What are the factors that can kill your startup?

1. A single Founder...meaning a "team" of one.

2. A CTO without superb engineering skill.

3. A niche product with too small of a market.

4. Not enough capital.

5. Launching too early.

6. A muddled, poorly thought through, Go To Market strategy.

7. Hiring programmers that are marginal to save capital.

8. Jumping into a saturated market without significant product differentiation. The classic examples are outsourcing and web design.

Do your research! What is the reality of the competitive landscape and is it possible to significantly differentiate your product as superior?

9. Deciding against outside investment because you're afraid of stock dilution. It's one hell of an uphill battle to try to scale effectively leveraging current revenue.

10. Picking the wrong geographic location for your firm.

There's a valid reason why there are a limited number of global startup hubs. Even NYC, with all of it's attendant glamour, has less than 20% of the successful startups of Silicon Valley.

Go where the experts are. If you're in the middle of nowhere, it's going to be extremely difficult to attract the talent you need to survive and prosper.

(n b., This is, by no means, an inclusive list! I could easily come up with 20 more.)

Use help from your network. You'd be surprised how much faster and cheaper you solve problems.

#startups

Successful entrepreneurs surround themselves with highly motivated people.

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Start your career in entrepreneurship by taking advantage of our leading programs in entrepreneurship development. #startupmzansi

#startupmzansi is serving the South African startup community by putting the spotlight on them and helping to celebrate their success.

Before you look for a mentor you should take a step back and ask yourself: What is it that I need? As an entrepreneur you should be strategic. #startupmentorshipguide #startupguy

South Africa has an incredible story to share with the world about entrepreneurship. This story centres on the growth of a vibrant startup ecosystem that has achieved international recognition and homegrown successes that inspire a future generation of startups.

South Africa's startup ecosystem is unique and stands at the intersection of a healthy and diverse set of people, places, and programs that act together to facilitate an entrepreneur’s ability to commercialize, network and scale their business.

Though there are many players in the ecosystem, this Strategy intends to be a rallying point. There is no better time for Startup Mzansi to take a leadership role in building a strong entrepreneurial environment in South Africa through supporting ecosystem partners and building upon the country's strengths.

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