Why Correct Startup Actions Are Not Enough for Success

AI Summary · Serial Entrepreneur Perspective

Justin Jackson points out that "doing the hard thing" is only a necessary, not sufficient, condition for success. The real leverage comes from breaking down six hard constraints that must simultaneously hold: customer demand, founder-market fit, unfair advantages, reason to switch, runway, and distribution — miss any one and the venture fails. A retrospective self-check for indie developers/side-hustlers struggling to find their breakthrough.

• Use the "Six-Constraint Checklist" to audit your project — cut losses or pivot if any is missing
• Pitfall: Don't mistake "hard work" for a moat — without market pull, you're dead
• The reason to switch matters more than product features — solve the "why leave" question
• With side-income as runway, you can survive the long verification period
• Distribution is survival: either become an IP or buy traffic/hire people

Original Full Text

Most business advice is necessary but not sufficient on its own to achieve success. For a business to win, you need to check multiple boxes: Customer demand . & ;The hard thing& ; only pays off if people are actively searching for what you& ;ve built in sufficient numbers. Pick a hard problem in a market where there& ;s already pull. Founder/market fit . If you& ;re going to do hard things, it really helps if you like the market you& ;re serving. You& ;ll need to show up every day and answer their emails, fix their bugs, and reset their passwords. Understanding your customer means spending a lot of time hanging out with them. Unfair advantages . Most success comes from stacking every advantage you have: your skills, network, reputation, and passion. Pick a & ;hard thing& ; where you already have an edge. A reason to switch . You can build & ;the hard thing& ; in a good market, with every advantage, and still lose if what you ship doesn& ;t give people enough reason to leave what they& ;re already using. Runway . Hard things take time. Like Jesse said: & ;Not many people are willing to grind on something for that long.& ; A big risk with startups is burning out or going broke. If you& ;re bootstrapping, you should probably have another source of revenue to sustain you. Distribution . None of the above matters if nobody knows you exist. These days, my friend Lars Lofgren says, & ;You either become the influencer, or you hire the influencer.& ; Doing & ;the hardest thing.& ;

Original · Justin Jackson：Read full article →