This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Tejas Sharma
STARTUP
What Building a Million-User Startup Taught Me
I started learning how to code when I was in 5th grade. I’d spend hours watching YouTube videos on programming, borrowing books on Java and C++ from the public library, and practicing on my PC at home. I still remember The Cherno’s Game Engine series on YouTube and how excited I was learning about world-building, giving objects weight, and setting player dynamics.
Those were good times.
But as I grew older, I realized that even though creating games was fun, it was really hard to monetize. So, started I learned how to build web applications in React and backends in Express.js, mostly through the Travery Media’s crash courses. The first thing I built was a web app called SoftiePals, an indie dev platform to help connect users looking for niche tools with indie developers.
I’ve came a long way since then. Pitched a few startups and bootstrapped my own projects. Last year, I built Conch AI and it grew to over a million users.
Looking back, there are so many things I wish I’d done better. I guess that’s the point of taking actions. You learn by doing. Of course, there are so many founders out there who are successful and with better lessons than me. But I think that everyone has their own stories and lessons and even a little sharing might help someone who’s in the same spot I was when I first stepped into the startup world.
So here are 10 things I’d keep in mind if I were to start a startup again.
1. Don’t Fully Settle on the Idea Too Early
We have to give our all to make our vision a reality, that’s a must. But there’s a thin line between delusionality and a truly brilliant idea, and that’s a mistake early founders — and myself — often fall into. We believe in our idea so much it crushes our heart when we put it in the market and all we hear is the sound of crickets.
More often than not, the first idea we get is almost never the best one. The truth is, we’ll never find out only you ask people to pay for it.
As Zuckerberg said, ‘ideas don’t come fully formed; they only become clearer as you work on them.’ So don’t be fully convinced too early and focus on working toward it instead. Test assumptions early, stay flexible on your vision and allow the space for your idea to evolve.
The startup graveyard is full of brilliant ideas that never changed.
2. Have a Fundamental Belief
There’s a lot of hype in the startup world right now especially in the bay. Many are rushing to build something with AI but they often start with the solution (that we should use AI) instead of starting with a meaningful problem (what are we really solving, and why does it matter?). And usually end up going nowhere.
So, before you start building something, ask yourself why. ‘Why do you want to do it’ instead of what will you do or how you will do, or merely chasing the hype.
3. Solve a Problem Important to You
The world is full of problems. If you slow down and look closely enough, you can easily find one. The thing is, we can’t solve everything. However, if we give all our energy to solving one problem, there’s a chance we can make the world a little better.
That’s how a lot of successful founders started.
Elon Musk has been interested in sustainable energy since his school age, and now he’s built Tesla and SpaceX.
Fred Smith wrote a paper on overnight delivery service using a central hub system in college and later founded FedEx.
Larry Page’s Stanford PhD research focused on web crawling and ranking, which became the basis for Google’s search algorithm.
These founders worked on something that matters to them and worked toward it until it became a reality.
4. Pick a Problem That Matters on the Market Too.
In 2021, CB Insights examined data from hundreds of failed startups since 2018 and identified the top 12 reasons why startups fail. They found that running out of cash and failing to raise new capital were the most common reasons startups failed.
The second? They said that 35% of startups failed because there was no market need. In other words, many founders built something that people didn’t want.
Passion is great, but make sure it solves a problem that others actually want solved.
So how do you figure out if people truly want it? Let’s move to the next point.
5. Move Fast, Even if Imperfect
You don’t really know if the problem matters to people, if your solution works for them, or if anyone will pay for it. However, sometimes founders want to deliver the perfect product the first time they enter the market. They spend months building what they think is the perfect MVP (minimum viable product), only to be shocked when they find out nobody wants it.
No matter how good an idea sounds, it remains an assumption until it hits the market. But perfectionism often gets in the way, and we can’t accept delivering something less than perfect, so it takes us far too long to release the MVP.
I learned this the hard way. And if I were to start a startup again, the first thing I’d do is release the MVP as quickly as possible. That way, I’d know if what I built is actually something people want.
Test assumptions early. Improve them later.
6. Talk to Users Early and Often
When I first started creating apps, I’d show them to my closest friends and family and ask for their opinions before releasing them to the market. The more feedback I received, the more information I thought I had to improve my product.
That was a mistake.
I was asking the wrong people. Close relatives and friends don’t want to hurt our feelings or discourage us from chasing our dreams. More often than not, instead of receiving constructive feedback, I only got praise.
Real feedback comes from the people we actually want to sell our products to.
7. Build a Team That Shares the Mission
Most new technologies in the past few decades come from startups.
But why startups?
Because it’s hard to develop new things in a large organization. Bureaucratic hierarchies are slow and often avoid risk. On the other hand, going at it alone means you’ll have limited resources, which in the end also slows down your effort.
The best way to create something new is with a small team that shares the same mission. But that’s also one of the hardest parts of building a startup: finding the right co-founder. You might share some things, but if you don’t share the same why, it’s just a ticking time bomb.
8. Take Notes
Here’s the thing people often overlook: take notes. Whatever it is — a small mistake, a bit of progress, an idea for a feature, or customer feedback — write it all down in a notebook. Those records will become a compass when you need to make decisions later. And sometimes, they reveal patterns that spark new insights.
9. Focus on Distribution as Much as Product
Two months ago, Cluely said they raised $15 million funding round and people were upset because their product is just a wrapper app built on ChatGPT. Those who support them say that product is less important than brand and distribution.
Debate aside, there’s truth in that. No matter how good your product is, if you’re bad at distribution things your startup won’t go very far. A great product without reach won’t survive. Marketing is part of the building.
10. Play the Long Game
Startups are all about moving fast, but that’s where people often get it wrong. Speed matters, but endurance matters more. Quit too early and someone else is probably working on the same thing and will succeed simply because they didn’t give up. I get it. We early founders are often eager to get things started, but when things become difficult, the grass starts to look greener on the other side.
If I’d start again, I’d tell myself often that startups are marathons, not sprints. Going after quick wins might feel rewarding, but it’s also easier to burn out. Instead, treat small progress as building blocks that compound into something big over time.
Most “overnight successes” you hear about are ten-year stories.
It goes without saying that there’s one magic formula that makes a startup succeed. What matter is keep showing up against all the imperfection and try to fail a lot because that’s how we learn. We grow from experience, and experience comes from taking action.
And if you have a tip from your own journey as a founder, please share it in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think.
10 Lessons I’d Keep in Mind If I Were to Start a Startup Again was originally published in Level Up Coding on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
This content originally appeared on Level Up Coding - Medium and was authored by Tejas Sharma
Tejas Sharma | Sciencx (2025-09-10T03:05:35+00:00) 10 Lessons I’d Keep in Mind If I Were to Start a Startup Again. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/09/10/10-lessons-id-keep-in-mind-if-i-were-to-start-a-startup-again/
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