Interesting LinkedIn post by Pascal Weinberger, Co-Founder & CEO at Bardeen.ai – providers of AI agents for businesses, automating tasks and removing workflow friction.
“I’ve worked with and invested in over 50 startups over the last ten years (a lot of which YC backed). Most, if not all, have suffered from the same 5 problems.
Young founders, don’t do this:
1. Launching late
There’s this idea of “perfecting” your product before launch.
So then you build and build and build.
And when you FINALLY launch, you realize:
➜ There’s no product-market fit
➜ It had bugs you didn’t test for
➜ We were so busy building and spend 0 time marketing and testing with users
2. Chasing vanity metrics
No one cares about your TechCrunch feature or that “Top Innovator” award, or conference talks or any of that stuff.
Instead of focusing on customers, team and product, a lot of founders waste time chasing clout:
➜ “We raised X dollars!”
➜ “We got into Y accelerator!”
➜ “We spoke at Z conference!”
None of that will get you to a 7-figure ARR.
– Stop chasing trophies
– Start chasing traction
3. Hiring for experience instead of character
“10+ years of experience” is meaningless in startups.
I’ve seen too many founders hire corporate veterans who come in saying, “This is how we did it at [BigCo].” And guess what? They do it the same way—and fail.
Startups need hustlers… not corporate MBAs. Look for:
➜ Grit > pedigree
➜ Curiosity > complacency
➜ Adaptability > arrogance
The best hire isn’t the one who’s “done it before.”
↳ It’s the one who’s hungry AF.
You’re trying to build something NEW – you can’t do that by doing it the “old” way.
4. Destroying your team from the inside
Co-founder drama will kill your startup.
Founders fight over (1) ego, (2) compromising, and (3) money.
*Then they blow up their teams in the process.
Here’s what that looks like:
➜ “I’m right, and I’ll prove it” syndrome
➜ Refusing to let people fail and learn
➜ Prioritizing control > collaboration
You’re not building alone.
Treat your team like a team.
5. Following the hype
**AI/Crypto/Web3.
New founders often chase what’s “hot.”
But the more hype in a market, the worse your odds of winning.
Real founders zig when others zag.
Find a space you understand better than anyone else and dominate it.
TLDR
– Launch ASAP
– Ignore vanity metrics
– Stop hiring for education
– Trust your team
– Be original and daring
Oh, and by the way…
This isn’t me making fun of inexperienced startup founders.
I STILL make some of these mistakes.
Dropping my 2 cents.
Feel free to drop a question/DM if you need help or wanna talk”.