annual planning. All companies need annual plans, but most companies don't know how to build great plans. What does a great plan look like? How do you make sure your team believes in your plan? We are here to help! In this episode we answer questions including:

• What should be part of an annual plan?
• How do I get my team bought into my plan?
• How aggressive should our annual goals be?

All of these questions were submitted by listeners just like you. You can submit questions for us to answer on our website TheStartupHelpdesk.com or on X/Twitter @thestartuphd - we'd love to hear from you!

Your hosts:

• Sean Byrnes: General Partner, Near Horizon www.nearhorizon.vc
• Ash Rust: Managing Partner, Sterling Road www.sterlingroad.com
• Nic Meliones: CEO, Navi www.heynavi.com

Reminder: this is not legal advice or investment advice.

Q1: What should be part of an annual plan?
Revenue is the centerpiece of startup annual planning. Goals that directly tie to revenue include: Distribution, Engagement, and Churn.

Other goals that correspond to revenue include:
- Product milestones, particularly those that correspond to features customers want.
- Launch dates.
- Runway and budget.
- Hiring.

Most importantly – all these lower level goals should clearly impact the higher level goals like revenue – so don’t agree on a launch date for a new feature if you do not also expect it to drive a meaningful increase in revenue.

Before you start your annual planning, make sure to align your goals with the reality facing your startup.
- For a pre-revenue startup: the goal is to start growing.
- For a startup that has validated demand: the goal is to accelerate growth.
- For a startup that recognizes that something critical is not working: the goal is to validate that next major hypothesis.

Q2: How do I get my team bought into my plan?
Ambitious goals require better performance across multiple teams. You need them to work together instead of pointing fingers.

Start with an objective evaluation of your metrics. How’s your pipeline? How are your conversions? Anything that is not performing well enough needs to improve, regardless of function.

This is where great communication and leadership ability really shines. An ambitious goal requires that you convince others to do great work. Telling people to do the work is easy. However, motivating people to want to do the work is a different story entirely. You need to galvanize all teams around a big goal.

Consider different ways to deliver your motivating message. For example, if both teams need to improve performance in order to achieve your goal (which is likely), then craft a plan that focuses on ambitious targets where you are going to “test assumptions” about ways you can unlock even greater performance. Testing an assumption can unify folks around a common goal instead of pointing fingers.

Q3: How aggressive should our annual goals be?
Investors invest in growth. 3x growth is an accurate benchmark for what investors expect for a startup. However, the business needs to grow on its own; you can’t always push it. If that growth is not possible, you might just not be a venture-backable company. Depending on your industry, you might have different goals. Talk to your investors!

As an alternative, set a realistic goal: get profitable.
- Cut costs.
- Raise prices.
- Focus on your most engaged customers.

That way, you don’t need to raise or at least you won’t need to raise urgently.

In this episode we dive into competitive advantages. Everyone knows they need them, but what are they? How can you have competitive advantages when you are just starting out? What happens if you lose them? We are here to help! In this episode we answer questions including:

• What competitive advantages can you have when you first start?
• What happens if we lose our competitive advantage?
• How can we turn one advantage into many?

All of these questions were submitted by listeners just like you. You can submit questions for us to answer on our website TheStartupHelpdesk.com or on X/Twitter @thestartuphd - we'd love to hear from you!

Your hosts:

• Sean Byrnes: General Partner, Near Horizon www.nearhorizon.vc
• Ash Rust: Managing Partner, Sterling Road www.sterlingroad.com
• Nic Meliones: CEO, Navi www.heynavi.com

Reminder: this is not legal advice or investment advice.

Q1: What competitive advantages can you have when you first start?
Competitive advantages evolve over time. However, some may appear on day 1. For example, a founder with deep technical expertise can offer a unique product. Furthermore, a founder with an established brand can bring an existing audience to sell to. Having an existing distribution channel – and brand name early customers to provide social proof – helps fortify an early distribution advantage.

While these advantages are helpful, the key is to continuously understand your customers and validate their needs.

Q2: What happens if we lose our competitive advantage?
Advantages are often short-lived, especially as your competition learns from you and copies your advantage.

A competitive advantage offers a head start, but the goal is to transform that head start into ongoing customer engagement and product development that solve your customers' problems and exceeds their expectations. Thus, an enduring advantage comes from constantly "talking to users" and building products they love.

Building a talented and committed team is also key. If you can keep talented folks working at your company longer than the competition, that is an advantage.

Q3: How can we turn one advantage into many?
Your product being the "best" is rarely enough. Founders must stay tuned into their customers' needs while understanding why prospects choose the competition. If people are buying solutions to address their problems, that's already good news! Now you need to understand how to assure that customers consider your startup during the buying decision.

Test new approaches to better communicate the value that your product provides prospective customers. At the same time, complete "postmortems" with lost prospects to understand why they chose your competitor.

The more time you spend talking to customers (prospective buyers, existing buyers, and those that you lost to the competition), the faster you can unlock new advantages.